Canadian shooter Scott Serfas has been producing epic photos of snow, skate and surf for 20 years. Last winter he bagged a slot in the prestigious Pro Photographer Showdown at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, and this is his story.

He’s also responsible for one of our personal favorite shred shots of recent years, which is in this. What is it? This AK shot of John Jackson dropping in to insanity. The riding, the spot, the composition, the light, the LIGHT! Epic.

John Jackson. Photo: Scott Serfas.

Nose piercings: Strangely enough, they are never out of fashion.

Just so that you know: We’re backing this thing. So read this release, then go out and take some primo pics!

Kick-off for the second round: after loads of great pictures for the first mission of the BURN SNOWPARK RALLY 2011 in cooperation with VÖLKL were submitted, now the second mission begins. At the coolest online photo competition of the winter, every snowboarder is invited to take part. If you work with good ideas and creativity, you can win nice prizes even without having posh camera equipment. Via video messages, the Völkl team rider Chris “CK“ Kroell (AUT) send you on the second of three missions of the winter. Execute your mission at the snowpark of your choice, shoot a creative pic and upload it to www.snowparkrally.com! Originality and fun are more important than technical photo skills. Get your mission from www.snowparkrally.com now!

The first mission of the BURN SNOWPARK RALLY 2011 was closed last Monday. Since then, the judges have rifled through the wide range of creative and inspiring pictures and announced their favourites: after a tough decision, the high-carat expert jury consisting of Völkl team riders and pro photographers Lorenz Holder, Sami Tuoriniemi and Klaus Polzer voted “Indy Tailbone“ by photographer Florian Model and rider Christoph Schwarz best snowboard pic. It offered the nicest solution to the mission “natural obstacle”, the jury stated: “The picture has an extremely good image layout. The photographer solved the difficult backlight situation very well. The rider still has contours, and the light effects are done in a very stylish way.”

Winning photo Mission 1: "Indy Tailbone", Rider: Christoph Schwarz, Photographer: Florian Model

Together with the winners of the other two missions, both crews will be invited to the end-of-season Burn Snowpark Rally finals in Leogang, Austria, from April 7 to 10 2011. There, they will accomplish the winter’s last mission together with some Völkl pro riders and professional photographers. The victorious crews will join the Völkl pros at the All Inclusive Völkl Team Week 2011. Additionally, there’s a load of non-cash prizes up for grabs.

The second mission will end on February 17 2011. After that, the last mission will be proclaimed. Check the best pictures of mission #1 and get further information from www.snowparkrally.com!

For some inspiration we’ve picked some of the better submissions so far. Our photo ed Sami refused to help us select them. As one of the judges he will keep his opinion to himself until the very end…

Here’s how it works:

1. Check out the video mission briefing – your first mission is:
“NATURAL OBSTACLE”

2. Round up your friends, go on the mountain and get creative with your cam. It doesn’t matter if you use a SLR or a simple digicam. More important is your idea and the execution of the given task!

3. Then you simply upload the picture on www.snowparkrally.com. The upload period for this mission is from 15th December 2010 until 17th January 2011.

4. After the upload period the judges will award the best 5 pictures.

5. Win cool prizes!

Good luck!

It basically all started two or three years back when I heard they were going to stop producing Polaroid films… At that time I was not really familiar with the process and decided to jump straight in this “world” before everything was gone for real. I started doing some research about how to use fi lms, play with the chemical process, use different cameras and polaroid film formats and so on, and without expecting much i found a crazy community with a serious motivation and goal to keep Polaroid fi lm alive. After shooting a lot with the 600 film family (the classic ones with the white frame all around) I have moved quickly to 100 fi lms (rectangular and a bit bigger) and discovered many, many ways and techniques to play around with images. Here are a small collection of those from the past two winters…

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Rémi Lamazouère
trICK: Frontside 360
LOCatION: Bonneval-Sur-Arc, France

