[Words: Tuukka Tams]

As usual, Wappulounas was absolute madness. Three days of snowboarding on weird obstacles and partying all night long like the past 15 years, that’s what it’s all about. The best Finnish riders such as Roope Tonteri, Eero Ettala, Heikki Sorsa and Antti Autti gathered at Ruka to end the season, and this is what happened.

Chef’s Team Special – The Best a Man Can Get

Wappulounas 2013 presented by DC was set to go in the conditions that could not have been better. The halfpipe at Ruka itself is a piece of art, but to Wappulounas it was reshaped. There were two bowls, hips in ’n’ out and other obstacles were just here and there as the team challenge was about to start.

The teams did what they were expected – they killed it. Teams consisted of three riders were showing off with not just by their riding but also with their outfits. B-maajoukkue (Joel Lahti, Saku Tiilikainen and Hans Kestilä) were dressed like those jackass patriots, Lapinpolthajat (Antti Autti, Tuukka Tams and Jari Salo) hit the jumps like true Lappish people, Cooking With Gas (Eero Ettala, Heikki Sorsa and Lauri Heiskari) were cooking the whole playground and there were a bunch of others too who got the crowd smiling. Special cheers go to Joel Ahola who was riding like maniac with his 20+ years old Burton Air and to Meri Peltonen and her comeback. Congrats to everyone!

But there were two teams that were above others. In men American Horse Show (Tero Poikajärvi, Tuomas Alapieti and Jeppe Rontti) were going faster and further than everyone else. Their tricks were insane! In women the best was Battery Sisters (Kristiina Nisula, Merika Enne and Vilina Koivisto). They were flipping and spinning like true masters. Yet there were other masters at the hill, too. Riku-Matti Jurmu and Jyri Keskiaho (caamos.fi) did an amazing skidoo show by jumping over the whole halfpipe. You should’ve seen the faces from the crowd…

With a huge amount of lines straight from Napoli Wappulounas got a man from The Dudesons, HP, to be one of the judges. This is what he had to say about the first day and how to head to the overall victory and Asenne surf trip–that’s what the winner gets: – “Although riding at Wappulounas is important, if you want to be the champion, it’s necessary to represent at every stage – wheter it was afterski, nightlife or the morning after. Especially having fun is most important, because you can’t come to Wappulounas to win–you come to enjoy. If it ends up with winning a trip to Indonesia that is just bonus.” Wise words, my friend.

Chef’s Recommendation Powered by Battery – There’s Something In It

And Wappulounas continued, and with good vibes as usual. Chef’s Recommendation went through in a great weather, and bands such as J. Kiesi Grandes and Jam-A-Holics weren’t a weight in rider’s legs. The playground from last day was on fire. Two different stages served two sessions. The day consisted great riding combined with impressive usage of the playground. Riders were pushing it to the limits, but yet the joy was truly touchable.

In men the best rider was Jeppe Rontti, who was in the winning team the other day. He found lines no one else did, and his tricks were beyond. In women the best was Merika Enne, from the winning team also. She was pushing it with rock ’n’ roll attitude throughout day and bigger than anyone else. Yet other riders were also awarded. Antti Autti was Mr Old School with his great lines and deep tweaks, but young guns were killing it, too. This time Ville Mustonen was awarded as Best Rookie, but there were also bunch of others. Ville wasn’t shy at all riding with the big boys–he was going huge!

Of Chef’s Recommendation HP had this to say: “Wappulounas day two was personal overshoot from the beginning–actually from the night before. But what was really warming my heart was seeing old masters like Antti Autti and Risto Mattila showing to younger dudes how to pull it–fast as shit day and night!”

Oskari Heikkinen & Arktinen Voodoo pulled an awesome show at the terrace and at the nightclub Piste with Jätkäjätkät, where people eventually ended after numerous before-parties. About the best of them one must be mentioned. DJ Chili hosted an incredible party at one hotel room with quite thirsty crowd: over 800 cans of refreshments were enjoyed at their party. There must’ve been couple of people partying there!

