The Deep Winter Photo Challenge is a celebration of the abundant amount of fresh that dumps on Whistler Blackcomb in January. Six photogs and their athlete teams will pit themselves against the elements for three days. Their aim is to shoot the best in-bounds series of slides to win the coveted “King of Storms” title in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday, January 18th at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.
Photographer bios and vids:
Erin Hogue
With the click of a shutter, Erin Hogue might be called the calm before the storm – the winter storm, that is – which is best depicted by her unwavering determination for tackling the unknown and getting the shot no matter the situation. This is evident in her body of work ranging from documenting snowboarders grinding it out in the dawn of frigidly cold Alaskan mornings, to capturing the perfect lighting in downtown Toronto weddings, from driving across Canada to document Rob Dyer’s Skate4Cancer mission, to Pemberton horse-ranch fashion shoots in frost-covered fields, to splitboarding, snowboarding, and snowmobiling throughout British Columbia’s Sea to Sky backcountry.
Erin’s passion for capturing split-second moments in time was first ignited as a young teen in the suburbs of Toronto when stumbling upon an old camera of her father’s, an AE1 Program Canon 35mm from the 80s. Years later, after receiving a BFA in photography from Ryerson University and numerous accolades, she still remains enthralled by photography’s endless potential, the way its always changing, and being able to continuously learn.
Four years ago, Erin relocated to Whistler, BC, because of the snow and how it reflects the sunlight so well and how peaceful it is to shoot, and for the sledding with all the adventure and challenges it encompasses while getting “the shot” – truly living up to that aforementioned calm-before-the storm image.
Jason Hummel
Northwest native Jason Hummel learned to ski in the backcountry at age six, but he didn’t pick up photography until his best friend, Ben Manfredi passed away in a kayaking accident in late 2003. It was with Ben’s camera that Jason took his first images and found that he had a passion for photography. In late 2009, as the markets were crashing Jason left his career as a financial advisor to go ski, hike, bike and kayak. Along the way he was asked if he’d publish his images. It was then that Jason discovered that photography was more to his liking than crunching numbers and advising clients on the best way to invest their life savings, so instead he took his own advice and invested his life savings into himself. These days, the return on that investment can be seen in his images, which continue to grow and develop as he expands his horizons.
Zoya Lynch
Zoya Lynch is a professional photographer from Revelstoke, BC. She specializes in capturing backcountry and self propelled adventures. Zoya gathers inspiration from her time spent exploring the high peaks throughout BC’s interior mountain ranges.
Zoya recently took first place at Whistler’s Out Of Bounds: Tales From The Backcountry competition, and she took home People’s Choice award at the 2013 Revelstoke Pro Photographer showdown.
She spends her summers reforesting some of British Columbia’s largest cut blocks one tree at a time. When Zoya is not taking photos or tree planting she can be found climbing, trail running, mountain biking, and practicing yoga.
Chris Brown
Chris Brown brings the essence of an artist and the discipline of a warrior to his craft. His detailed knowledge of the tools of photography, combined with remarkable instincts, intuition and empathy for his subjects, makes for rare and inspiring photography.Chris has a philosophy of capturing the perfection in imperfection. From the stark beauty in an impoverished but joyful Cuban village, to musicians and athletes in special moments; Chris sees, shoots and shares life from all angles.
Nicolas Teichrob
As a professional action sports photographer and filmmaker, Nicolas seeks to consistently create new and captivating imagery. This effort has landed him four magazine covers in the past year, an award-winning full length ski film and award winning short films. Nic is a co-founder of Dendrite Studios and he has many working collaborations, including work with b4apres Media and Second Base Films/The Coastal Crew. With an artistic eye and the ability to connect with the people and environment that he works with, Nic is able to achieve emotion filled imagery everywhere he shoots. “Visual art is about capturing moments in time, and the best moments are filled with emotion and energy and that is what my photographs and films are all about.”
Nicolas’ work continues to take him around the world in search of unique stories to tell; from Nunavut to Thailand to Bolivia. Amidst a sometimes hectic photo and film schedule, he still finds time to work as a geoscientist, as he holds a M.Sc. in Glacier Hydrology.
Nic is a fan of pretty much anything creative or artistic. He also enjoys painting and creating whatever he can, from surfboards to camera rigs to shoot self photos.
Cameron Hunter
Cameron has an intense passion for photography. He is a photographer of motion who possesses both cutting edge technical skills and a commitment to professionalism.
Although his focus is on motion and capturing action sports utilizing cutting-edge lighting techniques, Cameron also specializes in photographing people for advertising and editorial lifestyle images.
With a lifelong passion for both sports and the outdoors, Cameron feels privileged to photograph talented athletes’ in their environment. Cameron loves capturing the full expression of a certain trick and showcasing athletes unique talent and ability through his images. He has gained an intimate perspective into action sports having been an enthusiastic participant of snowboarding for the past 14 years that “generalist” photographers cannot provide.
Engaging emotion, peak action, exquisite light, wild angles and a sense of unique environments with clean composition are elements Cameron sees as important components to his images.
With every non-action shoot Cameron does, his passion and excitement grows. Whether it is headshots for actors, model test shots, or portraits of families, he uses his expertise in lighting and composition to make all photo-shoots a unique, pleasant and memorable experience.
And here’s last year’s winning entry, from Russell Dalby:
