Juskuz Photography

The last couple of months have been good to me as far as photo contests go. Above is an image that helped me win some gear from the Gear Junkie. In the photo Aaron Lalonde and his two pups can be seen hiking up Center Bowl at Mont Ripley one morning. I really should thank Aaron for helping make this image so cool. 

Here’s the link to the original post - gearjunkie.com/photo-contest-winners-weekday-warrior

Later.

So, I’ve again found a photo of mine being chosen as the winner of Wend Magazine’s weekly Friday Photo Contest. I know it’s not in print, but it always makes you feel good when someone choses to show other people one of your images. Also, I won a spotting scope… not sure what I’m going to do with it, but I’ll have it. If anyone out there wants it just let me know and it’s yours. 

Here’s a link to the original post – www.wendmag.com/blog/2011/12/16/friday-photo-december-late-launch/

Later. 

Ok… it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted anything here and I’m sorry. Things were pretty busy before, during, and after the move out to Maine. I did quickly find a part-time job, and am currently looking for other–more permanent–work. Mari seems to be getting along fine with her classes. Our apartment is great. Our car is falling apart. Our new car should be here sometime this week, and looking for work is way more work than work itself.

Anyway, in the middle of all of this I was contacted by someone from the Hong Kong based magazine Sportsoho. My understanding is that this publication is a magazine focused on sports photography and sports photographers. They were contacting me because they were interested in highlighting some of my work and myself. I have to say… I truly thought this was some kind of joke at first, but it turned out that it was not. Anyway, I thought I would share the article here now that it’s out. I really have no clue what it says. The questions I was presented with were quite varied, so I can’t even speculate as to what the content of the article… but it’s always cool to see my work in print.

Now, I know I haven’t been sharing much lately, but that is going to change. I have some time off this week and I promise to help everyone get caught up.

Later.

Link to High-Res PDF

Pete Karinen destroying all of the other 16mi competitors…

Well, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been posting much on here lately. Things are still pretty busy and I just haven’t been shooting all that much. Anyway, this last weekend was the annual Chain Drive MTB race. The numbers were a little down this year, but it seems like all of the events are a little down. Maybe it’s due to the gas prices, maybe not… Either way we still had a great showing and this year Mari decided that she wanted to join in on the action.

I just wanted to congratulate all of the participants and everyone that helped out with the event. Everything seems to run super smoothly and it wouldn’t be possible without all of the volunteers. Congratulations everyone… maybe we will see you next year.

Caleb riding strong…

Mr. Mancini on the home stretch after riding the 32 mile course on a rigid single speed 29′er…

Mari finishing the 16mi course with a smile on her face…

Chase Jarvis is a pretty incredible photographer based in Seattle, WA. I tend to check out his site every now and again and a couple of months ago he put a call out for his readers to submit some of their favorite winter photos. I took the bait and posted links to some of my personal favorites. Well… just the other day it looks like Chase and his crew went through all of the submissions and chose some of their favorites to highlight on the blog. And guess whose image was included? Yup… crazy!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to Chase and his crew for selecting my image and congratulations to any of the other photographers that were included in the post. There’s some great work in there and everyone deserves a pat on the back. To see the original post Click Here.

So, it’s the end of the ski season here in Upper Michigan. This is one of my favorite times to take pictures in the park. It’s warmer and there are less people so I can set up wherever I want and not be in the way. Also, the talent has had the entire season to get their tricks dialed and everyone is feeling super comfortable on all of the obstacles. So, for the last couple of nights we’ve been at the park shooting a couple of the features. The one I was most excited about was the launch rail. From most angles it seems pretty tame and some of the artwork on the sides isn’t all that appealing. But, if you look at it from the next set of features downhill it becomes a large triangle. The problem is you can see inside the structure and it again isn’t all that pretty. So, when I started thinking about lighting this feature I immediately wanted to light it from the sides and shoot it when it’s dark enough to push much of the background to black. Here you can see some of the shots earlier in the evening while the talent was warming up and there was still some light in the sky.

Not quite warm yet…

Getting warmer…

Here’s a pull back to show our setup…

Here’s my favorite shot of the night… Watson getting some good air. I really like the geometry of the shot…

Here’s another fav. Again, I really just like the shapes. I wish I would have framed it a little lower to include more of the snow… but what are you gonna do

The following night a couple of guys wanted to set one of the rails on fire and, well… I’m always game. Turns out it’s a little harder to set a rail on fire that one might think. Everyone was expecting larger flames, but I think what we came away with is still pretty cool. One of the other things we didn’t really consider was that the rail would get a little grabby once it got hot. This caused a few tumbles… no injuries fortunately, but definitely something to keep in mind.