DC Knockout Jam – And the Winner Goes to Bali

Countless days of partying wasn’t showing at the riding as D Knockout Jam forced riders to do their best. Tight course made them truly thinking about their runs–and that’s what they really did. As knockouts went face-to-face it was off the hook. For example Lasse Ihalainen, Antti Komulainen and Antti Autti were riding better than well. Few scary moments were also seen as the course ended up riders upside down and never back.

Eventually it was Joel Lahti and only 13-year-old Rene Rinnekangas who made to the final, and it was Joel aka DJ Chili who ended up being number one. But yet Rene didn’t let Joel win easily. He’ll be one you’re about to hear a lot! In women Kristiina Nisula and Sanna Niilola were against each other in the final with Kristiina taking the victory.

Only one thing was left to do at Wappulounas 2013 Presented by DC: to announce the overall winners. In rookies it was Rene who made to the top, and it was a victory well deserved. Can you even imagine any other event where young gun like Rene and nearly two decades older Miikka Hast would be against each other like they were on knockout – and Rene taking a tight win. That’s what it’s all about! In women Merika Enne was riding bigger and better than the others all event, so it was no wonder she was the overall champion.

In men the overall victory and Asenne surf trip was won by Jeppe Rontti. He represented the whole event with a great spirit, helped out younger riders and of course rode like maniac! Way to go Jeppe, congratulations!

“The level of riding was amazing and creative. It was positive to see that the same spirit Wappulounas has lives on,” said head judge Timo Lahti. And that’s just damn right: Wappulounas has a spirit you can’t find anywhere else. It’s the soul of snowboarding that’s beating.

To the very end Wappulounas Houseband called The Rautavas (with musicians from J. Kiesi Grandes, Relentless and Highway Burns) pulled an amazing gig at the afterski. With a set list constisted hits like Gangnam Style and reading SMS’s you can’t go wrong. And of course, there was a night party, too, with Karri Koira & Ruudolf making people to part-ee. It was a great way to end Wappulounas that is the best a man–and a woman–can get.

RESULTS

Chef’s Team Special, men:
American Horse Show (Tero Poikajärvi, Tuomas Alapieti and Jeppe Rontti)
Chef’s Team Special, women:
Battery Sisters (Kristiina Nisula, Merika Enne and Vilina Koivisto)
Playground Line Master: Jeppe Rontti
Playground Line Mistress: Merika Enne
Beauty & Style: Merika Enne
Mr. Old School: Antti Autti
Comeback Kid: Juho Manninen
Best Rookie: Ville Mustonen
DC Knock-out Jam, men: 1. Joel Lahti
2. Rene Rinnekangas
DC Knock-out Jam, women: 1. Kristiina Nisula
2. Sanna Niilola
Overall winner, men: Jeppe Rontti
Overall winner, women: Merika Enne
Overall winner, rookies: Rene Rinnekangas

Unique Scoring Format Makes JP Walker’s inaugural Handplant Holiday at Bear Mountain a Total Success.

It was an idea that JP Walker conceived on the comfort of his couch: bring a group of snowboarding’s most talented riders together for a day-long handplant contest. But what was supposed to be “no big deal” to pull together took seven months of intense planning that culminated on April 20, 2013 in the highly successful first annual Handplant Holiday at Bear Mountain.

At Bear Mountain, world-class planters were treated to a set–up created by the innovative park crew unlike anything seen before, which included several transiton based variations ranging from a wall ride, channel, spine, hip and extension.

The riders not only got creative on the feature, they got creative with Sony Action Cams, adapting the mounts to get rare POV video and capture unique angles and technical tricks. In the end, it was JP Walker who took home $1000 of high end Sony electronics gear for Sony’s Best Shot of the Day contest by capturing his perspective of stomping an Eggflip.

What nailed the event home was a unique team aspect and jam format—which Walker came up with specifically for the event—that gave the riders a chance to ride when and where they wanted throughout the day, to session individual sections or lap several features in a row accumulating points for their team. Because of this scoring format, the vibe during the contest was relaxed and friendly—though there was never any doubt that both teams wanted the win.

Both teams benefited from the expertise of their captains, legendary snowboarders Dave Downing and Dale Rehberg. Downing and Rehberg kept track of the riders points, coached, motivated, strategized and even got in the mix throwing down some plants of their own.

