Henkell TrockenTraditional sparkling wine
This is probably a traditional way of photographing a champagne/sparkling wine product. The label is clear, and effervescence is on display.  One thing I didn't count on was the weird reflections that my textured backdrop caused on the champagne glass, but in my mind, this is a decent first attempt.

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This is an example of "light field" photography for glass, where the glassware is outlined, allowing it to be seen where it might otherwise blend into the background. I chose this lighting pattern in order to highlight the colour of the drink and show the bubbles. This is a typical way to photograph glasses and liquids; I just wish I'd used a larger backlight in order to make the outline of the champagne glass more crisp.

Holiday lightsLights in the background give a sense of celebration to this drink.
This is probably the most celebratory image that I have in this set. The holiday lights and reflected table top light from below raise the mood of this image, which is meant to give the idea that it was taken in a dark bar or club. Sadly, the drink has gone flat here, and I didn't have a way to wake up the bubbles, but lesson learned - champagne bubbles don't last very long! Next time I do this I'll have a few Alka-Seltzer tablets on hand.

New year’s aftermath

Aftermath 1. This image is actually what I had envisioned when I started thinking about how to portray the oddness of celebrating this new year.  The lighting design is intended to evoke morning light coming through a partially-open window. As for the content/props - the small twist-top bottle of sparkling wine, the single glass, hat, and noisemaker - these were chosen to portray the small gathering sizes that most people experienced this year, as well as the hardship that many faced**.  (**Aside: I couldn't bring myself to use Baby Duck for this shoot, despite it definitely being a cheap alcohol alternative. My intention was not to portray a high school party vibe!)

New Year's Aftermath 2Post-new year's celebration scene.

New Year's Aftermath 2. After I took the first "Aftermath" picture, I reviewed it on my computer, and decided that there were technical aspects of it that I didn't like. The glass was too dirty, the fact that the bottle was a twist-top wasn't readily apparent, and I'd allowed too much of the light source into my frame, causing too much flare. This was my second attempt at this image, using a cleaner glass and an HDR-type of technique to better control the highlights and shadows, and upon reflection I'm not sure that it's an improvement. Yes, in my mind it's a bit clearer, but it's almost *too* sanitized and loses some of the grunge of the first attempt.

What are your thoughts? What emotions did the above images evoke? How did you spend your New Year's Eve?

These are the highlights of the day; for the full set of photos and purchase options, please visit the full gallery:

http://photos.lorenzjimenez.com/VITRS2019MtWashington

The next generation of trail runners ready to go! 

And they're off!

Running is FUN!

Yeah, the views aren't bad from the top.

Long course winner Sean Chester is all alone on the way to the summit.

This climb was steep! 

Lovely ribbon of sub-alpine singletrack.

After the steeps come the rocks. 

Just a wee bit of exposure to keep things interesting. 

 What, more UP?!?

Just posing on a mountainside.

Finally get to cruise for a bit!

The second climb for the long course racers was really, really steep. 

 Yay for hydration and gummies!

! This chairlift must have been a bit of a tease for the long-course runners, since the second climb went right along beside it. 

  All kinds of critters in the trees.
   
Happy to be at the finish line!

This is the 13th year of the BC Bike Race, a seven-day mountain biking stage race visiting the best singletrack trails coastal British Columbia has to offer. With 600 racers from 38 countries, this is a bucket-list-worthy mountain bike event for riders around the world. 

Day 0, Cowichan Valley

I met the travelling circus in Duncan, in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island.  By this time, the racers had already done the Day 0 prologue in North Vancouver, and had taken the first of the four ferry trips that would take them to mountain biking destinations around coastal BC.

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BoB (Bear on a Bike) is the mascot of the BC Bike Race.

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Six hundred racers come with a lot of baggage.

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We were welcomed to Duncan in the Cowichan Valley by the Quw’utsun First Nation.  

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The sun set on the tent city on the eve of the first full day of racing in the Cowichan Valley.
 

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Rocky Mountain mechanics were up late getting their athletes' bikes ready for the next day.