Theresa Kewley looking HOT with someone creeping out in the background…

Ryan Nordstrom getting his blaze on…

Alright, first things first… TGR and The North Face are running a photo contest. There are prizes for best powder images and best freeride image. I like to think that my images capture some of those things pretty well, and I’m hoping that you might think the same way too. The thing is… I need your help. It seems as if the winners are going to be chosen based on the number of “Likes” they get. If you wouldn’t mind, please take a look at the images below. If you think it’s a cool image click on the link underneath the image and hit the like button. Remember, you can like as many as you want. As for those of you that have already liked some of the images… Thank You.

Later.

Click here to Like – http://www.tetongravity.com/contests/thenorthface/ShowingsomeFlare-3277/

Click here to Like – http://www.tetongravity.com/contests/thenorthface/Anotherjumpanotherbackflip-3276/

Click here to Like – http://www.tetongravity.com/contests/thenorthface/GotRhythm-3275/

Click here to Like – http://www.tetongravity.com/contests/thenorthface/DroppingIn-3274/

Click here to Like – http://www.tetongravity.com/contests/thenorthface/GettingLost-3273/

Click here to Like – http://www.tetongravity.com/contests/thenorthface/IntotheSunset-3272/

This is my favorite image from the weekend. With any luck there will be more snow like this in our future. I hope you’re having fun… where ever you are.

Later.

So, 2010 was a pretty good year. I shot a fair amount and was fortunate enough to have quite a few of my images published. I took a quick spin through my 2010 catalog and these are some of the images that stood out and are some of my favorites. I would loosely classify the first set as more action oriented images. I really enjoy photographing these types of things. As a participant in many of these things it’s much clearer in my mind the image that I’m attempting to capture. I know what moment I’m looking for or the feeling I’m hoping to convey and I’m more aware of the elements required to express that which is in my mind. However, there is always room for improvement and in 2011 I hope to do nothing more than keep shooting and continue refining my ability to communicate what it feels like to be out there doing these sports.

The second series of images in this post could be loosely classified as portraits. This is an area of photography where I would like to spend a little more time. I think I’ve got a handle on exposure and lighting, but it’s the ability to make someone comfortable in front of the camera and then to capture a frame that really says something about the person at that moment in that location that I know I could be better at. Right now those moments seem like accidents and chance… I’d like to get to a point where it’s more of a skill, something reproducible.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the images. Happy New Year… and good luck in 2011!!

Dawn Patrol at Mont Ripley

King riding high on one of the features at Mont Ripley…

Unknown rider making it look easy under some good light…

Mark Klein airing it out one morning…

Craig showing some flare last spring…

Craig again doing some more painting…

Craig and John setting up camp…

Craig and John riding through the moonscape that is the Slickrock Trail in Moab…

My little bro Zack cooling off on a paddling trip to Grand Island…

Kyle given’er hell on the new dual slalom course at the Tech Trails…

Unknown rider displaying no fear during the Fat Tire Mountain Bike Race in Copper Harbor…

Sam Crowley of Sea Kayak Specialists in Marquette, MI…

Sam after a day of surfing down in Marquette, MI…

Unknown student at Michigan Tech working on one of the statues during the Winter Carnival All-Nighter…

Sam during a session at the Tech Trails…

Craig one evening out at Breakers…

Mr. Chris Marr being patient…

John, Justin, and Craig sitting on the edge of the earth at Gooseberry Mesa in Utah…

Louise and Anna taking a break…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

The other day I was in the book store looking through the magazines. I like to do this from time to time to check out the images in the ski, bike, and outdoor magazines that are getting published. It’s not that I’m hoping to have all of my images published, but I like knowing what the editors are looking for just in case an opportunity presents itself.

Anyway, I saw that the book store had the most recent issue of Superior Outdoors so I grabbed a copy. Initially I only looked at the last page. I knew that an image of mine was supposed to run there in the winter issue, it was there and that’s all I needed to purchase a copy. However, imagine my surprise when I sat down to lunch and saw another of my photos in the table of contents! Apparently, another series of images I submitted were published along with an article by Conor Mihell on the Gales of November kayak confluence. And that wasn’t the end… in the reflections portion of the magazine appeared one of my surfing images of Sam Gardner.

It’s really cool seeing my stuff in print. I would say it’s because I’m so awesome, but the truth is that I really owe most of these images to Conor. He’s the one with the magic pen and without his words there would be no need for my images.

Thanks Conor.