Two weeks before I actually saw it myself, I started to hear about this photo which came out in the Patagonia winter catalog. It’s been fun hearing from friends, both close and distant, who were excited to stumble across the photo.
For those unfamiliar with the Patagonia catalog legacy I’ll tell you a little about it. Basically, it’s a product catalog for an outdoor adventure apparel manufacturer. But instead of just filling the pages with photos of the products, the focus is on portraying the lifestyle that the products are created for. Drawing from adventure photographers worldwide, the editors are consistently able to produce catalogs with such inspiring images that many of us keep old copies in our shelves right alongside favorite magazines. In a recent email one of the editors at Patagonia told me they filter through over 80,000 photos each year!
The skiier, Erika Klaar, is a friend from Homer out on our local Baycrest trails last winter. If you look closely you’ll see the trees near Erika are blurred from motion. This image was one of just a couple out of several hundred that actually came out well, Erika is sharp, but the trees are blurring as she races by. The effect was achieved by chasing her on skis while shooting photos wildly hoping that with some good fortune I’d come home with one good frame. We are both excited the image made the cut and I’m looking forward to trying this technique again. Photo shoots are my favorite exercise.
Keep an eye out for the Heart of Winter catalog from Patagonia, rumor has it the Alaska surfing scene might be set to make an appearance there.
Below are a few other photos from this shoot:
