Red Bull photographer Michael Clark is releasing a new book, Exposed: Inside the life and images of a pro photographer. With Exposed, Clark has created a photographic guide packed with practical tips, detailed lighting setups and behind-the-scenes stories from a variety of adventurous assignments. The photo book provides an inside look at the reality of working in extreme conditions to capture and process breath-taking imagery, and the reality behind being a professional photographer. 

Clark offers start-to-finish details of some of his most demanding assignments—rock climbing, big wave surfing, sky-diving, and mountain biking. Sharing his personal shooting expertise, the Red Bull photographer gives advice about on-the-fly problem-solving skills and post-processing techniques in Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. An accompanying DVD-ROM with 149-minutes of video shows the author's post-processing workflow using Lightroom and Photoshop for 16 of the images featured in the book. Also included is a how-to primer on these software programs. 

“I discuss the sixteen images in detail and tell how they were created, the story behind the images, how they were shot and also how they were worked up so that everyone can see the entire process—and what it took to get the shot. Along the way I make sure not to leave out the embarrassing parts or any of the gory details so the reader can learn from my experiences!”

“The idea behind this book is to strip some of the glamour off this profession and share a wide range of stories and experiences to give the reader a very clear view of what it is like to be a working professional photographer—and what it takes to create top-notch images,” says Clark. 

Exposed is available for pre-order on PeachPit, Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles. For more info, check out Clark’s website here.  

In the latest installment of our extreme photographer series, Red Bull Illume talks to legendary surf photographer Brian Bielmann about how the game has changed and what the future holds…

How have things changed since you started? 
Well, there are lots more places to sell your photos now. With digital you can send a single image to as many outlets as you want – but it’s also brought in thousands of new surf photographers. Here in Hawaii, we used to swim out to Pipeline with 36 photos in our camera. Now I swim out with 2,000 photos. There used to be zero to about eight other photographers out. Now there are usually 30 to 40 photographers at any time!

How do you plan for shoots?
You learn to be prepared for any conditions; with surfing you can’t predict what you will get. You get what you get on surf trips, so make the best of it!

What is your advice to anyone starting out in surf photography? 
Better love what you do.... and find places to shoot by yourself and try to do things no one else is doing already. 

What's your typical equipment on a shoot?
Canon equipment... Mark 4 and Mark 3 as well as 5D bodies, 35 and 85 prime lenses for portraits, 70-200 f4 and the 8 to 15 to shoot in the water, 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 for all-purpose action and lifestyle, 400 and 500 for action from the beach. I use all SPL water housings for above and underwater. I have Hensel 1200 strobe equipment but just bought the Erlinchrom Ranger 400 pack for travel because of its weight – it’s much easier to travel with.

What’s the main challenge of shooting underwater?
You just need really clear water – that’s the main thing. If you are shooting people, you need good swimmers, people who look and feel comfortable underwater.

Is it dangerous work? 
Sure, it’s dangerous! I was just on a trip in Fiji and a surfer came close to running over my head with his surfboard fins – I realized I should have had my helmet on. I have shot so much underwater that it’s second nature, but you have to be close to the wave without getting in the way of the surfer – getting caught by the waves is a no-no.

What projects are you currently working on? 
I really want to do a book and I am finally ready. People have approached me before but I felt my best work was still ahead of me. Now I feel I have a good enough body of work to represent myself properly. Other than that, I have great trips ahead: going to Peru and helping with a surf trip / Operation Smile project (for kids with cleft palate) through Sanuk then on to Fiji to shoot the Volcom Pro (I work for Volcom). Then in August I go back to Tahiti for the Billabong Pro for the magazine I work with Trans-World Surf. Other than those plans, I wait for big swells.

Does surf photography still inspire you?
More than ever, there is such a variety of styles out there with all the photographers shooting surfing around the world that I am always getting inspired.

What's your own favorite shot? 
I would have to say a shot of Nathan Fletcher (above) from last August in Tahiti, the biggest swell to ever hit Teahupoo and Nathan got towed into the most radical wave ever ridden by a human being. It is in the Billabong XXL contest for the biggest tube and they used it as their main shot for this year’s contest.

And lastly... your favorite break?
I would have to say Teahupoo, I was there in the beginning and have shot it for the last 20 years with a lot of my favorite shots are from there, so yeah, Teahupoo! 

brianbielmann.com/ 

 Red Bull Illume photographer Ricky Adam’s eagerly anticipated book Destroying Everything (... Seems like the only option) is to be released in May. Whilst Destroying Everything documents Adam’s background in the BMX and hardcore punk scene, the photo book is not based on any one particular theme – it is more focused on attitude or lifestyle. The concept came about when Adam began going through his collection and found that his images, although taken in different locations and situations, were all inextricably linked. 

"It’s not a book about ‘BMX’ or a book about (for lack of a better word) ‘punk’. It’s a collection of photographs of people who do their own thing their own way and live life from the heart, no matter what the consequences. They say the heart rules the mind. It’s the only way to live my life..." says Adam.

Adam’s photographs capture a raw culture. “A lot of the subjects I photograph have a self-destructive personality – (I’m going to include myself in that category as well). I think everyone is self destructive in one sense or another. It’s all part of being human.”

Destroying Everything will be published in the middle of May and is available for USD $39.99 at independent bookstores, Amazon and on rickyadamphoto.com. For more info head over to Adam’s website. 

BMX fans and photographers have another reason to be excited as the Red Bull Empire of Dirt returns to London on the 19/20 May.  With 34 of the world’s top riders competing at London’s magnificent Alexandra Palace, the venue forms the perfect stage for dramatic jumps against a backdrop of London’s iconic skyline. 

Red Bull Empire of Dirt is the brainchild of BMX legend, Kye Forte. “We plan to make the 2012 Red Bull Empire of Dirt course the most challenging ever seen with oversized features, motocross style jumps and snowboard type hits,” says Forte. 
Check out the details here. 

Over the weekend, more than 30 photographers attended Samo Vidic’s Action Sports Workshop in Bohinj, Slovenia. For three days participants explored various techniques under masters of the genre such as Vladimir Rys, Marcel Lämmerhirt, Aljoša Rebolj, Bor Dobrin and Matjaž Očko. 

The workshop covered a wide variety of practical skills from locations that included a kicker on the slopes of Vogel ski resort to an underwater shoot in a pool. During the action-packed weekend, students were exposed to the invaluable methodology of the pros, with presentations about Lightroom skills to handling a giant client like Red Bull or Getty, dealing with models or setting up fashion movies and continuous lighting.

“The students really enjoyed every single day of it but they worked their asses off after they figured what an amazing bunch of photographers we had,” Vidic said. A range of subjects was covered, sometimes all at once.  

“At one point Marcel Lämmerhirt was busy demonstrating setting up creative options of lighting in the field, whilst pointing out how you should be thinking about a wider audience to buy your photographs,” said Vidic. 

He added: “The whole weekend was amazing, but the underwater shoot was a story in itself — underwater gear, light syncing, 30 students having one-on-one time with a model who dived under a couple of hundred times dressed up in floating materials... Can you imagine?” 

The workshop sold out quickly but Vidic is promising to organize more in the future. “We're now even more ambitious about the next workshop,” he said. For more info and updates follow Samo Vidic’s Facebook page or the website. 

Continuing our series on action sport photographers who put their lives on the line, we catch up with 25-year-old Australian Krystle Wright. Last year, while shooting Red Bull paragliders in Pakistan, Wright and her tandem pilot crashed on take-off, suffering multiple injuries.

What happened?
Pepote, my tandem pilot and I began to run but found ourselves running sideways due to an unexpected crosswind. I remember looking down to see my feet were off the ground and that we were on a collision path with a group of boulders. My last thought was 'Oh shit...' before I blacked out! 

Woh! Sounds nasty.
I was stretchered off the hillside and driven about seven hours to a military hospital with one stop where I had to be stretchered across a makeshift bridge because the river was so high. My two cameras smashed into my chest and I was heavily bruised internally throughout my torso. There was ligament damage in my left shoulder and elbow, bone bruising in my left hip, two fractures and a torn ligament in my right foot, a glorious red eyeball and ten stitches in my forehead…

All in a day’s work then? 
Risk will always be a factor in my work. It’s important to minimize it as much as possible but Mother Nature will always be supreme.  But photography and adventure go hand in hand – it’s a dream combination for me.

What was the idea of the project? 
It was in May-June last year. Three elite Red Bull paragliders Tom De Dorlodot (BEL), Horacio Llorens (SPA) and Hernan Pitocco (ARG) wanted to break the world altitude record which currently stands at 7750m. Their support and help during the accident was crucial and I can never express enough gratitude.

Talk us through the challenges of shooting from the air? 
As with any adventure sport, there can be a myriad of logistics to deal with. It's difficult to get into position as you’re limited by nature and it also takes time. If the opportunity arises to set-up a shot then I'll talk to the pilots over the radio but I prefer to communicate with the athlete before taking to the sky. I always have an idea of what I want but so many times my favorite image has been unplanned and unexpected. 

How do you and your gear cope up there?

My Canon equipment has always dealt really well. I make sure to never change lenses in the sky because I half expect that I will drop something! Once I felt hypoxia coming on as we climbed to 7,000m and started feeling drowsy — we had to turn up our oxygen intake. Another time, my hand became so cold I worried about frostbite. The pain as the blood rushed back was the most intense I have ever felt, I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out.

Are you a pilot yourself? 
I’m in the process of learning. I’m also learning to kite surf and I want to focus more on mountaineering this year.  

What gear do you use? 
I work with the Canon 1D Mk IV and 5D MII. All my lenses are Canon.

What are the highlights of your career so far? 
Camping with 23 BASE jumpers on Baffin Island for a month will always be special to me as I was challenged physically and mentally in so many situations.  

What other projects are you working on? 
I've just returned to land after living at sea for two-and-a-half months in Antarctica. As soon as I've thawed out, I’m keen to get back into some projects involving rock climbing, BASE-jumping and a few other things. 

Will you be entering the Red Bull Illume contest? 
Most definitely! I wish it would run more often as there are so few competitions that properly recognize adventure sports photography.  

After finishing his official shoot at the Red Bull Hütten Rally, Samo Vidic spontaneously takes a few moments to demonstrate simple light painting techniques. The Red Bull Photofiles photographer briefly takes two experimental lifestyle and action shots with the help of a tripod, a shutter release cable, some LED lights and patient athlete, Armin Walcher. Thanks to Samo and Armin for the impromptu lesson!

Equipment and settings:

Camera: Canon 1D Mark 4
Lenses: Canon 50mm 1.2, 15mm 2.8
Shutterspeed: Portrait 60sec
ISO: 200
F-Stop: 13
Memory card: SanDisk Extreme Pro
Tools: Manfrotto tripod, Canon cable release, Elinchrom quadra, Pocket Wizard

Credits:

Photographer: © Samo Vidic
Athlete: Armin Walcher

(www.redbull-photofiles.com) 

The voting has closed and the ballots have been counted… The runaway winner of the People’s Choice Award is Sterling Lorence’s black & white shot of mountain-biker Matt Hunter.

“It is a huge honor to have been selected by the general public as their favorite overall image,” says Lorence.

“The Red Bull Illume contest is the pinnacle contest in the action sports world of photography and it was a huge accomplishment for me to have simply made it into the top 50.  By winning the people's choice, it is the cherry on top, and truly makes me feel even more stoked about this image.” 