Photo: Matt Georges

 LOCatION: Cervinia, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Elias Elhardt
trICK: Cab 720
LOCatION: Bonneval-Sur-Arc, France

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Anne-Flore Marxer
LOCatION: Méribel, France

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Rémi Lamazouère
trICK: Method
LOCatION: Valcenis-Vanoise, France

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Romain De Marchi and Gigi Rüf
LOCatION: Cervinia, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Gigi Rüf
LOCatION: Cervinia, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Tadashi Fuse
LOCatION: Hokkaido, Japan

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: René Schnöller
trICK: Handplant
LOCatION: Montgenèvre, France

Photo: Matt Georges

LOCatION: La Thuile, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Romain De Marchi
trICK: Backside 720
LOCatION: Hokkaido, Japan

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Brynild Vulin
LOCatION: Valcenis-Vanoise, France

Photo: Matt Georges

LOCatION: Belledone Chains, Grenoble, France

Words: Danny Burrows

Lucas Debari, Steven's Pass, WA, Photo: Cole Barash

I read, with trepidation, an article in an annual by Reporters Without Borders lamenting the death of documentary photography. According to them, the financial crisis within print media was its executioner as the genre, including that of snowboarding, is far from cheap to create.

A photographer needs to be in the thick of the action for long stretches of time and in the case of snowboard photographers this means slavishly following snow and those that shred it. Unless committed solely to banging the metal and ‘crete of the urban sprawl then they also have the added expense of resorts and all the rip-off bars, restaurants and squats they contain.

The article went on to ask “who will now pay for photographers to get out in the field?”, answering with dread “corporations and/or institutions”. Why dread? Because when your pay master has an agenda, impartial reporting and freedom of observation get put away in the drawer labelled ‘obsolete’.

In the field of truth this is truly a worrying phenomenon – imagine BP paying New York Times photographers to cover the oil spill in the gulf, and then leveraging a biased report through advertising.

Thankfully for snowboard photographers there is nothing more sinister than their snaps selling product when bankrolled by a company, and for bottom livers like Onboard and its fellow mags the by-product of this clever marketing union of snapper and brand is more shots to get you guys stoked on snowboarding. I would say it’s a win-win situation if the brands don’t start counting, comparing the amount of shots used by a mag to their advertising spend – but then such an idea is far too Orwellian for such a bro-down industry as ours, surely.

So, the documenting of snowboarding pictures is alive and kicking like the temperamental beast it has always been; you might even go as far as to say that it is veritably booming across all levels of aptitude, from happy snapping seasonaires to seasoned pros, thanks to the advent of the digital camera. The danger here is that publishers with little care for the sanctity of quality photography start believing that any old shot will satiate the apetite of shredders. Fear not – in every snowboard magazine this idea stops at the editorial office door.

Without dedicated snowboard snappers who suffer aching feet, frozen fingers and battle with the the elements, both natural and financial, this photo issue would be rather empty. Therefore we dedicate this annual to them.

Keep on snapping.

- Danny

Rider: Valerian Ducourtil
Trick: Switch backside 540
Location: Bessans, France
Photographer: Matt Georges

Rider: DCP
Trick: Cab 180
Location: Stevens Pass, WA
Photographer: Cole Barash

Rider: Aymeric Tonin
Trick: Switch nosepress 180 out
Location: Thonon les Bains, France
Photographer: Matt Georges

Rider: Shin Camps
Trick: Indy drop
Location: Chatter Creek, BC
Photographer: Cole Barash

]]> http://onboard.mpora.com/features/magazine-features/snowboard-media/gallery-snowboard-media/snowboard-photos-november-2010.html/feed 0 http://onboard.mpora.com/featuredcontent/shoot-snowboard-photos.html http://onboard.mpora.com/featuredcontent/shoot-snowboard-photos.html#comments Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:19:08 +0000 Tom Copsey http://onboardsnowboarding.com/?p=12981

Shooting tips from Onboard’s Photo Editor.