Day 1, Cowichan Valley

Two timed segments greeted racers on the first full day. Mount Tzouhalem featured some fast, flowy singletrack, while Maple Mountain offered some sweet technical rocky climbs and descents.

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Tzouhalem's Double D in particular was a crowd pleaser.
 

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By the time racers had gotten to this point in the course, they had ridden about 35 km and were ready to see the finish line.

Day 2 Cumberland

Overnight rain made the Cumberland trails slick and... interesting... for visiting racers.  Locals cheered, heckled, and coached participants down one particularly gnarly corner on Blockhead, high in the Cumberland trail system.

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Cumberland was the first introduction many participants had to West Coast riding.  The talk around the campground over the next day was that "the wet roots were a real eye opener!"

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The second portion of the loop took riders through some tight, flowy, singletrack amongst the alders.
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Day 3 Cumberland

For the first time, the BC Bike Race spent a second day on the same trail system. This shorter loop in Cumberland took racers down some trails never visited before by the BC Bike Race.

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The race course reached tight singletrack very quickly on the 2nd Cumberland day, so rather than the 100 rider waves, racers started in groups of 25.

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The fireweed was in full bloom in the clearings.
 

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By the end of the 3rd day of racing, some riders were looking to ham it up in front of the camera...

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...while others were all about the intensity.

After the second Cumberland stage, the race crossed the Strait of Georgia via ferry to Powell River on the Sunshine Coast.

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The rain and clouds of the previous two days cleared and the ferry crossing was done under blue skies and calm seas.

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The campground at Powell River is always a crowd favourite, being right on the beach and all.

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Definitely an insta-worthy campsite.

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The mechanics at the Obsession Bikes tent didn't let gorgeous views stop them from keeping racers' bikes in tip-top shape.

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...And a beautiful sunset brought an end to day 3.

Day 4 Powell River

The perfect conditions continued throughout the day in Powell River and racers were treated to ribbons of undulating singltrack through mossy forests.

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This guy wore a bunny suit for the entire race.  If that isn't hardocre, I don't know what is.

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Four days in and some folks were still hamming it up for the camera.

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While there was less elevation gain and loss than on other days, there were still some descents to keep things fun.

...And that's it!  It was a blast playing bikes with all these fine people. 

Check out bcbikerace.com for more information!  Maybe I'll see you on course next year!

Although the day started pretty miserably with rain and snow coming down at the Mount Cain lodge parking lot, by the end of it we were treated to glorious sun and views.

Special thanks to the lovely folks at VIACS for having me along for the ride!

For more information, and to learn about backcountry and avalanche safety, contact VIACS: 

http://islandavalanchebulletin.com

LJ_20170930-B9301067Rustic cabins are the accommodations of choice on Mount Cain. LJ_20170930-B9301118Bill Floyd wrestles a chainsaw at the base of Mount Cain. LJ_20170930-B9301124Bill Floyd uses a chainsaw to cut plywood templates for the bases of the weather station towers. LJ_20170930-B9301275The heavy lifting was done by the good folks at West Coast Helicopter. Rain and snow featured at the beginning of the day. LJ_20170930-A9300024The parking lot at the base of Mount Cain made a good staging area and helicopter landing pad. Reaching for the skyBill Phipps attaches a load to a line on the helicopter under dark and cloudy skies. LJ_20170930-A9300164The kind folks at West Coast Helicopter saved us a hike up the mountain. LJ_20170930-A9300225Bill Floyd hikes up into the fog to the location of the upper weather station tower. LJ_20170930-B9301326The new upper weather station tower is located next to the old one along the ridge on Mount Cain. LJ_20170930-B9301329The new upper weather station tower is located next to the old one along the ridge on Mount Cain. LJ_20170930-DJI_0043Aerial photo of the site of the upper tower. LJ_20170930-DJI_0047Aerial photo of the site of the upper tower, located adjacent to the ridge run trail. LJ_20170930-DJI_0048Aerial photo of the site of the upper tower, located adjacent to the ridge run trail. The blueberry bushes are in their scarlet fall foliage. LJ_20170930-A9300269Building the tower foundations requires a variety of tools. LJ_20170930-B9301338Dave Kallai and Haj consult over the hole they are digging for the new tower foundation. LJ_20170930-B9301346-PanoPanorama of the upper tower site LJ_20170930-B9301427The lower weather station tower is in a beautiful meadow LJ_20170930-A9300300Much digging was required for the foundations of the towers LJ_20170930-A9300307-HDRThe lower tower was located in a beautiful meadow. LJ_20170930-DJI_0064Aerial view of the site of the lower tower. LJ_20170930-A9300344Large boltsr are used to anchor the towers to their foundations, rebar reinforces the poured concrete foundations. LJ_20170930-A9300347The anodized blue of the nuts stands out against the autumnal sub-alpine colours. LJ_20170930-A9300365Megan Burns and Bill Phipps pour concrete for the foundation of the lower tower. LJ_20170930-A9300387Several bags of concrete went into the foundations of the tower, all hauled up by helicopter. LJ_20170930-A9300451The skies cleared and the weather was wonderful on the hike down the mountain. No helicopter for the return trip, so all the equipment and materials had to be hand-carried down. LJ_20170930-B9301553The team: Haj, Megan, Bill, Dave, and Bill LJ_20170930-B9301554All done!