Under the guidance of Dave Downing, Marko Grilc, Chris Grenier, Jeremy Jones, Cody Rosenthal and Scott Stevens got down to business early in the day to secure valuable points. Dave’s experience in transitions and coaching came into play helping his team lock in their tricks.

But it was Dale Rehberg’s Team One, which included event mastermind JP Walker, Ben Bilocq, MVP Simon Chamberlain, Tim Eddy and Snowboarder magazine Editor Pat Bridges, who threw down variations of handplants throughout the different features with a combination of talent, teamwork, creativity and experience to earn the win. Team One split the $6000 prize purse and each member received a Sony Camcorder Cradle with LCD to use with the Action Cams they used for the contest.

“Being the Captain of Team One was not only an honor, but also a damn good time. Watching these guys go through the trick list as if it was no big deal pretty much blew me away, especially since the trick list was incredibly difficult. What an insane group of talented riders, who got it done,” said Rehberg.

It was a tight race between Marko Grilc and Simon Chamberlain for the honour of Plant of Day, but Chamberlain took the win with a Switch Andrecht on the Bear Mountain wallride, which also earned him an additional 150 points and a Nixon Player XL Black SR valued at $1200.

Chamberlain also landed several handplant variations including tricks from the undoable category such as a Switch Eggplant Tailgrab and a Phillips 66 over the channel to gain a total individual score of 1270 points. With a final tally more than 400 points above the next highest score, which secured him the Most Valuable Planter award, he ultimately took home the MVP trophy. For this, he scored a Nixon Player XL Gunmetal watch that he graciously gave to Marko Grilc, who Chamberlain felt was “deserving of a win for slaying the features from morning to night.”

“Handplant Holiday was the most fun I have had all season. Team One killed it on every challenge. It’s just that much better sharing the win with your homies. Winning the MVP and best trick was such a surreal feeling. To get those awards riding with all these amazing snowboarders was for sure humbling,” Chamberlain said.

A little over a week ago Alex Tank, with help from his homies at Head Snowboards, Arnette Eyewear and the resort of Oberjoch, laid down the fourth edition of the Head Jib Factory. 20 grade-A jibbers hit up the biggest setup the session’s ever had and the result was some steller stunt sledging. Check the edit and gallery by Flo Jäger…

Could there be a better ending for the winter season than hanging out with all your friends having a sick session, BBQ and a DJ for the perfect sound? That’s exactly what happened on April 16th and 17th at Oberjoch in Germany, where the fourth Head Jib Factory by Alex Tank & Arnette went down. 20 invited riders from all over the world came to the Allgäu to ride the brand new setup which was the biggest one the Jib Factory has seen so far.

As always, the goal was to get creative and to have as much fun as possible. To make that even easier, a new accommodation was chosen, all riders stayed in a typical Bavarian hut right next to the setup. So everybody could start and finish his session whenever he wanted and ride home on his snowboard. Some heavy tricks have been thrown down; naming them all would take way too much time, so you better check out the official Jib Factory edit.

On both days the riders played the “Game of Out” on the Arnette granite ledge. As we knew from previous years, this takes some time because almost every rider was able to do every trick – hence it was decided to turn it into a team competition. Every team had two riders and could decide by themselves who had to do the trick.

At the end only team Innsbruck (Raffael Kossmann and Tobi Hartmuth) and Team Mustachio (Eirik Nesse and Kas Lemmens) were left. After playing for more than two hours they decided for a tie and split the prize money of 500 €. Kas Lemmens was the most outstanding rider for sure, not only that he always was the first rider hitting the setup and the last one to leave, he also landed pretty much everything he tried. So it was no surprise that he was voted Best Rider Overall and cashed out 1000€ on top of the team event.

The decision for Best Trick was way harder because Eirik and Kas stomped some really hard tricks. At the end Kas Lemmens BS 270 Hardway to Fakie at the stair set got the most votes. Boom, another 500 € for Kas.