We posted this last year, but with winter getting closer many of you will be looking forward to busting out camera and snapping your buddies’ bangers, so we decided to re-post this How To… Shoot Snowboard Photos to give all budding sharpshooters out there the 411 from our photo ed.

How To… Shoot Basic Snowboard Photos

Sami Tuoriniemi is Onboard’s photo editor. Each year he reckons he will have looked through 20,000 photos and monthly, he has to make the call on hundreds of epic shots. In short, he has bags of experience of snowboard photography. Here he gives a quick 101 on the basics of shooting the shred.

Basic Equipment Needed to Shoot Snowboarding

You should invest in an SLR (film) or DSLR (Digital) camera, plus lenses and, of course, film and/or memory cards. When I was young I tried to shoot snowboarding with point-and-shoot cameras, but they turned out really bad as you can’t focus in the right spot and the quality is crap as they generally have automatic- or semi-automatic settings that have little scope for adjustment. If you are thinking about shooting anything other than tourist snaps, you’ll need an SLR or DSLR camera.

Film vs Digi

It’s much easier these days to start with digital, but if your photography becomes more serious you should definitely shoot film as well. With film there is a certain feeling that I think is still lacking in digi, and you can create different kinds of effects and emotions with film. You can also achieve similar things with digi in Photoshop, but I think that’s lame. In the end, that makes you a computer nerd, not a photographer.

Kicker, dude getting wicked, landing. First rule? Check. Mark Landvik. Photo: Cole Barash.

First Rule of Snowboard Photography

You need points of reference: the shot must give you some kind of idea about what’s going on, where the rider’s come from and where he’s going. There’s nothing worse than the ‘guy in the sky’ shot that mainstream people think is so rad. However, on very rare occasions you can break this rule.

How Important is Good Riding?

There’s an old saying that your shot is only as good as the rider, but I don’t think that’s entirely true. If the quality of the riding is epic it’s easy to get good shots, but if the riding is not so good then it is more of a challenge to make a shot work.

Composition?

Whatever kind of photography it is, if the subject is bang in the middle then 9 times out of 10 it won’t work. Google the ‘rule of thirds’ but remember rules are there to be broken. When shooting a photo it’s kind of like a film set – to some extent you have control over everything in the frame, so think of what looks interesting, or complements your angle, or gives depth and so on. If you don’t like it, move.

Rider in one third, Russian bird in the other and the rail's depth shown by the angle. Epic composition jazzed more by a tilt-shift lens. Kareem El Rafie. Photo: Matt Georges.

How to Make a Trick Look Bigger or Better

You can make a trick look bigger and better with different angles and lenses. For example, a fisheye in the pipe can visually increase height – go close and low. Telephoto lenses have a sweet spot where the distance of a jump can be maximised. For example, if you shot the Onboard issue 99′s Travis Rice cover from any lower, the landing would move closer to the kicker and made the gap look smaller; higher and Travis looks closer to the knuckle, again making the gap less impressive.

Choice of Lens

If you can only afford one lens, the money-maker for snowboarding is the 70-200 f2.8. There’s a cheaper f4 version that would work just as well image-wise, but it’s not so good in low light.

Depth of Field

Depth of field is important: with messy background you can use a shallow depth of field to make the rider stand out better, therefore use an f-stop of 4 or bigger. But sometimes you’ll really want to show the background, in which case you will have to opt for a small f-stop.

Shutter Speed/Film Speed

If it’s bluebird, 1/1000 second and f5.6 with a film speed of 100 ISO should see you right. When cloudy, it’s more complicated and you’ll need to measure the light. If shooting snowboarding from the side of the kicker, when you really see the rider’s speed, you should try to keep to 1/1000 second. If it gets darker or cloudy you can just increase the ISO or open up the aperture. Shooting at a rider or behind them, you can use a slower shutter speed and still freeze the action.