Lorence likes to work closely with the athletes and keep them in on the creative process. When planning the shot, they knew they had the location, light and composition dialed. “All that was left was nailing the style of his air as Hunter wrapped past those trees.  When this frame happened in the shoot, we both looked into the camera and knew we had the style and feeling we were searching to deliver,” says Lorence.

The People’s choice award is the most popular image from the top 50 as voted by the public. All voting took place on redbullillume.com and Lorence’s shot from the Illumination category secured the winning prize – a bumper pack from Sandisk (9x 16GB flashdisks, 3x 32GB, a Sandisk Extreme FireWire Reader and an ImageMate All-in-One USB Reader/Writer).  

In a new series we profile some extreme sport photographers who are at the cutting edge of the profession — or in this case, the knife edge.
 
Climbing photography is uniquely challenging because photographers have to be almost as accomplished as climbers as they have to be behind a lens. Jonathan Griffith, 28, is no exception. He recently shot the alpinist Ueli Steck making the first one-day winter ascent of the North Face of the Dru. To get the shots, he had to climb the entire route and shoot on the go. Here the Chamonix-based pro describes how the logistics of the game are sometimes overwhelming.
 
Why is climbing photography different?
Firstly you have to be able to climb at a very high level. Alpine climbing does not favour the slow. Interrupting the flow of climbing means you may not get back down. I’m always aware of what the sun and full-moon are doing. There are certain pitches on climbs that may only see the sun for a few days of the year and it's always a real treat when you finally nail that photo.
 
Do you put your life on the line?
You have the inherent danger of being in the mountains — avalanches, glacier travel, rock fall, technical climbing, weather. But that's the allure for me. It's being able to pull all these factors together and create that perfect shot that really gets me buzzing. It's not pleasant work — full moon shots in winter in -27º at 4am is not what most people consider fun! You're always fighting something in the mountains and never more so than on a shoot — the organization involved with timings, placements, and people is really mind-boggling.
 
Are you a photographer who climbs or a climber who photographs?
It's not enough for me just to head up an easy climb for a nice shot. It has to feel like I'm pushing myself climbing wise. Equally, a climb hasn’t been everything it could have been without a real gem of a shot. 
 
Set-up versus shoot on-the-go?
I do very little set-up stuff except for clients. I’m a real stickler for getting real shots in the mountains. I like to know that the photographer has been up since 3am, climbed up by his own fair means to that point and taken the shot. The idea that he cheated using fixed ropes really ruins it for me.
 
Is it really that purist?
Alpine climbing is a very genuine thing and that's what is so great about the photography. You can’t do set-up shots on the big North Faces for example — there just simply isn’t time.
 
A picture you’re proud of?
My time in Patagonia (see images above) was one of my finest photographically. The weather is so fickle that you have to climb incredibly light, but you only get a narrow window in which to climb — let alone see the peaks — so I carried my 5D as well as a telephoto and wide angle. The weight easily tripled the total weight in my backpack but I managed to capture some really wild climbing as well as landscapes that very few have ever seen.
 
What equipment do you use?
I use a Canon 5D Mark II and 17-40L or 24-104L about 98% of the time. Very occasionally I use a GF2 when I am really pressed for weight and speed.
 
How much post-production do you do?
I hate the over-use of photoshop. A huge part of getting that perfect shot is down to planning and knowing exactly where I want to be and at what time to get a shot. When it works you don’t need to heavily post-process. I am trying to capture the feeling and emotion of climbing in a wild landscape, not an artificially enhanced sky that the eye never saw in the first place.
 
Will you enter Red Bull Illume?
I've never taken part in competitions — I’m not sure why but it might be the time to start!

Product launches are always eagerly awaited by action sport photographers — and none more so than the latest offerings from Nikon and Canon. We haven’t had the chance to play with them yet but we can give a sneak preview of what they promise to deliver. 

Nikon D4:
With the D4 there are no great innovations — just lots of tweaks to take their flagship DSLR up to the next level. With 16.2mp it packs a higher resolution than the D3’s 12.1 but it shoots ten to 11 frames per second with full autofocus. However, perhaps the biggest new feature is its improved video capability, taking it into line with its competitors. The camera body is made for the outdoors and is ideal for sports photography as the housing is both splash and dust-proof. The D4’s sensitivity ranges from an ISO of 50 to 204,800 and there are new illuminated controls that increase usability in low-light situations.  

Nikon D800/E:
Boasting a massive 36 Megapixels and shooting four frames per second (five in DX mode), the D800 is obviously more suitable for studio and lifestyle photography, making it the perfect complement to the D4. The D800E is different from the D800 as it comes without a low pass filter on top of the sensor. This guarantees sharper and more detailed images but also makes images more vulnerable to moiré. 

Canon 24-70 2.8 II:
The Canon EF24-70 2.8 is an upgraded and redesigned version of the pro’s all-rounder lens. With reduced chromatic and spherical aberration, the lens looks to be another step-up, meaning you can expect outstanding image quality across the full zoom range. It is also extremely robust, featuring weather sealing that makes it highly resistant to dust and water — an essential for anyone shooting in extreme locations.  

Climbing is more than a sport. Climbing is an attitude to life.

That’s what Red Bull Illume finalist Rainer Eder set out to prove in his latest shoot. Eder got into some jaw-dropping positions in order to capture some unique urban climbing shots. 

The photoshoot features climbers hanging off unexpected urban settings like an elevator shaft, a crane, a cable car and a pile of old scrapped cars.  

“The idea was to shoot climbers in a very special environment, not like a normal urban climbing area, somewhere where nobody would expect them,” says Rainer.“A lot of climbing shots look very similar. The idea of this shoot was to try to capture something really different,” he adds.

To get the shots, Rainer had to call upon his own extensive climbing experience to get into position. “The most difficulty I had was on the crane. With the other shoots, like the cable car, it was easier to move a little left or right and find the best angle.”

But for the crane shoot, he spent over an hour fixing ropes just to get into place, then spent almost two hours hanging in a sitting harness beneath the crane almost 50m off the ground. Once in, it was almost impossible to change position. 

“I had a small seat. It was not such a big problem,” he shrugs. 

Working in such an extreme location, he had to make sure all his equipment was secured via a sling to his harness. Then there were the unique challenges faced by the climber, Magnus Midtboe. Photographers are used to the demands of their models. Even the toughest of climbers is no exception! 

“We had to break because the steel was sharp for his poor hands,” Rainer laughs. 

He used a Nikon D3s and took 24mm-200mm lenses, along with his Profoto flashlight for the shoot. Then he tried to follow his maxim of ‘being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing’.

“I just let them climb so they forget they are in the middle of a photoshoot,” says Rainer. “I prefer spontaneous shots.”


He also likes to borrow from fashion photographers. “They take photos at absolutely crazy locations and they show the models and fashion in a way nobody would expect! I can also say that I am ‘different’. I like unusual things and go searching for them. If I have an idea, it is constantly spinning around in my mind,”
he says. 

Rainer had the idea for the shoot but it took a year of planning and discussions with sponsor Mammut before it eventually came to fruition late in 2011. By then, the concept for each image had been worked out in detail and sketched by the brand's ad team (pictured, above). The Swiss photographer has only praise for everyone involved. “I want to thank Mammut and all the climbers for making it possible!”

To enter a competition to win one of Rainer's prints, click here. 

Pick up some handy tips from Dan Vojtěch as he prepares for a lifestyle shoot with professional athlete Sasha Christian.  Watch as the Red Bull Photofiles photographer from the Czech Republic makes the most of the location, improvises with light and keeps Sasha relaxed and informed about the shoot!  
 
Equipment and settings: 

Camera:
Nikon D3

Lenses :
Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8

Shutter speed : mostly 1/250 
F-stop: mostly 8

Memory card : SanDisk Extreme Pro 32 GB
Flash: Fomei Panther 600, Beauty Dish with grid.
Pocket Wizard 

Lowepro 

Credits:

Photographer: © Dan Vojtěch (www.danvojtech.cz)
Athlete: Sasha Christian

American Red Bull photographer Dustin Snipes has won the prestigious "American Photo Images Of The Year" award in the Portraits category. Snipes’ shot of Travis Rice, professional snowboarder and star of one of 2011's best action sports movies, The Art Of Flight, is taken from behind a sheet of ice.

"I was pretty excited about the win as there were a lot of great entries so I was kinda surprised I won," he tells us. "But right after I took the photo I had a really good feeling about the image. "

"The shot was pre-planned but I had no idea if it was going to work or not. I thought of it the day before the shoot and told a few of my friends about my idea but they seemed skeptical and weren't sure if it would look good, but in the end it looked exactly like what I had in visioned in my head.  "

"And when I got home and looked at the photos, that particular one jumped out at me and I immediately had to print out a copy. "

Snipes used a Nikon D3X, 24-70mm 2.8 lens for the shoot, plus four Paul C Buff Einstein 640 monolights, two strips boxes, one large octabank, one reflector, a sheet of 4x6 ft plexiglass and a black fabric background. 

The American Photo Images of the Year contest is an international showcase featuring contemporary photography from a wide range of fields. Competition winners were selected on the basis of originality and overall quality of concept execution. 

Snipes wasn't the only Red Bull photographer in the final line-up. Michael Clark's extraordinary image of BASE jumper Jon DeVore was chosen as Commercial Images runner up in the 2011 Images of the Year section of the magazine. Clark's shot was one of only 11 images chosen for the Images of the Year portfolio. 

Snipes’ photograph will be published in the January/February 2011 issue of American Photo and on americanphotomag.com. The photograph also features on the 'Best of Red Bull Content Pool 2011' photo-story alongside the greatest Red Bull images from 2011. 

Snipes was disappointed to miss the entry for the last Red Bull Illume Image Quest.
"I will definitely be entering next time," he says.

Red Bull Illume looks back at ten of the best projects, innovations and shoots from the past year.  

2011 was a year when the bar in action and extreme photography was raised even higher. It was a year that saw big budget production values come to ski films yet some of the best footage continues to be shot by individuals armed with just a helmet cam or DSLR. It was also a year in which the line between stills and movie is becoming increasingly blurred with the popularity of cinemagraphs and the use of multiple cameras to create movement. Whatever your style, we hope you draw inspiration for 2012.
 

The Art of Flight

Raising the bar for extreme sports cinematography.

Go Down! 

What Go Pro does best — a great point-of-view clip that got our pulses racing.

Matrix Surfers

Innovative surf photography technique using a line of go-pros attached to a rod.

2011 Time lapse

This can definitely be classified as extreme footage — a remarkable time-lapse of Earth from space. Don’t miss the lightning storms…

360 degree shoot

A complicated circular set-up of 48 cameras, capturing dancers from every angle.

Slow-mo

Great clip of a slow-motion base jump.

World’s largest sports photograph

Jeffrey Martin took a 20 gigapixel 360-degree panorama of the 2011 FA Cup Final. About 1,000 photographs were shot on a DSLR and a robotic tripod head, capturing the 90,000 fans in detail. Check out the shot here.

Cinemagraphs

2011 saw the re-invention of the GIF in the form of a 'moving photograph' cinemagraph. We're waiting to see who's going to adapt this for actions sports.

Chilling Shoot

For sheer extreme value, we love these shots by Christian Pondella of Will Gadd and Tim Emmett on the ‘world’s hardest climb’, Helmcken falls, Canada.

Perfect Day

Winner of the Red Bull Illume Image Quest, Chris Burkard's image of a lone surfer spent 2011 touring the globe in various exhibitions.