To finish things off, the Atagge Highest Ollie contest took place. Everybody could join this session, no matter if filmer, shaper, DJ… At the end the host Alex Tank himself took home the wander trophy with a winning height of 95 centimeters. We had two awesome days at Oberjoch, thanks to all people involved.

Hope to see you all again next year!

Marc Salas, Nollie Back Tail to Fakie, Are, Sweden © Matt Georges

Our French senior photographer Matt Georges once again shares his thoughts, doubts and passion about snowboard photography. Not only do you get to fix your eyes on a banger, but hopefully you also learn how to take better photos yourself!

Marc SALAS – Nollie BackTail to Fakie – Are, Sweden

Aperture: f/4,5
Speed: 1/100th
ISO: 400
Camera: CANON EOS 1D MARK II N
Lens: Fisheye CANON 90mm Tilt-Shift

2 Flashes connected with Pocket Wizards Radioslave

I’m not so sure about the flash at the bottom right behind the car window…

THE TECH

When I go on a trip I try to think about a general feel or style I want to have for my photos. For this trip and because it’s only night time up north in Sweden at that period I knew we will only shoot with flashes and lights so I bought those “stars filters” to make obviously all the lights look like stars, wishing it won’t look too cheesy at the end. Well I was right because I really think it looks cheesy at some point, especially in colors with the flare added. It can work in Black and White thought so I shot a bunch for the rest of the trip. On this photo I had set up 2 flashes as backlights to get this silhouette feel and to had two more “stars” to the composition. I’m not so sure about the flash at the bottom right behind the car window. At first I thought it looks cool but the more I see the photos the less I like it. The rest of the stars are random lights. I have used a tilt-shift lens but as a normal 90mm which is really sharp. The composition itself is pretty simple and the photo is kind of cut in two parts from the top left to bottom right.

THE CONTEXT

That was the first trip of the season, beginning of december in cold and dark Are, up north in Sweden with the Euro Forum team 3 winters ago. I remember Gerben Verweij from Holland drove all the way up with his trailer full of lights, generators, shovels, winch etc. for a solid 48hrs, drinking at least 50 cans of energy shit and probably smoking 6 packs of cigs. Who said snowboarding is a healthy sport? Anyway, we started the trip with this very good looking but unfriendly wooden rail and had to freeze the wood with water before hitting it. Marc has this Spanish mellow touch and got this smooth skateboard south style when riding and nailed this tech trick pretty quickly. He even did it few times to get other angles. Thanks Pollo!

Check Matt’s website. And if you want to see the previous ‘Behind The Shot’ articles, here’s the tag.

The DC Area 43 Mottaret park in Meribel saw 3 days of fun and shred from an all-star cast, despite the changing weather.

The DC Chalet has been busy all season long but last week was kind of the apotheose of a full, fun and productive season for the DC crew. For this final gathering, some of the team’s superstars showed up, as well as most of the Euro, French, GB and Spanish teams. Check it: Lauri Heskari, Mat Schaer, Piotr Janosz, Jani Sorasalmi, Elias Veijola, Rachida Aoulad, Dimitri Biau, Petr Horak, Mons Roisland, amazing 8 year old Benni Fridbjornsson, Lucas Benacchio, Franck Moissonnier… The list was long, and the show at the bottom of the piste on Wednesday was epic. The minishred course built after a first day on the park was taken by force by thousand of tourists and seasonnaires at the Rond Point, and 8 year old Benni pretty much killed it and got the respect of the crowd with pretty nice airs on the corner and frontflips on the volcano.

Lauri also brought his friends Eero Ettala and Heikki Sorsa along to film some ore for the fifth episode of Cooking with Gas season 2. They also represented proudly on that minishred session by throwing some of the biggest airs of the day, way above an half drunk half ecstatic crowd.

The park was where the stuff happened all season but for the Shred Days it all started on a street rail the night before: Jani and Elias pretty much destroyed a super long rail in Mottaret village – didn’t count the stairs but it was freaking long before the things even started. At least Elias will go back home with a banger, because injury didn’t leave him alone for very long: the gap flat down on the park punished a front board with a bad slam on the shoulder. And on the same day, Basa Stevulova, who was around with the rest of the Roxy crew, took also a super hard slam on the rail into town (the one from the first night), and had to go to hospital for a head check – she’s now fine. In the park earlier that day, Elias and Jani managed to transfer the massive hip in the middle of the park – that’s just before Elias got hurt… While Lucas and the Frenchies were concentrating on 7s from the two mid down kickers.