Lighting

When you’ve dialled the basics of ambient light, you can buy flashes and radio slaves. Bear in mind that on-camera flashes rarely work in snowboard photography.

Dressing Your Rider

More often than not, the rider is the most important element in your photo so it is important to see them clearly. Make sure they dress in bright, distinctive colours. Shooting action in the backcountry with trees and rocks in the background, with a rider in camo or dark clothing rarely works. However, if you want a silhouette shot, then go dark. Also, if you’re shooting in town and there are nice colours in the architecture, you might want to think about having the rider don some outerwear that complements it.

Imagine this dude in all black and you'll see how a great shot can be ruined by bad clothing colours. Trevor Jacobs. Photo: Cole Barash.

Shooting For a Magazine

If you’re thinking of getting shots into mags, be honest with yourself and think whether your shots are up to standard. Consider the title you’re submitting to – regional mags tend to feature home-grown talent with a smattering of international A-listers. Think of what section of the magazine your shots suit. If you’ve done a trip, don’t just shoot action: shoot portraits, lifestyle, potential openers and so on. If no-one buys the whole story you’ll still have portraits and singles that might be used for something

How to Get Your Shots Past a Moody Photo Ed?

If you submit to a magazine, only send in new shots. Make a tight submission – 20 max – and tell the photo ed you have more. It is better to send 15 good shots than a rough edit of 200. Every single shot should be labelled with Rider_Trick_Location_Photographer. This should be in the file name, but in the metadata is also OK.  Get your submissions out early as the first issue of a regional magazine gets put together in July, while our first deadline is in spring.

Most importantly, enjoy shooting!

For some good examples of shred photography from our seniors and more, check out our latest snowboarding photo gallery.

5th Place: Creative approach with a disadvantageous lack in spray.

The second mission of the Völkl Snowpark Rally has been accomplished and the winners picked. Our photo editor Sami went through countless submitted pictures to choose the ten best images about a “Spray in the Park”.

Huh, Snowpark Rally? Alright, we have a little recap for you.

4th place: Sharing some star dust.

The Rally features three different missions throughout the winter. You can choose which mission you want to take part in. First you get a video mission briefing from a Völkl team rider. Next you round up your crew and come up with an original idea. Then you head to your favourite snowpark. Take a picture, the more creative the better and upload it to the Snowpark Rally website.

3rd Place: Karate Kid goes Snowboarding

Each mission has to be accomplished and uploaded within the upload periods. The winners of each mission will get an invite to the finals at the Kitzsteinhorn in Austria from 16 to 18 of April 2010 with kick ass prizes up for grabs.

Back to the second mission: Many of the submitted pictures did not stick to the briefing: They showed some great sprays and a lot of creativity, but the action was not shot in a park. However, Sami still managed to find a lot of outstanding shots.

2nd Place: Great use of lighting, creativity, and board.

Here’s his comment on the best image:  ”In the winning shot the photographer captured the action in the right moment and you can see a nice big spray fly out. Well done! Also, the style of the rider is spot on.” We’d like to add that the shot shows perfectly what snowboarding is all about: Having fun and making the most of what you have!

Winning Shot: Is this some great spray in the park or what?

Mission 3

Now watch the brief, gather your crew, get a camera and fulfill Mission No. 3! Sami can’t wait to get more of your submissions.

More Snowboarding >>

Upload periods

Mission 1: 15th December 09 – 17th January 10 (finished)
Mission 2: 21st January – 14th February 10 (finished)
Mission 3: 18th February – 14th March 10 (better concentrate on this one, folks

Episode 7 of Watch Nitro has some good advice and information for any budding shred snapper out there as they talk to Pleasure shooter Lorenz Holder. If you’re wanting more tips on shooting snowboarding, make sure you check out Onboard photo editor Sami Tuoriniemi’s How To Shoot Snowboard Photos article. Episode 7 also features some solid action from Italian Stallions the Kratter brothers. Check it.