With Christmas and the New Year right around the corner, Red Bull Illume takes a look at the new product releases of 2011/2012 that are sure to be high on every photographer’s wish list.

Lowepro Flipside 500 AW
An old favourite of professional photographers, Lowepro’s evolving range of bags, belts and covers caters for every photographer. We are big fans of the Flipside 500 AW after all the great feedback from our photographers.  

Nikon Speedlight SB-910
Replacing the SB-900, the SB-910 is a worthy successor. With a smarter system, more efficient battery usage and new hard-type colour compensation filters, the SB-910 is definitely a step up.  

SanDisk Extreme Pro memory cards
This year SanDisk introduced their Extreme Pro CompactFlash. With speeds of up to 100MB/s and a staggering 128GB of space, this is the Granddaddy of memory cards! Designed to withstand extreme conditions, it’s ideal for anyone shooting action sports. 

New Canon & Nikon bodies
In 2012, the much-anticipated EOS 1Dx Canon body will take over as Canon’s flagship DSLR. Similarly a new Nikon body is rumored to be launching around the same time. It will be interesting to see how these two releases compare.   

Go Pro Hero2
This model, which came out in November, is a significant improvement on its predecessor. Two years in the making, it’s almost twice as powerful, with sharper resolution (11 megapixels) and with better audio. Where will you attach yours? 

Helicams
Remote-controlled helicams are starting to take off — literally — among action sports photographers thanks to the unique aerial perspective they give.  Some photographers have gone the DIY route while some pay up to US$20,000 for a custom built chopper. We recommend getting in a few flying lessons first though! 

Leica D-Lux 5
We can’t resist putting up our own camera on this list. Leica’s compact camera is a fantastic solution for the on-the-go photographer. With a state-of-the-art lens, expect professional results from a compact. You can read more about our favourite camera here.  

Pocket Wizard’s new ControlTL series 
ControlTL stands for ‘Control The Light’ and this new series gives photographers even greater power over their lighting setup. There are a number of items that make up the system, from triggers to small flash-specific triggers. A great new release, and we’ve certainly enjoyed the control this system offers!

Seacam underwater camera housing
Seacam is the market leader for quality underwater housing, producing professional housing for all camera bodies. After recent tests, we were very impressed with Seacam and definitely give this brand our stamp of approval! 

Glitzo Ocean Traveler
Looking to invest in a top quality tripod? Glitzo’s Ocean Traveler is crafted from stainless steel and specifically developed to perform in extreme climates and rough conditions. This makes it the professional’s choice for shooting in difficult environments.

There is a special Christmas discount on the remaining Red Bull Illume Leica D-Lux 5 cameras in stock! During the month of December, the cameras will have a 15% discount. Only 250 of these limited edition cameras were produced as a tribute to the 250 images in the Red Bull Illume photo book, and only a small amount of these stylish matt black cameras remain. 

The D-LUX 5 is for anyone who wants professional results with a compact size- its sophisticated features, super fast lens and potential for creative on-the-spot photography make it a perfect fit for action sports photographers. This sophisticated, top-of-the-range camera will be the perfect gift so take advantage of this fantastic offer and solve your Christmas gift problems while stocks last!

Find out more and order online here. 

If you already have a Leica D-LUX 5, you can find the newest firmware update here.

Camera features:

• Super-fast f/2–3.3 24–90 mm (35 mm equivalent) 
• ISO settings of up to 6400.
• 1/1.63”- CCD image sensor guaranteeing high quality images
• 3” LCD-monitor with a resolution of 460,000 pixels
• 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 formats as well as 1:1 in both capture and review mode
• HD-Video function at 1280 x 720 pixels with autofocus and the entire 3.8x zoom range available during recording
• Delivered with a free copy of Adobe Lightroom 3

Red Bull Illume finalist Miguel Angel López Virgen has been invited to join a prestigious exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art Mexico that opens on December 1, 2011 and runs for three months. The exhibition holds a skateboarding theme and is entitled "7 Capas" which refers to the seven layers of wood that make up a skateboard and represent the seven sections of the exhibition. López will be exhibiting six of his photographs, including his prize-winning photograph, ‘The Climax’, which placed first in the Red Bull Illume Sandisk Sequence category.  

The Mexican photographer is thrilled about the exhibition, “Just thinking that I will exhibit my work at one of the most famous museums in my country makes me nervous!” says López. This unique event features all the prominent names in Mexican photography and López will be exhibiting alongside Alonso Leal, Joel Cortes, Miguel Fido and David Jaramillo.

“The exhibition is an outstanding tribute to the fascinating world of skateboarding and to the many artists who contribute to Mexican culture,” says López. “In Mexico it is still difficult for artists working in areas of extreme sports to showcase their work, but this exhibition proves anything is possible so I am very happy about this opportunity!”

The seven sections of the 7 Capas include: A historical look at Mexican skateboarding magazines from the 90’s; photography; documentaries and video; design; technology (which covers social networking, websites and blogs dedicated to skateboarding); urban architecture and skateparks; and an exploration of the essence of skateboarding. 

The exhibition runs from November 17, 2011 to February 17, 2012. For more information, visit the Museo de Arte Moderno de la ciudad de Mexico website. 

Photographer Erwin Polanc chose Barcelona as the location for his analog action and lifestyle shoot. His model athletes were skateboarders Philipp Schuster and Philipp Josephu. Despite the weather threatening to ruin the shoot, Polanc managed to successfully complete his planned shots and developed the film himself. 

Equipment and settings:

Camera(s): Canon, Hasselblad
Lense(s): various
Shutterspeed: 1/500 (skate shot); 1/250 (lifestyle shot)
ISO: 400
F-Stop: f 5,6 (skate shot); f 8,0 (lifestyle shot)
Memory card/Film: Sandisk / Kodak Portra 400
Software and tools: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom / Nikon Scan 4

Credits:

Photographer: © Erwin Polanc
Athlete: Philipp Schuster & Philipp Josephu

Website: www.erwinpolanc.com + www.zwupp.at

The story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed Antarctic expedition a century ago is widely known. The explorer reached the South Pole to discover a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had got there first, five weeks earlier. On the way back Scott and his men tragically died of exhaustion inside their tent, just 11 miles from a food depot. 

A lesser known fact is that Captain Scott was a skilled photographer. Previously unseen images taken by the British explorer on the fated expedition have recently come to light and have just been published in a photography book. The result, ‘The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott’, documents the pioneering extreme adventure photography of Scott’s trip and will interest anyone curious about the genre’s history. 

The book is written by David Wilson, polar historian and great nephew of Edward Wilson, one of the men who died beside Scott. “The surprise is not that he took photographs but how good they are,” he told the London Guardian.

Ponting reported that Scott initially made all the usual beginner’s mistakes, on one occasion returning from a shoot declaring he had captured some great shots only to discover he had left the lens cap on. Wilson claims that Scott later attempted things that Ponting never did, such as capturing action shots of the ponies stumbling and the men struggling to drag sledges through knee-deep snow. 

In 1910 Scott was struggling to raise funds for the expedition but understanding the propaganda value of superb images, recruited master photographer Herbert Ponting. Scott’s decision was groundbreaking as it marked the first time a professional photographer was included on an official expedition. Ponting not only took iconic images of Antarctica but was also tasked with teaching Scott photographic basics so the explorer could document the journey without him.

Wilson emphasizes the significance of photography on this trip, marking the point where the camera took over from the sketch pad. (Four years later the Australian photographer Frank Hurley would take the genre to a new level, capturing iconic images of the explorer Shackleton’s ship crushed by sea ice.)

There is little information about the camera equipment used, but Ponting preferred to shoot on plate glass rather than film. He also used a primitive device called a cinematograph, which could take short video sequences. 

Ultimately the aim was to use the images and footage in public lectures to recoup the financial debts of the expedition. Unfortunately, by the time Scott’s body was found, arguments about the ownership rights had already broken out. After two years the photographs were eventually returned to Ponting, who died in 1935. The images were then purchased by a commercial picture agency, and lay unrecognized in a messy heap in an archived cardboard box. Almost a century later, they resurfaced in New York at a low-key auction. The images, shot on nitrate film, had disintegrated but a single set of positives survived. The buyer, an American antiquarian bookseller named Richard Kossow made contact with Wilson and the rest, they say, is history. 

The photographs are on display at the Atlas Photography Gallery in London from November 3- 26 and can be seen online here. 

In the 2011 Red Bull X-Alps adventure race, 30 athletes raced through the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea with just a paraglider and a pair of hiking boots to help them.  

The race organizers were interested in covering the race in every possible way. This included official live tracking features available on the website and countless cameramen and photographers following the athletes. There was only one more possible method of covering this adventure race left: The athletes themselves. 

The race was on to find a camera that would be suitably durable to sustain the harsh conditions of the race and yet still compact enough for an athlete to carry without hindrance. The camera would be exposed to extreme temperatures, rough handling and loads of potential knocks. The most reliable, high performance equipment was an absolute necessity.

Finally the Leica V-Lux 30 and Sandisk SDHC 4GB memory cards were chosen for the project. The Leica V-Lux 30’s high-performance lens and enormous zoom range of 24 to 384 millimetres was an important factor as well as being able to record in 1920 × 1080i AVCHD Full HD video which includes GPS positioning data. Accompanied by Sandisk SDHC 4GB memory cards, which would be collected daily by a team of runners and delivered to mobile cutting teams, the Red Bull X-Alps required reliability and durability. The pressure was on, would the Leica V-Lux 30 and the Sandisk SDHC cards go the distance?

As the race confirmed its reputation of being one of the toughest in the world, this new photographic team was put to the test over the 864-kilometre course from Salzburg to Monaco. The result?

The project was definitely a success and allowed Red Bull X-Alps fans an opportunity to glance behind the scenes. The personal footage gave exposure to the pain, humour and realities of the race: Athletes sleeping in their paragliding equipment, sitting completely exhausted next to a busy road or a close-up of a bandaged foot. This unique perspective added value to the race, revealing the human element behind the iron-men athletes and certainly made their achievements all the more impressive. Great results from an interesting experiment!  

See more of the results here.

Before annual Christmas lights begin flickering in Bern, the city will be lit up by the glow of 25 light boxes displaying the top 50 Red Bull Illume 2010 Image Quest photographs. The after-dark exhibition is currently open and will run every day from 19:00 to 22:00 at Bern’s Waisenhausplatz until Sunday, October 23.

One of the five Swiss photographers whose shots made it into the top 50 is Thomas Stöckli. In his photograph, he created a unique light setup to make the outlines of a quarterpipe stand out like a gleaming crescent. The only other vibrant subject in the photograph is snowboarder Markus Keller, who is soaring through the air with a high Backside Air. 

“I wanted to reduce the jump to its essential details,” says the Zurich photographer. His image shows the value of having a clear concept in mind before pressing the shutter. According to Stöckli, it took almost one entire season to fix a date with Markus Keller, but on the actual day of shooting it took less than an hour to get the perfect shot.

Today, this photograph illuminates the night sky above Bern. “I usually don’t get the chance to see my photographs this huge and enlightened,” he says. 

Asked about his personal favorite of the exhibition, Stöckli says: “If I had to choose one I’d go for the one by Sébastien Anex.” 

Anex’s photograph captured a snowboarder gliding past a barren tree in the fogs of Japan – all black and white, totally reduced. Anex provides just another outstanding perspective offered in an exhibition of dazzling extreme sports photography. 