The second day on the park was pretty foggy and white, but that didn’t stop neither the little boardercross style course, country by country – I think the Frenchies won this – nor the BBQ up the hill. But you know, the Shred Days are also about the parties, and every night was a great night, filled with surprises, like this amazing magician playing tricks to Lauri and his friends.

The final day was more mellow, and the visit to the park got shortened by a pretty wintery weather. But the mission was easily accomplished, and that’s not even talking about the final night with concert on the ice ring, lead by Ministry of Sound / London.

Thanks again DC for the great times, we always love to come to Meribel, and we’ll be back!

More photos here: www.facebook.com/DC.Area43

Anto Chamberland, Miller Flip, Quebec City © Colin Adair.

Colin Adair and his beard have been picturing snowboarding for a good while now, and the American native is considered as one of the main talents in the industry. Colin has been traveling across the planet for clients like DC, Red Bull, Burton, The North Face, Monster, and he’s regularly published in tons of different magazines, including ours. Here’s his first entry to your beloved Behind The Shot feature.

Anto Chamberland – Miller Flip – Quebec, Canada.

Camera: Canon EOS 1d mark IV

Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f4 shot at 109mm

Speed: 1/125

Aperture: f5.0

Flashes: Mix of Elinchrom Ranger and Canon 580 EX speedlites

If it’s too low at night it’s easy for autofocus to miss your spot and blow the shot. I usually focus with auto and then turn the lens to manual focus before getting the shot.

The Tech

I shoot urban and jibbing probably once or twice a year, 2 weeks total for the whole winter I’d say. I like working with flashes and lighting even though I curse and yell at them because they never work properly when you want them to. The cold temperatures and moist air really messes with the electronics and remote triggering signals. I always like to have one big powerful flash with one or two heads (Elinchrom Ranger kit) to create the ambient light and then use smaller flashes hidden from view closer to the subject to create the highlights. Pretty basic stuff but if you do it properly it looks great. If you don’t do it properly your images will look really flat and unexciting. I chose to shoot at 400 ISO mostly because the smaller flashes aren’t too powerful so I needed more light to come in. I also wanted a bit more of an f/stop even though 5.0 is pretty low. If it’s too low at night it’s easy for autofocus to miss your spot and blow the shot. I usually focus with auto and then turn the lens to manual focus before getting the shot. I also like to add a bit of the light from the video lights into my photos. It adds color and texture. Using a shutter of 1/125 on this one let in some of that light but not too much to overpower the shot.

The Context

In this photo I couldn’t get the big flash exactly where I wanted because cars were driving by and having to run back and forth to move it all the time wasn’t an option. Anto Chamberland hit this thing only a few times and it was really cold (-20C) so I was happy to get the shot and get out of there. This spot is in a very small town in Quebec, Canada. People drive their snowmobiles in the streets when there is enough snow and at our hotel there were snowmobiles parked in the parking lot right outside the rooms. Anto is from that area and he knows a million spots so it’s great to link up with him for a week or so each year and get some shots.

Check Colin’s work on his website and follow him on his blog.

Also check all the previous photo tips on this Tag.

This week GoPro brought together a bunch of their heavy hitting international team in Laax for 5 days of chilled out shred and afternoons spent nerding off learning the possibilites of the new Hero3 camera. Check the rad gallery of selfies and a lowdown of the haps…

Would I like to spend 5 days with GoPro riders Sage Kotsenburg, Eric Willett, Jamie Anderson, Iouri Podladtchikov, Ralph Backstrom, Elena High, Xavier de Le Rue and Hannah Teter while getting schooled on how to use the magical box of tricks that is GoPro’s Hero3? The fact that it was being held in Laax – right up there in my list of ‘Most Awesome Resorts In Europe’ – only hastened my reply in the affermative. Having said that, even if they’d held it on a dryslope in Bognor Regis the chance to hang with that crew of bosses and tinker with the GoPro would have been too hard to pass up.