My goal for the evening was to capture the energy of the event. To this end, I generally used relatively long exposures to illustrate the movement and flow of the crowds; my shutter speed for the most part was from 1/3s to 1/20s. Shooting mostly with a full-frame equivalent of a 90mm lens, and with all the shots being hand-held, the excellent in-body stabilization of my Olympus E-M1 was a necessity.  

Wishing for ramenNikkei Ramen-Ya was an oasis of warmth as the sun went down. Open lateThe crowds swelled and swirled around the lights of the stores and restaurants on 5th St. Something for everyone!Face painting was popular with the little ones. The streets were alive with the sound of musicMusic from roaming musicians, DJs, and pop-up choirs filled the street Float like a butterflyLights everywhere made for a magical evening The place to beAt times it seemed as though all of Comox Valley was gathered in downtown Courtenay Holiday spiritAll the businesses were dressed up for the holidays BubblesWhere else can you find bubble-blowing unicorns of a Friday evening? Under the bright lightsEven more music was to be heard at the stage on Duncan Avenue.

The full set of photos is on my website, here: 

http://photos.lorenzjimenez.com/vitrs2017ladysmith

LJ_20170722-B7227912 LJ_20170722-B7227954 LJ_20170722-B7227921So many puppies at the start line! LJ_20170722-A7220247Gotta get a good pre-race stretch in. LJ_20170722-A7220501 LJ_20170722-A7220532 LJ_20170722-B7228172 LJ_20170722-A7220807 LJ_20170722-A7220883 LJ_20170722-B7228529 LJ_20170722-A7221824 LJ_20170722-B7228634 LJ_20170722-A7220139-2 LJ_20170722-B7228713

https://cumberland.ca/skatepark-and-jump-park/

Check out the full set of images here:

http://photos.lorenzjimenez.com/CumberlandSkateParkOpening

LJ_20170920-A9200175 LJ_20170920-B9200803 LJ_20170920-A9200222 LJ_20170920-A9200256 LJ_20170920-A9200276 LJ_20170920-A9200338 LJ_20170920-A9200341 LJ_20170920-A9200344 LJ_20170920-A9200354View from behind of skaters getting read to drop in to a skateboard park. LJ_20170920-A9200383 LJ_20170920-A9200405 LJ_20170920-A9200491 LJ_20170920-A9200535Shadow of a skateboarder dropping in at a skateboard park. LJ_20170920-B9200791 LJ_20170920-B9200871Group of skaters at the grand opening of a skateboard park.

The evening before the big day.The famous BOB (Bear On Bike) mascot overlooks the finish area on the evening before Stage 1 in Cumberland.

I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot the Cumberland and Powell River stages of the BC Bike Race for the first time this year.  To sum up the experience: WOW!  Eleven years in, the BC Bike Race is a well-oiled machine. The logistics involved in putting on a show involving over 600 racers and many hundreds of volunteers, not to mention three ferry rides and 300 km of racing, is absolutely outstanding!  Of that racing a significant portion is on sweet west coast singletrack...