Be sure not to miss any of these breath-taking angles at the world’s premier action sports photography exhibition. So if you’re in Bern be sure to pencil in a trip to the Waisenhausplatz- it will certainly brighten up your night! 

For more pictures from the opening night, go to the Exhibition page.

Winner of the 2010 Red Bull Illume Image Quest Chris Burkard has been invited to join the Megapixel exhibition in Shawinigan, Canada. The young surf photographer’s “Perfect Day” shot placed first in the Red Bull Illume’s illumination category before it was finally voted the overall winner of the competition. 

The Megapixel Exhibition is a new event that will exhibit the work of local and international photographers. The opening year’s chosen theme is sport, inspired by the number of sporting competitions taking place both in Quebec and around the world this year. The unique aspect of this exhibition is that it will take place in more than one location and it aims at presenting unusual and striking photographs in unlikely locations around the city. 

Ten exhibitions holding more than 120 photographs will be positioned in locations such as parks, galleries and commercial spaces. Chris Burkard’s ‘Waterworld’ exhibition will be presented in an old industrial space and his photographs will be printed in a large size (six by four feet), and suspended from the ceiling. The “Perfect day” photograph will be presented on a light box, an inspiration from the Red Bull Illume Exhibition Tour. 

Megapixel organiser, Violaine Héon, was thrilled about Burkard participating in the event. “We want to present some extremes, pictures that can ‘shake’ people. Chris Burkard presents something really new, because we don’t have this surfing culture here in Quebec. We don’t surf! And his photos are presenting not only courageous and talented surfers, but also the magnificent landscape around them.”

Despite being just 24 years of age, Burkard has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become an established surf photographer. He also works as a freelance writer for Surfer Magazine, surfline.com and Water Magazine, and the future is certainly bright for the surf enthusiast. Following the Red Bull Illume Image Quest competition, it is fantastic to see that his incredible photography continues to inspire the world. 

The Megapixel exhibition will run from October 7 to October 16 in Shawinigan, Quebec. All the exhibitions are free, with activities and master classes scheduled during the big launch event on the opening day. The exhibition will be a tribute to sports photography, so for all Red Bull Illume fans in Canada, be sure to support this creative new initiative! 

Last call for your votes! 

Since the unveiling of the 2010 Image Quest's 50 finalists, fans have voted for their favorite images. Voting will continue for the duration of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour in 2011, so if you haven’t already voted, get clicking!

As it stands, there is not much difference between the current top four images and it seems our voters are completely split! As a little teaser, we’ll also give you some clues. The categories of these top four images are: Illumination, Wings, Spirit and Experimental… But that’s all we’re saying.

Fans are still clicking furiously and the competition is heating up, so make sure you cast your vote and help your favorite photographer win! Your vote could definitely make all the difference at this close stage of the competition.

Vote here right now!

Surf photography has always been innovative regarding making the most of a location. It’s notoriously hard to find a fresh location or a new angle. Since flash rigs have become powerful and portable enough to be brought to the beach a few years ago, a whole new genre of surf photography emerged – night shoots. Just look at Jimmy Wilson’s category winning shot from Red Bull Illume 2007, which really caught the imagination of surf photographers everywhere.

As more night-time events have emerged – just take the Red Bull Night Riders and Red Bull Night Shift events at Bali in June, Cape Town in January and Florida last November as recent examples – photographers have faced new challenges, especially regarding flashing the action. New styles and techniques have developed.

Some photographers focused more on capturing the moodiness of the ocean setting as opposed to the extreme action shots.  Between the ranging styles and the different lighting of the locations, photographers approach night-time photography very differently to overcome the limitations of being too far from the action or lighting issues.

An interesting innovation also came from Dom Daher for example who used a heli-cam to flash a surfer in order to shoot from the beach at dusk.

An altogether different approach was the use of artificial wave pools that allowed photographers to shoot good waves and tricks at close distances.

Just look at Jimmy Wilson’s “Grabs” story for Stab Magazine (Issue 47) shot at Siam Park in Tenerife featuring photography by Sergio Villalba and Richard Freeman. Silhouette shots against a white screen backdrop were used to give beautiful text-book examples of grab-techniques.

To find out more about nighttime surf photographer and the choice of artificial wave parks, Red Bull Illume spoke to action sports photographer Robert Snow about his spectacular shoot at Typhoon Lagoon which made a big impression on surf photography over the last year.

The results were stunning. Unlike the ocean setting, the artificial waves are illuminated in an azure glow, with the white spray contrasting strongly against a dark background. The color of the waves is responsible for completely transforming the ambience of the shot and the setting produces a studio-like result, as if the shot was meticulously planned and frozen and not just a second of freeze-framed action.

Read on to find out about his shoot with Red Bull's top emerging surfers Evan Geiselman, Kolohe Andino and Cristobal De Col.


Q: Tell us about the location at Typhoon Lagoon.
Typhoon Lagoon is a Disney water park in Orlando, FL. The wave pool is located in the middle of the water park and can be rented out for surf parties. Typhoon Lagoon’s surf pool provided an environment that was relatively controlled. I thought of it as a studio to photograph surfing.

Q: It might not be real sea-water or real waves, but the photos have a great aesthetic. What was your vision for the shoot? Who was the shoot for?
In 2007 I did a test shoot at the wave pool using strobes at night with amateur surfers. In 2008 I shot with professional surfers Jesse and Markus Heilman at the wave pool with a crew and battery powered strobe packs. The production was smaller and the lights used on those shoots only allowed for one frame per wave. My vision for this shoot was to keep the lighting similar but have the ability to shoot sequences. I pitched the idea to Red Bull earlier in 2010 and they gave me opportunity to photograph their arsenal of emerging surfers.

Q: What instructions did you give to the surfers? Just do your thing or any special requests to get those shots you had in mind?
The best advice I could give the surfers was to go out there and have fun. Evan Geiselman, Kolohe Andino and Cristobal De Col are arguably some of the best young surfers in the world. They were training with surf coach Sean Hayes all week prior to the shoot. Sean was helping the surfers with aerial awareness. This was the final leg of the training camp and the wave pool gave the surfers an equal opportunity to display what they had learned during the camp.

Q: Were most of the final shots from the nighttime shoot? How much post-production was involved in getting the final ‘look’ of the pictures.
Most of the final images were from the first part of the shoot. It’s hard to tell in the stills/video but we had a nasty thunderstorm which rained out three quarters of the shoot. It rained 4 inches that night! Once we saw the rain coming, we had to quickly pack up all of the strobes and get them undercover. There was a bit of stress on set but the crew and I managed to get all of the lighting gear undercover before it got too wet. Luckily all of the gear still works and we nailed a few images before the rain. Not much was done in postproduction. A little color correcting, burning/dodging and sharpening was needed to polish the images.

Q: There seems like a serious amount of lighting involved in the production. Did you set everything up yourself or was there a crew? Explain the lighting set-up and the positioning.
I hired three photo assistants to come in and help setup the strobes. Without their help this type of production would not be possible in the amount of time we had at the pool. We used the Broncolor A4s packs, which ran off Honda 7k Generators. The lighting setup was two backlights two sidelights and one front fill. Five lights total, firing at 8 frames per second.

Q: What’s the advantage of shooting at an “artificial” location rather than on the beach?
Both the surfer and myself benefit from working at the wave pool. The waves are consistent and that helps determine the distance and placement of where our lights need to be. After the lights are positioned and the air section is established we can meter out a ratio.  It also gives us the opportunity to setup lighting from behind the wave. The wave pool offers an advantage for the surfers because they can work on airs knowing that every wave is going to produce an air section.

Q: What lens settings and camera equipment did you use? Did you use any waterhousing and spend much time in the water at all?
I shot with the Canon 7d using 70-200mm f/2.8 and the Canon Mark III 1ds with the 300mm f/2.8.  I was able to hyper sync by using the Pocket Wizard TT5 Flex to drop the ambient out. We planned on shooting with the water housing but never got the opportunity due to the rain. Next time.

Q: I’ve read that you’ve been shooting surfing for a long time and you now describe yourself as an “advertising photographer” after assisting for a long time. It seems like you’ve definitely found your feet. How are you trying to stand out as a photographer?
While in college I started surfing and photographing surfing. I really love the sport and enjoy the challenges that come with photographing it. After a while I started to realize that I really loved the sport but didn’t want to be pigeon holed as a “surf photographer”.

I decided that I would shoot what I know and have a passion for. I determined over time sports/action, all things in and around the water and working with people would be my focus. Over time these niches in my work translated into advertising work.


Q: Tell us a little about your projects “Project X” and “Southern Mud”.
It’s really important for a photographer to be able to do whatever the hell they want. That’s why personal projects are so important. Project X started years ago while playing around with Kino Flos for the first time in studio. I remember being inspired by an illustration where the character was dead or drunk and the illustrator translated that by drawing X’s for eyes. This lead to Project X, which is a series of portraits of action, sports athletes.

Southern Mud was inspired by a unique sub culture found primarily in the southern states of the US. It features a group of motor sports enthusiasts that like to build and drive big trucks in the mud. I spent a couple of years documenting the culture and sport of mud bogging.

The final batch of the highly acclaimed 2010 Red Bull Illume photo books are on sale now in the Red Bull Shop. The top 250 images from 2010’s Image Quest are featured, as well as compelling details on the top 50 finalists.

The breath-taking images are bound inside a hard cover and will be a fine addition to any coffee table.

It’s your last chance to get it, so quickly wheel your shopping cart over to the Red Bull Shop here.

When sport, art and photography are fused to create the world’s best sports images, the result is Red Bull Illume. Presented on 2x2m lightboxes, the Top 50 images of the Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010 will be on display in Bern, Switzerland at the Waisenhausplatz every night from October 14 to 23, 2011. Five Swiss photographers will also be featured in the exhibition.

4,773 photographers from 112 countries submitted approximately 23,000 action and adventure sports images to the Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010. The Top 50 images were finally selected in August 2010: all true artworks that capture a special moment in time and reflect the emotions, happiness, pain and speed of the world of sports. The winning images are currently traveling the world and the six previous stops in the USA, Germany and Ireland have attracted more than 100,000 visitors. Bern will be the only Swiss city to host the exhibition before it continues its journey in 2012 throughout Europe and Asia.

Behind the lens

Red Bull Illume turns the spotlight on the people behind the lens, to the artists who capture the most extraordinary sporting moments to share with the rest of the world. This job requires more than just an eye for good images; it requires the tireless work of keeping up with athletes and often involves the photographers placing themselves in precarious positions in order to capture the moment of magic. In this breathtaking exhibition, Red Bull Illume seeks to honor the photographers’ amazing work. 

Also featured in the Top 50 images are five Swiss photographers: Sébastien Anex (Vevey/VD), Dominic Zimmermann (Zurich), Thomas Stöckli (Zurich/2 images), Silvano Zeiter (Fieschertal/VS) and Christophe Margot (Choex/VS). The Red Bull Illume Exhibition is sure to brighten the dreary October nights when the lightboxes are switched on at Bern’s Waisenhausplatz every day from 19:00.

Every young photographer needs a little good fortune and a few amazing photos to start regularly getting published in order to afford better equipment and to develop as a photographer. Winning the Spirit category was, for Polish photographer Adam Kokot, the big break he was hoping for. His black and white photo of climber Michal Krol resting against the mountain face in Spisske Tomasovce (Slovakia) has opened a few doors.

After gaining some recognition in Poland and the Czech Republic with climbing publications such as www.goryonline.com and www.montana.cz, Red Bull Illume has seen Adam’s work appear worldwide in photography publications like Rangefinder and outdoor magazines like National Geographic Online.