Ralph Backstrom, still smelling of Champagne from his winning of the whole damned Freeride World Tour a couple days before, was already there by the time I rolled in, while the rest of the crew, who’d been crushing the Euro X Games, cruised into town on the 12-hour party bus a little later accompanied by a bunch of dudes who boast a knowledge of what those little black and silver boxes can do that borders on the extreme.

This was to become apparent the next morning when we met up for the first of many clinics on how to work the Hero3. Now, previously I’d pretty much only ever hit Go and Stop, so to get the lowdown on what that camera can actually do, and how to do it, was an eye-opener. Videographers I know have expressed bafflement at the amount of sheer tech they can cram in and the quality of the output the Hero3 produces, and we’ve all marvelled at the Hero3 promo video, but to truly get the most out of the camera you really need to learn the modes, the software, the different ways of mounting it and so on.

Reeling with a mind full of ’1440p for POV’, ’30 shots in 2 seconds’, ‘timelapse mode’, ’4K capability’, ’720p shoots at 120fps and can be slowed down to 1/4 speed’, it was interesting to see how into it all the riders were. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as it offers them the chance to provide a unique angle on their riding and to pump out a bunch of content without even needing to wait for the filmer to drag his ass out of bed. You had Iouri strapping himself into a back brace with a pole jutting out the side and grilling the tech dudes on what was possible and how to achieve shots he’d been dreaming up, Elena having a bizzarre extension grafted on to her helmet and Hannah being wowed by the app that connects using WiFi so you get a live view of what the camera sees.

Ordinarily such technically-focussed nerd-offs would have sent many to sleep, but the media specialists they brought in from the US were just a bunch of laid back shredders who managed to strike the right balance of information and bro down-ery so it never felt like being at school. Of course, it wasn’t just about the nerd room and when up on the hill the guys and girls cut loose as they filmed and shot themselves, follow-cammed each other, while us media types failed miserably at bagging anything more than a Finnish faceshot. The riders earn their coin for good reason and bagged a bunch of bangers lapping Laax’s epic freestyle setup – Eric and Sage even managed to pass the camera between them mid-air, which is so insane that when you doubtless see it in a GoPro ad you’ll probably think it’s faked, while Ralph and Xavier sent it off the booters before heading off for some steep action.

Undoubtedly the highlight was the last day when the weather really turned it on and we were able to stay on the hill late for a sunset session that will have produced a heap of sick footage, the crew all smiles and high fives reflecting on this few days of deserved wind-down after a hectic season of travelling, filming and contests.

Yes, I was fed well and they bought me a couple of drinks, and, no, I have not tried any of the competition, but the fact is that the GoPro is an incredible bit of kit that allows everyone – from these cats on the team to Peter Punter – to create a ton of super high quality photos and videos. Are there any faults? My camera froze up from time to time (to fix just take out the battery and put it back in again), the software, while very good, is not the most intuitive, to get the best result you need to learn the modes and the post-production software, and they’re not cheap – the Hero3 Black edition with the WiFi remote is in the region of €450 – but if you’re into shooting yourself or your homies shredding, surfing, skating or whatever, it’s an investment you won’t regret.

We’re trying to get an edit of the trip dialled, but in the meantime peep this one from the DC Finland team for an example of what this box of tricks can do..

Gigi Rüf, Haines, Alaska © Blotto.

Dean ‘Blotto’ Gray has been documenting snowboarding for ever and he is without a doubt one of the most respected photographers out there. His ability to create a surrealistic atmosphere, or at the opposite take the essence of a glimpse of a moment, are unique. For his first entry in our Behind The Shot feature, he chose to picture the quiet, peaceful moment that you can get killing time in AK between two big mountain sessions. Get in the head of Blotto now!

The pleasure of documenting snowboarding is the unlimited possibilities for fun, creativity and travel, all of which cure boredom, promote productivity and enhance adventure in our everyday lives.

Gigi Rüf, Hippy Hopping in Haines, Alaska.