Moto Patrol ready!The Moto Patrol roams the race course during the event, keeping an eye on racers and volunteers. LJ_20170707-P7070110The Cumberland Town Crier was on hand to inspire the racers at the start of their journey. Katerina NashSome serious star power shows up every year for the BC Bike Race. This year's solo womens' champion was Katerina Nash, a 5-time Olympian. And they're off!Racers surge through downtown Cumberland as the horns blow to signal the beginning of a 7-day adventure. Flowy Cumberland downhill.A racer charges down the Vanilla trail during the BC Bike Race. More sweet Vanilla flowThe Beaufort range in the background overlooks the action. Vanilla clearcutThe BC Bike Race course traverses logged forests around Cumberland. Cumberland is nestled in an active working forest, and the hard work of organizations like the United Riders of Cumberland has established ground-breaking land use agreements with the stakeholders. For more information, see http://unitedridersofcumberland.com/cumberland-trails-agreement-finalized/ Blue Collar flowBlue Collar never fails to put a smile on riders' faces. Sunset serenadeUpon arriving at the Powell River ferry terminal, racers were greeted by the dulcet tones of bagpipes. PacelineAs the race progresses, riders self-sort into groups riding at a similar speed. Over the boardwalkWoodwork is a prominent feature of many BC mountain bike trails. Getting rowdy!There's always some time to have a bit of fun on the trails, even during a race. Bike Patrol on patrol! Treats!Volunteers bearing trays of flat Coke were a welcome sight as racers neared the homestretch of the Powell River course.

The BC Bike Race is definitely a bucket-list type of event for any serious mountain biker.

For more information on the BC Bike race, check out their website:

https://www.bcbikerace.com/

The start of the 13.5km route was Cherry Point Estate Wines; much wine was sampled as participants waited for the first wave of runners to head out.

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The first running segment was the longest and took runners past farm fields and rolling hills.

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Rocky Creek and Venturi Schulze wineries were the intermediate stops on the route. 

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B9020596They know how to have fun at Venturi Schulze.

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A long day of running and sampling wines was capped off at Blue Grouse Vineyards, where a feast and live music was to be had on the patio overlooking the fields.

LJ_20170902-A9021570Jumping for joy! The rare bit of shade on the course put people in a good mood for the finishing stretch.

B9020614Still smiling at the end of a long day. Maybe the wine had something to do with it?

B9020655Delicious dinner brought to you by Food for Thought.

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B9020773-PanoAfter a long day of running, walking, wining, and eating, sometimes the best thing to do is to chill out on a lush green lawn.

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Thank you to the organizers, the hosts, the volunteers, and all the participants for a great day in Vancouver Island wine country! 

The full set of photos is here on my website:

http://photos.lorenzjimenez.com/cowichanwinerun2017

In each and every race I tried something different in an attempt to push my photographic boundaries a little bit. Sometimes those experiments worked (hooray for lights and radio triggers in the dark forest!), and sometimes not so much (I never managed to get an overhead shot at a Cumberland bridge that I was truly happy with) - but at least I'll have expanded my repertoire either way.

  LJ_20150419-P4190054Without lights I would not have been able to freeze the action under the forest canopy.

LJ_20150419-P4190090The lights also help to make the rider stand out from the background for dramatic effect.

LJ_20150419-_4191331Of course, there was pretty spectacular action in good light too. Here I'm using some out-of-focus foreground elements to frame the rider and give the image some depth. This is something I've only recently started doing intentionally.

LJ_20150419-_4191235And even in a rad downhill race, you can still find those "awww" moments. I had never taken pictures at a downhill race before, but I definitely want to do it again! The nature of the event - many racers passing by the same spot during their practice runs - makes it fairly easy to find a suitable location and work the angles until you get the ideal shot. 

Of course, there was more than just the downhill race. I also managed to get myself to the Cumberland XC and the Nanaimo XC races. I was also physically at the Hammerfest Enduro, but just barely, due to injuries that left me hardly able to lift a camera.

