Motion

Motion [moh-shuh n] - the action or process of moving or of changing place or position; movement.

Last week in my photojournalism class we were asked to capture motion for our weekly assignment. It turned out to be a very fun project. I got out and shot a few different sports; skateboarding, longboarding, kendamaing and some football. Overall the shots that turned out the best were the skating shots.

I used the technique of panning to capture motion; I slowed down the shutter speed and swung the camera to follow the subject which created a blurred background and a subject that was in focus. The shots turned out better than I expected, and I re-realized a fun technique to add a feeling of motion to a photo:

Jason Major in the act of performing an ollie off a slanted stone feature at the
 corner of Champion Street and Magnolia Street in downtown Bellingham. Major was
 meeting up with some friends to skate for the first time since fall, "it sounded like
 a fun thing to do at the time, and it ended up being really fun," says Major.

Honest Emotion/Relationship

For this assignment in my photojournalism class we had to capture an image of an honest emotion or relationship. I was up at the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom and decided to take my photos there. Camaraderie and smiles were abundant which made my job easy. I would have liked to find an image that was more raw, but it eluded me.

Professional snowboarder Kael Martin shares a laugh with a fellow Mt. Baker Banked Slalom participant. “I love being in the mountains,” Martin said, “its just a cool feeling.” Martin and three other professional snowboarders are road tripping around North America in search of powder snow. The crew is filming an “all inclusive ” snowboarding movie, the only credentials to make the movie are a “positive attitude and a passion for Shred.” To join in on their adventure go to Goboardin.com.

Gwen Howat's smiling face can always be found around the start shack of the Mt. Baker Legendary Bank Slalom competition. Mt. Baker has been run by the Howat family for 42 years.

Gwen Howat, Coordinator of the Legendary Banked Slalom and director of resort operations at Mt. Baker talks with a banked slalom competitor. Gwen is the daughter of Duncan Howat, the general manager of the ski area.

Sunny Saturday

Holy beauty..... This is why I live in Washington

View of Mt. Shuksan from Mt. Herman

This last Saturday my friends and I drove up to the area surrounding the Mt. Baker ski resort for a delightful day of touring (backcountry skiing). We put in a six hour day and were touring around in our T-shirts, a rare occasion for early February in the North Cascades. In terms of views it was the most spectacular day I have been up in the mountains surrounding Mt. Baker. We explored some new areas and got to ski some untouched powder stashes that was lying hidden in the shadows of the knife-edged peaks.

Gearing up

View of Mt. Shuksan from the Herman Saddle 

Tyler Tran. Stoked.

Tim Black scoping the 20' cornice drop

 

Tyler Tran sending

Ashton Richie hucking a backflip

The gang enjoying the beautiful sunshine on top of Slate Mountain

Environmental Portrait

Another assignment for my photojournalism class. This time the topic was an environmental portrait, capturing someone in their element, whether it be their occupation, passion or hobby.

I was first going to photograph someone down at the docks of Bellingham, hoping that I would find someone who lived a life on the water. But, it just so happened that I was going to buy a bike on craigslist, and I needed someone who knew bikes to look at it with me.

My acquaintance Kristian Duft, being the genuinely nice fellow that he is, offered to cruise up to the north part of Bellingham to check out the bike with me. After we check out the bike (which I ended up buying the next day), we rode back to his house and I saw his garage/bike shop. That is when I had the bright idea of using Kristian as my environmental portrait, since he "bleeds oil" I thought that he would be a perfect fit.

He is a gnarly mountain biker but loves any type of bicycle. When he isn't in school, rock climbing or doing homework, he is downhill mountain biking, or out speeding down hills on his road bike.

My shoot didn't go spectacular, my best shots ended up being out of focus. But I had a fun time getting to know Kristian more and I did manage to get a good shot out of it all.

“If you cut me I would bleed oil,” Kristian Duft, 19, says. Biking is a lifestyle for Duft; he has his own bicycle work station in his garage, and he says he has been mountain biking, road biking and racing bikes for as long as he can remember.