His winning photo has inspired many. Although he infamously described making the shot as "easy" when interviewed after collecting his trophy, it’s often the simplest shots that gain the most attention. The emotion in the photo just connects with the viewer instantly. Climbing photos typically show how much endurance and power an athlete needs. Adam’s winning photo shows why people want to climb in the first place – to be in touch with the wilderness and be in tune with nature and themselves.

Red Bull Illume interviewed Adam to see how life has changed since winning the award.

Q: What reception have you received since winning your category in Red Bull Illume?
My friends congratulated me on the international success and I’ve got a lot of coverage in the media which has really helped me.
 
Q: What difference has winning made to your photography career?
I'm a very young photographer and this prize was the biggest success in my career, now I've got a lot of motivation to work! Thanks to the win I know that the time I spend on taking photos is not wasted, and that I’ve chosen the right path.

Q: What’s inspiring you right now as a photographer?
That's a hard question. It's very important for me to take photos of extreme sports, and those connected with mountains and climbing in particular. Except for sports, I’m also doing documentary photography with the emphasis on human rights. These kind of photos also give me a lot of satisfaction.

Q: What must a photographer keep in mind while shooting an action scene?
Taking photographs of extreme sports is unpredictable, that is why during the session I always try to be totally focused. When I put the viewfinder to my eye, I cut off from all the other things and think only about taking good photos.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face while doing action photography? How do you overcome them?
I am mainly into climbing and outdoor photography, so my main enemy is gravity! To get to the session spot you have to safely navigate your way using hundreds of meters of ropes in difficult mountainous terrain. Additionally, you have to carry all your climbing and photography equipment, and think about your own safety. Sometimes it is stressful, but I manage somehow.

Q: How do you prepare for action photography, both physically and mentally?
I try to do sports. I regularly do cross country skiing, snowboarding. I have two siberian husky dogs which keep me busy! It’s getting up early in the morning to walk or run with them which is much more difficult for me!

Q: What new photography equipment and techniques are you using or want to use more of?
Before winning Red Bull Illume in September, I used a Canon 40d and 350d with sigma lenses but now after the win I use a Canon 5d mk 2 with canon lenses. For me this change is a big jump, now my work is getting more and more professional. I still use small and old speedlite flashes. Maybe in the future I'll buy some professional lights.
 
Q: What interesting shoots or projects do you have coming up?
I’ve recently been making material about Polish boulder spots. During the winter I’ve been in Austria and Switzerland with Polish climbers making shots on difficult and well-known ice climbing routes.
In spring 2011, I'm going to the US for climbing shots.

Q: If you had just 5 pieces of your most important advice for a young action photographer, what would they be?
It is a tough question as I’m a new, young photographer myself, but I think that the most important is:

1. Just take photos, lots of photos!
2. To become familiar with the photos from the best photographers and just keep up to date.
3. Not to give up if something goes wrong
4. To show your pictures and collect opinions about them to improve your skills
5. To invest in camera and lighting equipment so that the photos are also technically good.
 
www.adamkokot.pl

Frankfurt-based art gallery nugloss has made available photo art editions of some of the award winning images from the 2010 Red Bull Illume Image Quest.

Eight of the ten category-winning images are available in three different sizes on brilliant acrylic glass. The magnificent hand-crafted pieces are sealed with a special UV filter for protection and motifs are strictly limited to 33 units each.

Prices start at €360 for a 30x42cm reproduction of Vincent Perraud’s Culture category winning shot of BMXers crowded into a bus in Estonia. A 150x100cm version of Stuart Gibson’s Energy category photo of a surfer battling huge waves in Tasmania will cost €980, shipping costs to addresses outside the EU may apply.

Proceeds from the sale of these pictures go to the Red Bull Foundation Wings for Life. Wings for Life is a charitable foundation dedicated to research with the aim of helping to heal paraplegia as a consequence of injury to the spinal cord.

nugloss-managing director Felix Moese is happy about the cooperation: “Red Bull has created a new pictorial language with these unusual motifs. These photographs are so breath-taking, they need to be displayed on a wall!“

“Red Bull Illume Edition by nugloss“ is available at www.nugloss.com but the pieces can also be seen and bought at the nugloss signature gallery in Frankfurt am Main (Zeil 106) and shortly also at the nugloss showrooms in Cologne (Mittelstrasse 20-24) and Berlin (Köpeniker Strasse 18-20).

During the Salzburg Festival in August, the stage lights are normally expected to shine on the worlds best opera singers and actors performing masterpieces of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Verdi. On July 29, the lights were on something a little different as the worlds best action and adventure photos illuminated the night around Hangar-7 for the first time.

Red Bull Illume stands for the collision of art, action sports and photography and puts the focus on people who normally work behind the lens. An appreciative crowd turned out to see the world’s best action and adventure sports photography and pay their dues to the photographers present.

Standing out against the backdrop of the Austrian Alps and dark, overcast skies, the 2x2m lightboxes made a stunning impact. Surrounded by the Hangar-7 airfield, the top 50 photographs could be seen close beside classic airplanes from the 1920s and 1930s and Formula 1 cars in Hangar-7. Jet and fighter planes also flew occasionally overhead, with the roar from the engines giving the whole evening a unique atmosphere.

Guests included Red Bull Illume photographers such as Marcel Lämmerhirt, Christoph Schöch, Flo Hagena and Lorenz Holder as well as several athletes including B.A.S.E jumper Marco Waltenspiel and Red Bull Airforce team member Othar Lawrence (USA).

Red Bull Illume will continue to illuminate the night sky of Hangar-7 until the end of August. Entry is free to the public. Fans can also buy copies of the Red Bull Illume photobook and Red Bull Illume Leica camera in the reception while stocks last.

Salzburg is the only tour stop in Austria. At the end of August, the Red Bull Illume Tour will move on into Europe.

The Red Bull Illume tour is coming to Austria and will be exhibited in the spectacular airfield surroundings of Hangar-7 in Salzburg at the festival month in August.

This stunning collection of the world’s best action and adventure sports images will be illuminated on huge two metre lightboxes every night at the Hangar-7 Outdoor Lounge. Entry is free to the public and is not to be missed as it will be the only Austrian tour-stop before the the exhibition moves on into Europe. Fortunately, visitors could not have a more spectacular and fitting outdoor location.

As well as hosting the exhibition, the Outdoor Lounge at Hanger-7 gives guests a full view of the airport runway and rare Flying Bulls airplanes, including a B25J Mitchell and Lockheed P-38L.

Nearly 23,000 action and adventure sports images were entered into the Red Bull Image Quest 2010, submitted by 4,773 photographers from more than 100 countries. Just 50 photos were chosen by fifty-three international photo editors to form the exhibition and be featured in the Red Bull Illume Photobook and the Red Bull Illume iPad application, which recently won the prestigious FWA “Mobile of the Day“ Award for cutting-edge creativity.

The Red Bull Illume tour has already received over 100,000 visitors from tour stops in Ireland, Germany and the USA.  Hangar-7 in Salzburg will be the “lucky“ seventh stop on the tour.

Action sports athletes spend their whole careers provoking the camera. Competition shots. Trophy shots. Sponsor shots. Training shots, on- and off-season. Lifestyle shots. And maybe once in a while, they're part of those dream shoots that really define who they are and why they got so passionate about that sport in the first place. Careers are built upon achievements, epic journeys they managed to fund, and the images that tell their story.

The photographers shooting them are normally their buddies, those who competed too but got injured, those who realized that they maybe had more talent behind the camera. But what's really interesting is when a top athlete gets into the photography game. Red Bull Illume got in contact with a selection of inspiring athletes who went out of the spotlight and into the darkroom. Read on to find out about their careers and see a selection of their portfolios.

Explorers

Jimmy Chin is an accomplished climber, mountaineer, skier and photographer. He has organized and participated in numerous climbing, ski-mountaineering and exploratory expeditions to Tibet, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Tanzania, Mali, South Africa and Argentina. His achievements include climbing first ascents of big walls and alpine towers in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan; crossing the Chang Tang Plateau in north-western Tibet on foot; and attempting the direct North face of Mount Everest, alpine style. Jimmy has been featured in numerous publications, including National Geographic, Outside and Men's Journal, and has been voted as one of the world’s most eligible bachelors by People magazine.

"There’s no way I could have the career I have as a photographer or filmmaker without going to college" says Chin. "People always ask me what they can do to be a successful photographer. I often say that the education I got, and being able to be a critical thinker and being able to write and communicate clearly, and organize thoughts - all of those things are hugely important".

Thomas Ulrich was born in 1967 in Interlaken, Switzerland, where he lives with his wife, Aasta, and their three daughters. Thomas is a carpenter, mountain guide, filmmaker and self-taught professional photographer who is known for his shots of extreme climbing, BASE jumping, paragliding, kitesailing and freeskiing shots as well as his pictures from mountaineering expeditions in Patagonia, Greenland, California and the North Pole. Thomas's photography was published in issues of "Alpinist" and "Lightning Strikes Last". He works on assignment with clients such as Patagonia and Mammut, and his work has appeared in print for Transworld Snowboarding, Life Magazine, National Geographic Magazine and Black Diamond Equipment. One of his shots was awarded a special mention in the 2003 Banff Mountain Photography Competition. In the future Thomas will be pointing his camera on nature, landscapes and the human element more than on extreme sports. He also has been working more as a cameraman and filmmaker. He also reached the Red Bull Illume Top 50 in 2007.

"I am often asked about my main profession. Well, I think I don't need to decide for just one category" explains Ulrich. "But I learned that many people do have a problem with this, because they can hardly pigeon-hole me. My motto to reach the optimum is simple: everything I do, I do with 100 per cent."

Snowboarders

Andrew Wilz was on the snowboard world cup circuit for 13 years as a Super-G specialist on the PTSA, also including apperance on the Mountain Dew Pro-In-The-Snow tour, the Grundig Invitational and the U.S. Open.

"Getting into the sport from the ground-up when it was banned at every resort in the country, and then watching it slowly gain acceptance and work its way around the planet was interesting," says Wilz.

Turning to photography was a logical step and he has worked with Outside magazine, ESPN, New Balance and Patagonia and had his work published in the Red Bull Illume 2010 Photobook.

"Photo-wise, I point the camera where i'm asked. I shoot commercial running and associated lifestyle with more serious budgets, and mountain bike and ski and some surf with less-serious budgets. I cast, location-scout, produce and direct with my own group, and live for working with amazing clients. The dream-job is actually shooting F1 though!"

Skateboarders

Philipp Schuster was born in 1984 in Vienna, Austria, and has been skating since 1998. He was awarded with "Skateboarder of the Year 2006" and "Rookie of the Year 2006", and has become a successful and regular participant of the X-Games. He is also photographer and editor of the skatemagazine Trottoir.

"I really don’t know where my passion for photography comes from" says Schuster. "I bought myself a professional camera in 2004, and since then I am trying to improve. Today, I am completely mad about photography."

Surfers

Joe Curren is the youngest son of legendary 1950’s surfing pioneer Pat Curren, Joe uses his camera to capture profound yet often-overlooked facets of the surfing journey and beyond. Born in 1973 in Santa Barbara and raised surfing the classic California point breaks of Roncon and The Ranch, Joe spent his younger years earning a reptuation of his own as a world class surfer and far-flung traveller. His older brother Tom, three-time world champion in the 1980’s, not only allowed Joe access to the elite of surfing but also instilled in him an irrevocable sense of style, both understated and moving, which he translated from his surfing into his photography.