Camera: Hasselblad 203FE

Lens: 80 mm

Aperture: 6.3

Speed: 1600

ISO: 400

Film : Provia F100

The Context

The pleasure of documenting snowboarding is the unlimited possibilities for fun, creativity and travel, all of which cure boredom, promote productivity and enhance adventure in our everyday lives. Some of these missions bring you to sleepy mountain towns where people go to get away from the everyday hustle and stress of over populated cities; finding refuge and a mellow existence around limited numbers of humans. However, a handful of these sleepy mountain towns conceal just the right amount of snowfall and terrain features that snowboarders are looking to explore, ride and document.

Haines, Alaska has long been a destination for shredders who strive to find a new line, push the envelope of riding and fill out video parts. This Southeast Alaska town has played host to many film crews over the years, most notably Absinthe Films and their band of riders, who’ve certainly left their stamp on the town and the mountains.

The Tech

While most of the riding happens in the hills, we’ve occasionally found ourselves with time to kill while chilling around the hotel as the newest storms reset the mountains. Longtime Absinthe rider Gigi Rüf saw a good opportunity for a few ‘hippy hops’ over the yellow barricade outside the Thunderbird Hotel, so I used a Hasselblad 203FE with 80mm lens and Provia 100F film. After the action session, a few of us went exploring around the shore line, locating a snowed in Volkswagen Beetle, among other items in this mini junk yard. The same camera and roll of film was used for the portrait. As you can see, the skies and mountains look clear and ready go, but it’s the range to the North we were patiently waiting on a reset.

Check Blotto’s awesome work on his website, and follow him on Instragram/Twitter: @deanblottogray.

For previous Behind The Shot, check here.

Shayne Pospisil, Method. Arlberg, Austria. © Jerome Tanon.

Monsieur Tanon has been working with us for a few years now, but we are always and every time amazed by his creativity, and his skills to shoot and develop analog photography. We actually wonder what is the biggest of his passions: snap his odd cameras, or put on his crazy chemist outfit in his lab and try the weirdest way to print his stuff. Anyway, this is one of his creations, and the explanation that goes with it.

Shayne Pospisil – Method – Arlberg, Austria. Silver-gelatin print.

Aperture: f/4
Speed: 1/500th
ISO : 800
Camera: Pentax 67
Lens: Pentax 90 mm
Film : Ilford HP5+ pushed 1 stop
Paper : Ilford MG IV Fiber Matte 30×40 cm

That banger being in the box he went back up for a method as well, for his sole enjoyement!

THE TECH

I shot and processed this black and white film shot as usual, only the light was very dim so I had to push the film to 800 iso, therefore leaving it longer in the developper bath. Pierre Minhondo the main filmer from People and Elias Elhardt hiking back on the side gave me a perfect balance for the framing. The balance and the proportions is the main thing I focus on when looking through the finder. I snapped the “one shot one try” picture and hoped for the best, the best which happened in my darkroom when I made this print with my enlarger. After the exposure, when dodging and burning with tools and hand shadow games is done, instead of putting the paper in the developper bath, I put the chemistery on the paper directly with a brush. It’s a great game to play because the result of each stroke only appears a minute later. It’s usually hard to get a good contrast because the chemicals get used very quickly and stop reacting, but this one worked well.

THE CONTEXT

This galley hip pretty much saved our day in the bad weather of Arlberg. The People crew wanted to make the best out of their trip to Europe and that landing spoke for itself when we found it. A bit of shape later for the inrun and the kicker, Shayne and Elias started flying pretty hard over the lip. Elias was into good old backside airs when Shayne actually did a indy nosebone turned into an un-expected backside 180 in the middle of the air. Crazy. That banger being in the box he went back up for a method as well, for his sole enjoyement.

For more of Jerome’ stuff, check his website, and like his Facebook page!

Check also our previous one with Matt Georges, and all the others on the Behind The Shot tag.

The deadline for submissions to the Blue Tomato Best Urban Shot competition has now passed. These are the ones that caught our eye out of a pretty creative crop. Lots of crews out there getting after it, getting the shots to prove it. Cast your eye over the whole lot here – there’s 140 of them, which is your favourite?