Frozen Motion December 23rd, 2009
I had been working with Ben Benson on the last few days of the Consensio job so it only made sense to stay on for a few days longer and shoot some stock for Getty, so we headed for Vallandry hoping for better weather. The next morning was grey, cold and misty, so I headed down to the river to shoot some running water with a 3 stop ND filter, this holds light back and allows for a longer exposures, which gives you that dreamy effect. When I got down to the water there were some outstanding ice formations on the roots and branches so I spent a few hours scrambling up and down the river bank. I managed to get quite a few nice shots, I really like the stillness of ice against the movement of the water. In the afternoon the weather broke a little so we went up to Vallandry and shot some portraits of Ben with some new Salomon and Bolle gear, and a few landscape pictures as there was a superb sunset cranking. Then we packed our bags again and headed south.
That evening we arrived in Alpe d Huez on only the second day of their season to find the mountain with a reasonable covering of snow. The next morning was beautiful so we headed up to try and get some ski photography done. Although it’s early and the snow can be dodgy I do love the light at this time of year, I call it “blade lighting” it gets really intense after 2pm and the other bonus is you don’t have to wait long for the sunset. When the snow isn’t the best I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve to make things look a little better, so the use of wide angles, flash, slow shutters speeds and tight detail was the order of the day. Considering what we had to work with we didn’t do too badly. The next morning we where on our way home…job done.
Premier Neige. December 22nd, 2009
At 3am on the 6th of December I turned the car keys in the ignition and drove off my drive, at 9pm I pulled up on the drive way of Chalet Aurore in Meribel. Over the years I’ve sampled my fair share of accommodation from YHA’s to exclusive Alpine Lodges but nothing can prepare you for the Consensio chalets experience. I won’t go into it in too much detail, but when I tell you the chalet next door has it’s own gondola to take it’s owners to the piste…. you get the idea! I had been commissioned to shoot the interiors of their chalets in Meribel and Val d’Isere, shoot some lifestyle in and around the chalets and, possibly, some action pictures of the staff wearing Faiise clothing. I managed to shoot a fair amount but unfortunately the action was missed as bad weather arrived and we had to be out as the first lucky guests arrived.