"At first I documented my travels with little more than a disposable point and shoot camera" says Curren. "However, after a trip to New Zealand in 1999 – when I was especially pleased with the results – I decided to invest in a basic 35mm rig that I packed alongside my surfboards and wetsuits".

Ryan Cardone is a professional longboarder turned photographer. After traveling to many inspirational places, he decided to pursue a degree in photography. He graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography with a degree in Commercial Photography. Now he works as a freelance photographer and co-owner of Tidal Advertising and Tidalstock.com.

"I wanted to start a stock photography company that captures the intense influence the ocean has had in my life", says Cadone. "TidalStock.com makes available to the public the peace and serenity as well as excitement and exhilaration the World's oceans have brought to me. My love for the ocean and photography has enabled me to capture a unique and different approach to shooting commercial photography. I see every photograph as a work of art that expresses emotions".

MTB

Sven Martin’s father was a professional photographer on the side, so his first experience with a camera was with his manual high end Canon gear. "I like to trail ride and downhill whenever I can squeeze it in. Often impossible on back to back weekends" says Martin. He still likes to push himself to the limit in the odd race too. Be it in DH or Mega style Enduro DH. Then surfing and skateboarding when times and locations and travel logistics allow. Being on the road for long periods with all the camera gear, multiple bikes, surfboards wetsuits and skateboards is a logistical and excess baggage problem. "I have skate and surf boards, wetsuits and riding and camera gear (helmets, shoes, tripods, etc) stashed on 3 different continents. Half the time I still have a pack on the back with a point and shoot, you never know when that shot will present itself" Martin explains.

"Thanks to all the great riders out there that push themselves and the sport in new directions everyday. We as photographers are blessed to doucument our sports metamorphosis for posterity’s sake. And thanks to all the other photographer and filmer friends on the hill that help pass the time in the dreary wet dark cold mountainous race conditions".

Ski jumpers

Born 7 January 1990, the Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer is currently one of the world's top ski jumpers. He began his senior career in 2005-06 with one win and three additional podiums in the Ski Jumping Grand Prix, and made his World Cup debut in 2005-06 World Cup. Despite his young age, Schlierenzauer has 35 World Cup victories, only four people have won more. At the beginning of the 2010-11 World Cup, Schlierenzauer suffered an injury and he missed two of four events at Four Hills Tournament. He was out of form, but he fought back taking two victories at Vikersund ski flying hill and later achieved his career's best result winning three gold medals at FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 at Holmenkollen in Oslo. He is also holder of the Austrian Record of 243.5 meters, which means the second longest flight in the world.

Schlierenzauer recently had his first exhibition "Snapshot" in October 2010 at the Studio Kasulke in Vienna.

"I started with photography in 2008. It's absolutely cool, when you're constantly on the run and able to take snapshots whereever you are. This is a great way how to make great emotions last longer" Schlierenzauer explains. "For me it´s like a diary with which I want to show other people, my family and fans what it’s like to live as a professional athlete."

Check out the gallery for a selection of these athletes-turned-photographers and their work. Red Bull Illume has an exclusive interview with the explorer Jimmy Chin coming soon.

With it’s celebrated collection, the Red Bull Illume HD iPad app has earned the prestigious FWA „Mobile of the Day“ Award for June 27, 2011, for cutting-edge creativity. The new Red Bull Illume iPad app, which was launched on June 1, 2011, allows you to dive deep in the world of action and adventure sports by showcasing the most outstanding extreme sports photos. The FWA (Favourite Website Awards) is an industry-recognized program showcasing technologies with inspirational ideas to lead the way for future generations.

The awarded app is available for free download at the itunes store, and includes audio commentary and stories behind the best pictures that were submitted to the 2010 Red Bull Illume Image Quest. Explore the competition’s amazing 250 semi-finalists and 50 finalist photos that show both athlete and photographer at their limits. The app enables you to keep in touch with Red Bull Illume news and latest info as well as details about the tour.

The ten categories for the Image Quest were culture, playground, energy, spirit, close up, wings, SanDisk sequence, new creativity, experimental and illumination. Over 22,000 photos were submitted by 4,773 photographers from more than 100 countries.

Out of this enormous number, 250 photos were chosen by fifty-three international photo editors to reach the semi-finals, which were then whittled down to 50 finalists and eventually one winner.

Red Bull Illume is also touring the world with unique outdoors exhibits, where the 50 finalist photos are displayed on giant lightboxes. Don´t miss the tour’s next stop at Hangar 7 in Salzburg/Austria in August.

Red Bull Illume enlightens the Denver Performing Arts Complex

Last Friday night saw a record crowd of more than 3,000 fans of art and action sports come out to support the opening night of Red Bull Illume, the world’s premier action and adventure sports contest and exhibition. Snowboarding icon, and 2x Transworld Snowboarding Magazine “Rider of the Year,” John Jackson kicked off the exhibit.

Red Bull Illume will continue to illuminate Denver’s night sky through June 12 from 8:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. A total of 50 photos will come to life each night via state-of-the-art light boxes that bring stature and significance to these works of art that capture the exuberant spirit of sport. In the heart of downtown Denver, the Galleria at the Denver Performing Arts Center, the largest performing arts complex under one roof, plays host to this unique exhibition. The exhibit is free and open to the public…and not to be missed.

“There are some incredible photo’s out here, it’s like candy for the eyes,” said John Jackson. “Not to mention the display is like no other, making every little detail of the photo jump out.”

Check out the Denver event page to see the latest pictures.

After winning the SanDisk Sequence award at Red Bull Illume, Miguel Angel Lopez had three words to say – “Viva la Mexico!” Even his t-shirt said the same. Although Miguel didn’t say much else that night in English and had fellow South American Orlando Duque translate from Spanish for him on stage, it reminded everyone how international Red Bull Illume is. But a Mexican winner was an awesome surprise nonetheless.

Just look at the map on the Red Bull Illume gallery. The west coast of the US, northern Europe and South Western Australia dominates the action sports world. Rightly, they have some amazing mountain or coastal locations for high-risk outdoor sports or massive metropolitan cities with every scene imaginable – skate, BMX, B-Boying etc. But there are many other undiscovered and less photographed places elsewhere. Look at the winning photo from Chris Burkard, who remembers the last surf photo they saw from Chile?

Likewise, Miguel’s win was a breath of fresh air. Even more so for the SanDisk sequence category, which was supremely technical and competitive. However, the winning photo was an elegantly simple shot, even the trick wasn’t complicated. The photo captured the moment, while the sequence of shadows in the background showed how the move was done which is why sequence shots became so popular in the first place. By being selective and not including too much detail in the photo, which some sequence shots are guilty of, Miguel’s photo elevated the sequence shot into art territory. Ever heard the advice “Keep it simple, stupid”? Well Miguel kept it simple and beautiful at the same time and managed to get an iconic skate image.
(Have a look at the 'Making Of' video in our last feature to see how the shot was taken.)

Working as a photographer for eight years and a director of Urbeskate.com, as well as a Red Bull Illume semi-finalist in 2007, Miguel didn’t come from nowhere however. Read on to find out more about the man behind the lens.

What reception have you received since winning your category in Red Bull Illume?
Well in Mexico, the reaction from my friends, family and people in general has been amazing. Until I came back with the trophy, the book, the magazines that I brought from Dublin, no one knew the magnitude of the event. My parents are very proud that I won. Before, they never really understood my work as a skate photographer and why I was putting so much effort and passion into it. But after seeing everything that’s happened since, they are really happy with me. And everyone is proud that my photo was able to represent Mexico. The Red Bull team in Mexico were really happy for me too. I have worked with them over the years helping to make skateboarding events in Mexico.

In January 2011, together with other photographers, I was present at a gallery in the city of Puebla, Mexico. They showed the pictures I submitted to Red Bull Illume. It was a pleasure to be exhibited. I was treated really well, people took pictures of me, kids asked me for autographs, and some new photographers approached me to say that I am an inspiration for them. Overall, I was so proud to represent Mexico in the contest.

What difference has winning made to your photography career?
Personally I'm still the same photographer with the same idea to keep doing things in action sports photography and more in skateboarding because it’s what I enjoy doing. Professionally, it’s helping my career because Red Bull Illume is the only major event dedicated to action sports photography.

A friend jokingly said to me, “Finally your skateboard photography leaves something in your life” because many people know me for other things within the Mexico skateboarding scene. Apart from being a photographer, I’m the director of Urbeskate and an event organizer. I try to help this sport grow in my country as good as possible and winning Red Bull Illume has helped me to open some more doors.

What’s inspiring you right now as a photographer?
Inspiration! Or as I said in an interview in Dublin, I realize that everything is possible and this event gave me the opportunity to show my work. I'm inspired to improve my photography so winning Red Bull Illume gave me the opportunity for further improvement. I want to do my best during these years and then, if all goes well, retire with a smile of accomplishment.

The funny thing is that I was in the first Red Bull Illume in 2007 and I was in the semi-finals with a photo but I didn’t get any further. I entered the second contest with more enthusiasm and was more optimistic about doing better. Then I won the SanDisk sequence category. Were my photos better or did I just have more enthusiasm for making things happen? What I know is that if you work every day with heart and energy, you will get good results and new opportunities or second chance can always happen. Red Bull Illume has inspired me to believe and keep doing what I like, no matter what happens.


What new photography equipment and techniques are you using or want to use more of?
You can use any equipment really. Your eyes and your mind is what makes the difference. I have not changed my equipment much. I want to buy a new digital camera, but I will shoot on 35mm until I due. I like the Holga and am starting to work on more video shoots, like this one.

My techniques have also been improving. I always want to improve how I use light, colors and need time to experiment. But it’s hard as my work as a photo editor and director for Urbe Skate consumes me but I have to keep up with new developments. It was amazing to see other professional skateboard photographers that I admire so much in the Red Bull Illume photobook. It made me realize that myself and others are doing a good job in the Mexican skateboarding scene.

What interesting shoots or projects do you have coming up?
I want to make an exhibition next year with friends. I wish we could bring the Red Bull Illume exhibit to Mexico in 2011 but who knows! Still it was cool that there was the tour in Houston, Texas, which was just across the border.

In January, we had the urbeskate.com and we had our own awards, including a best skateboard photographer award. Otherwise I have so much to organize, so 2011 will be a busy year! I’m also hoping to finally have my own website, so I can show eight years of work as a photographer!

What must a photographer keep in mind while shooting an action scene?
The location, angle and equipment. The location is important because to photograph a trick, you have to show the difficulty of the trick and beauty of the place, so anyone will just see the photo and say “wow!” and be amazed.

The angle is an important factor because not all tricks require the same angle. Every trick has its aesthetic.

As for the equipment, you need to know what options your equipment gives you and you need to maximize the technical possibilities using your imagination.

How important is location in sports photography?
Location is as important as in the trick, so it’s 50:50. I sometimes I don’t take photos of some tricks for a particular location, as it just doesn’t fit. Of course there are also occasions that the trick is so difficult that you have the challenge of showing the difficulty and the beauty of the place.

Every day we seek new places to photograph which is so important. The street offers unimaginable places. Definitely the place you will provide the other 50% to your picture.