LJ_20150412-_4129822Trying to get a bit of a change of perspective here: including the bridge details and the stream underneath to tell a bit more of the story. LJ_20150412-_4129544Red against green often works, and not just at Christmas. Also, offsetting the rider to give some visual tension, as well as leaving clear space for text. LJ_20150503-P5030447Crazy difficult shot with a unique foreground element. The rider is strongly backlit by the sun, so I used a speedlight at a very high power to illuminate his face, which would otherwise have been in complete darkness. LJ_20150503-P5030591Wendy Simms having a great time at the 2015 Island Cup Nanaimo XC race. Sometimes there's nothing for you to do except to be there and have a photogenic subject in front of your lens! 2015 Island Cup Hammerfest EnduroAgain, something different here. Used lights as before to fill in the shadows on the otherwise backlit rider, but this time my processing is a bit different than what I normally do. I usually keep my post-processing very neutral, but this series was done to give it a more cinematic feel. What do you think?

Full galleries from each race are on my Events page: http://photos.lorenzjimenez.com/events

So what's next? Well, the XC finals at Campbell River is just around the corner, and you bet I'll be there!

I recently had the great pleasure to be able to accompany my friends Will and Michelle on a journey that was literally life-changing.

Will approached me a few weeks back with a plan: He and Michelle had been planning to go mountain biking on Hornby Island for a while.  (Hornby Island, if you're not aware, is covered in some of the flowingest mountain biking singletrack you'll ever see.)  With their imminent return to the East Coast for Michelle's new job, time was running out for their adventure, and Will wanted to make it extra special.

To make a long story short, two weeks prior to go-time, a small team of advance scouts went to Hornby to scope out locations - and of course, sample some sweet, sweet singletrack.  We found a great spot, and fast-forward two weeks, we were back with Michelle.

Everything went exactly according to plan, and even the stormy weather of that weekend abated while we were on the Island.  

LJ_20150413-_4130464Michelle Baker and Will Trivett engagement photo

We followed up the next day with more formal portrait photos in Campbell River - or anyways, as formal as you can get when absolutely ridiculous hats are involved.

Congratulations, Will and Michelle, and thank you for the privilege of being a part of this special occasion!

LJ_20150414-_4140824Michelle Baker and Will Trivett engagement photo - Campbell River session

LJ_20150413-_4130315Michelle Baker and Will Trivett engagement photo

One of the things that's kept me awake at nights has been how to differentiate what I do from other photographers, especially with an eye towards making this a profitable pursuit.  Given that the barrier to entry to the world of image capture is so low (phones with decent cameras are now ubiquitous), there is now an abundance of photographers out there and the bar has been raised very, very high; it's a struggle to stand out.  So how does one rise above the crowd in this digital era? I guess one way is to enter realms where a barrier still remains.  It seems to me that *moving* pictures - i.e. video - is one such realm. Yes, phones do capture video, but it takes so much more time and effort to create an "acceptable" video, never mind a "great" video, than it does to create a reasonable still image.  With data transmission rates going ever higher, it's now quite possible to send high-quality video to mobile devices, something that was prohibitively expensive not too long ago.  It looks like there's an opportunity here and a space that is not yet saturated.  Now, I'm not a videographer by any means, having dabbled in this area only briefly, but it's something that I will definitely explore further.  As a kind of bridge to full-on video, I'm looking more closely at cinemagraphs.  A still image with moving elements is rather eye-catching, and it still leverages my background in photography and photographic tools.  Here's my first attempt (please be patient during the initial load):

I hope to be able to do more with these, especially with a view towards presenting them in high resolution and smoother tonal transitions, but this is a start!

Finally, I'm updating the ability to purchase select image.  In general, high-resolution downloads of the images in the "Collections" area are for sale for personal use. I'll soon be adding fine art prints for selected photos.

Please bear with me as I work through this process!

Also, if you have any suggestions or requests, please let me know.

You with me?Racers are greeted with an uphill battle at Methuen St. to kick off the race.

