Per Loken, Handplant, Avoriaz, France © Matt Georges.

For this new Behind the Shot, we welcome for the second time our beloved senior photographer Matt Georges, who’s not only good at taking epic photos, but also pretty handy at explaining how the magic works – to a certain extend, a piece of mystery and randomness is always good innit!

Per LOKEN – Handplant – Avoriaz, France

Aperture: f/3,2
Speed: 1/160th
ISO: 320
Camera: CANON EOS 5D MARKII
Lens: Fisheye CANON 15mm

3 Flashes connected with Pocket Wizards Radioslave

When shooting I often think about how it could work well as a spread in a magazine.

THE TECH

When shooting I often think about how it could work well as a spread in a magazine. I really enjoy shooting pipe cause there are lots of lines and symmetry to play with and it’s even better when it’s puking snow.
To make this shot I have used 3 flashes: One down the pipe to light both walls and snowflakes in the foreground, one on the top left to light the rider, the right wall and also more snowflakes in the air, and the last one close to rider to light him up from the lower left side. I have over-exposed the pipe because I wanted to have a monochrome style image and not much details in both snow walls.

THE CONTEXT

We were shooting for the Rip Curl movie few years ago and planned to do a night pipe session with tons of lights, few generators and a pretty big crew. Unfortunately it started puking snow like crazy and in less than half an hour we got 10cm in the pipe and couldn’t do anything due to speed issues. The session was already pretty much over before it even started and we had to re-pack everything and wait for ages in the snowstorm. Luckily for me, Per was keen to do few handplants so we set it all up quickly and get the shots in few minutes. When shooting a handplant it’s absolutely necessary that the hand has to be on the coping of the transition, but as Per is really good at that, it only took couple of tries before heading to some warmer environment.

Check out Matt’s website.

Find the previous Behind The Shot here, and especially Matt’s first explanation here.

SATURDAY

There’s still a lot of snow in Utah. Parcours is possibly even more dangerous than snowboarding. TW Snow lost and found a decent edit. And for people like us it comes as a relief to hear that magazines are not dying. Or maybe they are?!

SUNDAY

There is always a lot of snow in Chile, at least judging from this teaser. And there’s a lot of weird stuff on the internet.

MONDAY

The TTR announces the World Snowboard Championships. A rad girl and a rad dude passed away. Marco Smolla rocks Lederhosen. Dave Seoane has grown a massive beard. This winter, Latvia saw a lot of snow, too. There’s 91 words for snowboard. And our senior Peter has a disturbingly dark side.

TUESDAY

Ryland Bell is a gnarly dude who loves Bärenjäger. The Homies Crew love Vodka. Grilo is living the dream – including private jets. Marc Swoboda rips Bulgaria. And Per Loken ends his pro career.

WEDNESDAY

Jamie Nicholls had a good season. Niki Korpela and Ethan Morgan take minishred to the next level. Snowboard pro-cum-musician Trouble Andrew releases a music video.

THURSDAY

The Sane Crew hits Serfaus. Again. Comune releases an artsy trailer. Again. And it might be time to befriend skiers.

FRIDAY

Eero Ettala has blown his ACL. Zac Marben gets a hole in the skin. The Olympics might take slopestyle, too. And beware, there’s werewolves!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Sending a beautiful BS Air in Avoriaz - photo: Matt Georges

We are sad to announce to you, that Norwegian ripper Per Loken has decided to retire and end his professional career as a rider.

These are the offical words of his long term sponsor Rip Curl to this:  He decided indeed to end his pro career but be sure that he still belongs to the RC crew. This is closing an amazing long term relationship during which Per contributed so much to help us in our development, and we are sincerely grateful for his devotion. He will definitely have a special place in our heart. Per, we wish you good luck and a lot of fun for your new life!

And this is what Per had to say himself: “After riding for Rip Curl for the last seven years it’s sad to announce that we are parting ways! I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to all the good friends I´ve gotten at Rip Curl over the years! Damien, Raphael and all of my team buddies whom I have shared some amazing memories with all over the globe. From walking at the beach in Abkhazia and trekking in the Himalaya Mountains, Rip Curl has given me the chance to live out my dream as a professional snowboarder. Thanks to all you guys, and hope to see you around whether it’s on the beach surfing or on the mountain!”
So all that is left for us to say is that we wish Per all the best for his future life! Get yourself some sweet first tracks on us next winter.

ripcurl.com

Photo: Eric Bergeri

Matti Kinnunen channels the spirit of Mike Vallely. Flatland handplant. Jasna, Slovakia. Photo: Sami Tuoriniemi.

More killer action for your eyeholes.

The Photoblast has been on holiday. It has been on a beach drinking margaritas, getting tan and hooking up with underwear models and is now refreshed. It is back. Enjoy.