What are some of the challenges you face while doing action photography? How do you overcome them?
Well in my case there are many. The very common one is that the picture is not taken at the exact moment of the trick and you’ve missed it. Sometimes the trick is so hard you can’t expect the person to retry it. Or they re-do the trick over and over without any luck, then the light changes while you’re waiting. Sometimes you have to just cancel a shoot or forget an idea. You have to know your and the athlete’s capabilities.

Technical issues are normal - empty batteries, your camera fails, your fisheye won’t stay on properly. Stuff happens!

How do you define the 'perfect frame' in sports photography?
Good photos have three critical aspects: difficulty, place and the person being photographed. Obviously, a perfect frame has to amaze you in all three. But I think the perfect frame is the one which shows how exciting that sport is. It’s a moment when you know that as soon as you press the shutter, you feel you have to see that picture.

How do you prepare for action photography, physically and mentally?
Well I have nothing in particular. I just check my equipment is ready and in my mind I just think I have to try to do my best. If you’re shooting a well-known athlete, you have to think that you deserve to shoot someone that good. But I try to enjoy the moment, especially when I’m working with friends.

If you had just 5 pieces of your most important advice for a young action photographer, what would they be?

I have only one:
When taking a picture
Feel the photo. Live the photograph.

Red Bull Illume connects action sports photographers to the world of art and photography where they rightfully belong. We are therefore proud to announce its next USA tour stop at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in Colorado in June, 2011.

The DCPA is the second largest performing arts center in the world, filling out four blocks and 49,000m2. Home to a Tony Award winning theatre company, Broadway productions and other critically acclaimed productions and exhibitions, the center will be illuminated by something new - the world's best action and adventure sports photography.

Taking place between June 3-12 every night at 6pm and 10pm, the top 50 images will be presented in the courtyard under the Art Complex's magnificent 80ft glass roof. The images are presented on large back-lit screens which makes these spectacular scenes and courageous athletes look larger than life.

Red Bull Illume judge Calvin Bradley believes that the images will stand their own in such a creative location.

"I was blown away by the quality of photos in this competition. It’s always surprising to see how different a lot of these top photographers’ eyes are to other photographers. It’s great that Red Bull Illume is run to showcase guys like this, they’re the secret heroes – no one really knows what they look like and they’ve made so many people famous."

"I’ve always been a fan of action sports, I love skating and watching snowboard videos and to see some of these snowboard shots were amazing. The shots of the cliff diving just blew me away, I hadn’t seen that sort of thing before, it’s just art."

See www.artscomplex.com for more details about the exhibition.

Surrounded by palm trees, art deco buildings and fresh sea air, the opening of the Red Bull Illume tour in Miami on Friday 13th was most definitely lucky for some. 1,500 people strolled and paced around in amazement at the collection of the world’s best 50 action sports photographs on South Beach.

After making journeys to Charleston, SC in January and Houston, TX in March, it was a highlight for the Red Bull Illume tour to finally hit Miami Beach. Particularly for some photos, it was the perfect setting.

For the nominated photographer Josh Letchworth, it was the first opportunity to finally see his work illuminated at night by the huge light boxes.

“The exhibit is so impressive and amazing to be part of. Red Bull Illume really does provide an opportunity to show our work to the public in a unique setting.”

The after-dark photo exhibit will be on show at Ocean Drive between 9th and 10th Street every night from May 13th to 22nd between 7 and 11pm.

2010's winning image in the category 'SanDisk Sequence' of Red Bull Illume really stands out. The whole sequence is represented only by the skater's shadows. In this video Miguel Lopez explains how he set the shot up and what needed to be done in photoshop to create this amazing shot.

Equipment and settings:
Camera:
Canon 30d

Lense:
28mm

Shutterspeed: 1/250
ISO: 1000
F-Stop: 3.5

Memory Card: SanDisk extreme 3 4gb
Software and tools: Photoshop

Credits:
Photographer: © Miguel Lopez Virgen

We all remember lenticulars from our childhood. An prism foil makes an image change when you tilt it. Dan Vojtěch, Red Bull Photofiles photographer from Czech Republic revives them for a lifestyle shoot and demonstrates how to shoot and print them.

Equipment and settings:

Camera:
Nikon D3

Lense:
Nikkor 70.0-200.0mm f/2.8

Shutterspeed: 1/250
ISO: 200
F-Stop: >6.3

Memory card: SanDisk Extreme Pro 32Gb
Software and tools: Triaxes 3DMasterKit

Credits:
Photographer: © Dan Vojtěch (www.danvojtech.cz)
Athlete: Sasha Christian

Eric Berger’s winning photo in Red Bull Illume’s New Creativity category is a reminder for any photographer who thinks they need complex lighting techniques or a 'big photo concept' to produce a truly creative photo. The photo combined all the classic elements of a ski shoot – a powder trail, a sense of acceleration, bluebird skies – with a really interesting twist. Eric literally got down 'in the hole' to shoot the action from below while capturing some beautiful ice formations.

As Eric also noted in his description of the photo, "it resembles a closing wave shot from within". The photo has depth, that says it all.  It was also Eric’s 'lucky photo', winning him 'Photo of the Year' at Powder Magazine in 2010

With over twenty five years experience as a freelance photographer, including ten years at Transworld Snowboarding in the 1990s, Red Bull Illume caught up with Eric to find out more about his life as an action sports photographer and what advice he would give to photographers working their way up in action sports photography.

Q: What reception have you received since winning your category in Red Bull Illume?
I was surprised to see how many people were aware of the victory and I’ve had a great reaction from friends and peers.
 
Q: What difference has winning made to your photography career?
I wouldn't say it has made a difference in my career other than being further motivated to create exhilarating images and experiment with creative techniques.

Q: What’s inspiring you right now as a photographer?
I am getting much pleasure out of furthering my digital processing abilities and experimenting with creative manipulations.

Q: What must a photographer keep in mind while shooting an action scene?
When I get ready to shoot and action image, my first thought is composition. How can I best capture the moment and convey the excitement. I also think of exposure. Do I want to freeze the action or create the illusion of motion through a blur? What sort of depth of field will work best and so on.

Once I have established these points, I move towards communicating my expectations to the athlete so that we are on the same page as to what is going to happen and where. Planning and communication are everything in the type of photography I capture. I also think of safety and make sure that both the athlete and myself are out of harms way and if necessary, we have a safety plan in place.

Q: How important is location to you?
It depends on what you are trying to capture. Often in sports photography, the action is what you are after, regardless of the location. However, when shooting sports, I always try to capture the image in a setting that enhances the action. So for me, location is very important.

Q: In the field, what kind of challenges do you get and how do you overcome them?
I shoot ski and snowboard photography mainly so the obvious challenges are working in cold temperatures and being exposed to the elements. Other challenges include accessing the locations which in my case, are often in the backcountry. This brings other concerns such as avalanche hazards and exit strategies.

I overcome all these challenges through experience. First I choose to work with gear that is designed to withstand the elements. I dress accordingly and have years of experience working in the mountains. Sometimes I shoot in resorts, which is relatively safe and easy to get around. Other times we use helicopters, which requires patience around the machine and awareness of the surrounding dangers. I also occasionally use a snowmobile to access backcountry locations. This requires a whole different set of skills that can only be overcome through experience.

Q: How do you physically and mentally prepare for your shoots?
It really depends on the assignment. For basic, day to day shooting at the resort, I check the weather forecast, call up athletes and plan a meeting time. Once we are on the hill, I let my gut take over and look for inspiration around me as we move through the mountains. I don’t like to 'force' a shot if I don’t feel it creatively.

For more complicated shoots such as location travel, I inform myself of the details of the location and how best to prepare for it. For dangerous locations I draw upon my experience and try to use good judgment.

Q: What is the best equipment for practicing sports photography?
You need to adapt to whatever it is you are shooting. In my case, I work in mountainous winter conditions so I choose to work with the best gear available to me whether it be clothing, camera gear, skis, etc.

Regarding camera equipment specifically, I choose to work with a digital SLR body and fast lenses. My body is a Nikon D3s, which is incredibly rugged and versatile. I have a number of lenses ranging from a fisheye to 300mm f2.8. I prefer to work with zoom lenses for the most part to minimize the gear I have to carry.

Q: What interesting shoots or projects do you have coming up?
I’ve been working on putting together a vintage collection of images for a British Cycling magazine that is re-publishing a story I was involved with 13 years ago in Bike Magazine. Beyond that I am beginning to put together ideas for trips for this coming winter season. They include heli-skiing in British Columbia and hopefully a trip to Europe.

Q: What words of wisdom would you share to anyone wanting to become an action sports photographer?
1. Learn the fundamentals of photography and understand how your equipment works. Do not rely on automatic settings.
2. Understand the sports you are going to shoot so that you know what moments to capture and how best to create exciting images of them.
3. Prepare yourself so that you can overcome complications such as bad weather and logistics.
4. Learn to communicate with your athletes and gain their trust. Never force anyone to do something they are not comfortable with.
5. Have your act together and always be professional in your approach.

www.ericbergerphotography.com

A Full Moon Guides More Than 800 People to the Opening Gala of Red Bull Illume

While it drove a hard bargain, tonight’s super moon couldn’t match up to the luminosity beaming from the opening gala of Red Bull Illume in downtown Charleston’s historic Marion Square. More than 800 people came to see the best images from the world’s premiere action and adventure sports photography contest. The exhibition will continue to illuminate Charleston’s night sky until March 27 from 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. The event is helping kick off the city’s celebration of the arts along with Charleston Fashion Week® which hits the runway on March 22nd. A total of 50 photos will be on display in impressive light boxes that bring stature and significance to these works of art that capture the exuberant spirit of sport.

"I'm dizzy from the whole experience," says Nathan Smith (AUS), winner in the category 'close up' and named Athletes’ Choice winner. "I’m humbled to be here and happy to have made the top 50 let alone win two awards that in my book are very prestigious. I’m in a room full of photographers who I look up to.”

The winners of Red Bull Illume were chosen by a jury of renowned photography experts. By illuminating these breath-taking photographs, we honor the photographers who’ve traveled, faced physical dangers, scaled buildings and navigated waves all to capture magical moments. The Red Bull Illume judging categories include culture, playground, energy, spirit, close-up, wings, sequence, new creativity, experimental and illumination.

Check out the Charleston event page to see the latest images.

Red Bull Illume continues on its tour throughout the US, but this time we are hitting the beach - Miami beach!

From May 12 to 22, backlit light boxes will illuminate the 50 finalist images from the 2010 Image Quest every day between 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm.

Visitors can witness the illumination of Ocean Drive between 9th and 10th Street as the lights are switched on for the opening night on May 12. Invited guests will be also able to attend a private gala hosted at the Miami Design Preservation League’s Art Deco Welcome Center on the same evening.

The 10-day exhibition will exhibit  the world's best action and adventure sports photography, including shots by Eric Berger (CAN, New Creativity), Miguel Lopez-Virgen (MEX, SanDisk Sequence) and overall winner Chris Burkard (USA, Illumination).

"A lot of who I am and my career and everything I’m based around is because of the images provided by photographers," says surf legend Robby Naish, the guest of honor at the Red Bull Illume award ceremony." That’s why it’s so cool that Red Bull is doing this. We get all the glory but it’s constant work with a lot of photographers to make it happen. It’s great to see a platform where the guys on the other side of the lens are getting a bit of attention and respect and reward."

For more detailed information on the competition and upcoming tour dates stay tuned to www.redbullillume.com.

Helicams are one of the exciting new ways for photographers to capture interesting angles and fresh perspectives. Watch how French based Red Bull Photofiles photographer Dom Daher mounted his camera on a remote controlled helicopter to get some unique surfing and BASE jumping shots.