Although the day was overcast and light levels were low at the best of times, Mother Nature was kind enough to hold off on the rain - for the most part.  Sadly at one point a deluge came down and I scrambled to get my non-weathersealed gear under cover, just as a large pack of runners came through. *sigh*  

One of my objectives was to see if I could make use of my largest lens to get some compression-oriented shots, throwing the background out of focus and really highlighting the runners.  Previously I had only used normal and wide focal length lenses at events like this (some mountain biking and trail running races) and I was curious to see if using the longer focal lengths would work.  The experiment was a moderate success: in many cases I was able to achieve the look I was going for, but I was hampered by the lack of light, and the fast shutter speed required to keep the blur due to camera shake down to a minimum meant that I was pushing the ISO higher than I wanted to - in the realm of 800 or so. 

At the turnoff to Heart Lake

Another objective was to get some off-camera flash going, hoping to light trail runners the way I had lit racers in the forest at the 12 Hours of Cumberland Mountain Bike Race. Again, this met with limited success due to the inclement weather since my speedlights are *not* weathersealed, and my decision to change locations a bunch of times would have meant setting up and tearing down the lights repeatedly, but I did manage to get a single light off-camera in a situation where, strictly speaking, the light wasn't necessary, but having it allowed me to freeze the action and add just a bit more clarity.

Still flying!Crossing the Holland Creek Bridge and heading into the home stretch.

All in all it was a great event on some fun trails with lots of friendly and enthusiastic volunteers. 

Holland Creek Bridge Course MarshalI think his name is Hugo

For this show, I presented images of dancers and gymnasts performing in a forest and in an industrial parking lot in Campbell River, BC. As an athlete (formerly a high-calibre Ultimate Frisbee player, mountain bike racer, expedition adventure racer, and currently a rock climber), I have a strong connection with motion in general and human movement in particular.  I was inspired by images that I had seen online of dancers in unusual places; I now know that they trace back to Jordan Matter's "Dancers Among Us".  I was fortunate enough to be introduced to two dancers and a gymnast through a mutual friend. I set them loose in a nearby forest and industrial parking lot, and took pictures while I let them do what they do best.  This is probably the best expression of what motivates me as a photographer right now: awesome people doing awesome things in awesome places.

I had six images presented at the show, of which the four below were printed very, very large: 30" x 22" images printed on Moab Entrada Rag Bright paper, matted and framed at 36" x 28".  

From a technical perspective, I also consider this a showcase for what I can do with lighting. Three of the four images below required supplementary light, either because of the very strong backlighting, or because in the case of the forest, the ambient light wasn't sufficiently bright to freeze the motion. Light was provided by up to four Olympus FL-600R speedlights, all controlled via the built-in Remote Commander function of my Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera.  I can't imagine having to physically set these lights manually since in some cases over the course of the shoot they were placed across a small pond or high up on platforms. Being able to control the lighting ratios from one spot was a timesaver and helped maintain my sanity, not to mention that of my models.

It was amazing seeing my work and the work of the other students printed large and displayed in a space that did them justice; it was also amazing working with the talented dancers and gymnast that made my gallery contribution possible. I look forward to being able to present in a gallery setting again, and to working with these talented people in the future!

Dancing Outside 4One of a series of images of dancers and a gymnast that I presented for the year-end NIC Professional Photography Program gallery show. Dancing Outside 3One of a series of images of dancers and a gymnast that I presented for the year-end NIC Professional Photography Program gallery show. Dancing Outside 2One of a series of images of dancers and a gymnast that I presented for the year-end NIC Professional Photography Program gallery show.

Dancing Outside 1One of a series of images of a dancers and a gymnast that I presented for the year-end the NIC Professional Photography Program gallery show.

Speaking of assignments, the last assignment we had in this course was a bit of a doozy. Of a list of about a dozen themes, we had to pick two, plus a self-portrait, and express each theme with six images.  I chose "danger" and "freedom" for my two selections, and below I've presented the images that I came up with for "freedom".  These images aren't captioned or titled since I hope they each speak for themselves.

During this shoot we did a bit of impromptu trail maintenance.

Even in March the forests in the Comox Valley are lush and green.

And what would a mountain bike ride in Cumberland be without a bit of air time?

Photos from the shoot are in the North Island College gallery.