Equipment and settings:

Camera:
CANON EOS 5D MKII
CANON EOS 1D MKIII

Lenses:
15.0mm Fisheye f/2.8
70.0-200.0mm f/2.8
500mm f/4.0

Shutterspeed: 2000 (for onboard)
ISO: 800 (for onboard)
F-Stop: >8

Memory card: SanDisk Extreme Pro 16Gb
Software and tools: Adobe Photoshop

Credits:
Photographer: © Dominique Daher (www.domdaher.com)
Athlete: Tim Boal

Following the Houston exhibition in January, the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour is continuing its US adventure and will soon march on towards Charleston, South Carolina.

Starting on March 18, the Red Bull Illume tour stop will light up Downtown Charleston’s historic Marion Square every evening from 7pm to 11pm with the 50 best Red Bull Illume images. Visitors can witness the world's best action and adventure sports images at night out in the open through large lightboxes which illuminate each photo.

A private gala ceremony will take place at sundown on the first night, followed by a public event to "switch on" the lightboxes for the exhibition opening at 8pm. The ten-day exhibition will run to March 27 and also coincides with Charleston Fashion Week®, which will turn the city into a capital of style from March 22.

"I’m stoked to see my picture in that size" says finalist Flo Hagena (GER). "I’ve never seen one of my pictures that large. Getting into the top 50 is a real honor and to be judged by so many photo editors, it makes me really proud that they chose one of my pictures." For Eric Antoine (FRA), the exhibition is a chance to get feedback on his work as a piece of art. "It’s great to see the pictures big. My photo especially, it’s just a little piece of glass. It’s interesting to see how people perceive the photos because each photographer has his own opinion. It’s very interesting to see what comments people have. It’s great to hear the different visions people have of my work."

If you would like to know more about the category winners or be up to date on upcoming tour stops and latest news, stay tuned to www.redbullillume.com.

Red Bull Reporter sent talented young photographer Peter Tweedie on his most extraordinary assignment yet: to fly to Japan to shoot Red Bull BC One.

16 B-Boys from around the world rocked the Yoyogi Stadium in the heart of Tokyo in November for the seventh edition of the B-Boy battle event in front of 3,000 hyped fans.  The battles between the world’s best dancers were phenomenal.  The growing legend that is Neguin from Brazil, convinced everyone again and won the title based on his incredible athleticism and ability to entertain and surprise, battle after battle.

However, for Peter Tweedie, it wasn’t all about the event. Although already super-experienced in the B-Boy scene in the UK, Peter had a different set of problems than impressing a jury consisting of two-time Red Bull BC One champion Lilou and the legendary Ken Swift from the infamous Rock Steady Crew. Peter had to deliver killer images that brought across the energy of the contest and attitude of the dancers, just to do justice to the event and creativity of the dancers.

Q: Working in Tokyo must have been mind-blowing. Temples, gambling halls, skyscrapers and karaoke bars, geishas and sumo wrestlers. Did you have any concepts for shooting the event itself or on any pre-shoots in Tokyo?
Mind-blowing is exactly the word for it.  The culture and way of life is so different to the West.  It was all the subtle social differences that really had me fascinated; especially the way they go about their daily routine.  The fashion out there was amazing too, very fresh and completely different to how people dress in the UK where I’m from.

It was amazing to be sent by Red Bull Reporter as I’ve wanted to visit Japan my whole life so the opportunity to go and shoot dance was incredible. I got a very open brief from the Red Bull Reporter team, which gave me freedom to be creative. I did my research before going, the culture there, potential locations and had some ideas in place for whatever came up when I arrived.

We ended up trying to get our bearings in Tokyo by comparing the different neighbourhoods in London to the areas in Tokyo. For example, Harujuku was akin to Brick Lane or Camden and Shinjuku had elements of Liverpool Street with the suited commuters.  

Q: To be a good B-Boy photographer, you really have to understand the moves and know what's coming next, or you won't get great shots. What's your experience of shooting B-boys and crews?
Everyone goes through that stage in their life when you're really inspired as a kid, to push the sofas to the side and try and copy what you see others doing. For most people that's as far as it goes but some of my friends got hooked and now live the B-boy lifestyle, so I've always been around the scene.

Sometimes I do wish I had the same dedication as my mates for training and improving their dance but I developed the same level of passion and dedication to my photography and that's my main passion in life.  I still have the deepest appreciation for dance and the whole philosophy behind the B-boy scene and dance in general.  It also means I know enough to be able to direct the dancers. When you know the moves, styles and just have that knowledge, it really helps you to get the shots quickly which is really important when you only get a short time to shoot, like I had in Japan.

Q: How tough is it to get the timing right and capture the action?
I regularly shoot boxing, kick boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) which has really helped me develop a natural instinct for timing as shooting fights in a ring or cage is very similar timing-wise to shooting dance battles.  I also play and shoot a lot of different sports which really helps.

Q: What equipment, settings and lighting did you use? Did you have to shuffle your settings much for the indoor lighting? Did you try anything much different on the pre-shoot?
I got two chances to shoot. First was the media day where I got 5-10 minutes to shoot with some of the performers, the other was the event itself.  Because I only got a small amount of time with the performers individually I had to get the shoot done quickly.  It was a balance between taking a risk and trying a technically challenging set up but risk not getting the shot if I didn’t hit it first time; or playing safe and shooting what I knew I could get quickly.  

I ended up doing a little of both, capturing the safe shot of the dancer standing in the first few minutes before their routine then using the rest of the time to capture a dance move from a more unusual angle.  

I had seen photos from the previous years so had an idea of what to expect and the type of shots I wanted, so it was just a matter of making the most of the position I had with the available light, as the event went by so fast.

Kit wise I had two cameras, my main camera was a Canon 5D mk2 body and I switched between the Canon 24-70mmL and Canon 70-200mmL f2.8 lenses. My second camera was a Canon 40d body with a 10-22mm lens to capture any wider shots I spotted (and also as a back up body if something happened to the 5D).  I also had a Canon 580ex flash on each camera and a canon wireless trigger for if I got a chance to spend time setting up for more creative shots.  

Settings wise I wasn’t allowed to use flash in the venue so a fast shutter speed to freeze the action was my top priority, so I kept it above 1/320th or a second for most action shots.  I was worried whether the lighting would be powerful enough at the venue to achieve this and still keep a large enough depth of field without having to raise the ISO to levels to where the noise was too noticeable. But the 5D mk2 handled it brilliantly.

Q: There were 3,000 pumped fans in the Yoyogi stadium. B-boying is one of those things were photographs of the audience can be just as stylish and interesting. Did you try and capture the atmosphere?
The atmosphere was amazing! Watching videos is great but only by being there can you really get an understanding of the hype, atmosphere, and electricity coursing through the room.

There is one shot I'm particularly proud of which was when Big Daddy Kane was performing and for a brief few seconds he picked out one guy in the audience for a few moments, and it became like a one on one performance as the spotlight fell on both of them even though there were still thousands of people in the crowd going crazy.

Q: Which shots blew you away?
The pre-shots with Lilou, as I respect him so much as a dancer and as he is the only B-Boy to win the event twice, it was great to work with him and capture him in an freeze with the amazing Olympic venue in the background.  

There are also a few of the action shots where I feel I've managed to capture the facial expression combined with the power and expression through body language to really sum up the exchange between the two dancers.

The sequence of shots where Luigi loses his shoe and Just Do It taunts him by using his shoe as a phone whilst he's still throwing down tells a great story. It was the turning point when that battle was won and lost in a series of three photos.

If you are based in the UK and want the opportunity to photograph for Red Bull Reporter, register at www.redbullreporter.com.

www.petertweedie.com

Since the unveiling of Red Bull Illume in Dublin, fans have voted in their thousands for their favorite image from the contest.

The positions for first, second and third places had changed constantly for the first few weeks. Now, almost six months after voting began, the top images are separated by a tiny margin.

Voting will continue for the duration of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour in 2011. If you haven’t voted yet, select which photo YOU think is the world’s best action and adventure sports photo.

To keep things as impartial as possible, we're not going to reveal the leading photos but can say that the top three places are taken by photos in the Illumination, Spirit and Wings categories!

Fans will be updated throughout 2011 with the status of the votes. Vote here right now!

2010 was an incredible year for action sports photography and the Red Bull Illume category winners and finalists in particular. Their images went global within a night and are still gracing the pages of magazines and websites today.

In 2011, Red Bull Illume will catch up with the photographers to find out how their lives have changed and find out more about the person behind the lens.

This month, we interviewed Australian Stuart Gibson, winner of the Energy category about THAT image of Ryan Hipwood from Tasmania’s twisted, torture-chamber of a tube better known as Shipstern Bluff in October 2009.

Interestingly, the waves that day also gave Ryan a nomination at the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards for the biggest wipe outs of the year and plenty of youtube attention. However, surfers live the highs and lows. Another video tells a different story from a later run – when Ryan cleared that beast of a wave, ending with him punching the air in celebration.

It was testament to Ryan Hipwood’s bravery and Stuart Gibson’s timing and positioning that such an incredible moment was captured on camera. No one talks about the wipe out much anymore, just THAT moment only a second before when Ryan dropped six feet back onto the wave.

Read on to find out more about the life of an award winning action sports photographer.

Q: What reception have you received since winning your category in Red Bull Illume?
It’s been good since winning the award. I’ve been getting countless emails about the image and orders for a print of it through my website www.stugibson.net.

Q: What difference has winning made to your photography career?
I wouldn’t say it’s made a drastic change in my career but people have definitely noticed the image and followed it back to me. It’s been gaining a lot of attention from my home to all around the world, so its good to get my name out there more and more! Plus I got sent to Ireland so that was the biggest plus ever haha!

Q: What’s the key ingredients to be an action sports photographer?
Equipment, light, angle, composition, subject, danger...the list goes on!

Q: What new photography equipment and techniques are you using or want to use more of?
I’ve bulked up on new lenses after getting half of my equipment stolen on my way back from Ireland. I use Canon DSLR equipment with Spl water housings. Everyone has their own opinion but these work best for me so I’ve stuck with them. Also, I’m focusing on remote flash a whole lot more.

Q: Some locations are over-shot, but your photo from Shipstern Bluff is becomming one of the iconic ones. Why is location key in surf photography?
Location for Surf Photography is everything! You can’t have a good surf photo without surf. There are so many people taking surf photos these days so finding a new spot is really rare, so that can be one of the best things about a surf photo sometimes. The location can make the image.

Q: That surf in that photo looks vicious, dangerous and amazing at the same time. What’s it like to work in waters like that?
There are so many variables with this type of photography. Not to mention the 15 ft wave that is about to land in your head, but you also have a surfer flying right at you. 95% of the time I’ll be using a 10mm fisheye and for the best water shots the surfer has to be right on top of you to get the angle – I’m talking milimetres away from your lens!

To control all of this while treading water, making sure your port on the water housing has no water drops on it, let alone expose the shot correctly, this can sometimes be a bit of a struggle, haha! But when it all works out, it makes the shot all worth while.

Q: Do you have to prepare yourself physically and mentally for the shoot?
I don’t think there is a major part of mental preperation for me unless I know the waves are going to be huge. Even still it’s just one of those things you get in and do rather then think too much about it. It’s something I do for fun that sometimes makes me some money.

Physically, I used to just surf a lot. But it seems the older I get, I’ve lost my sting to surf, I still chase it as hard as I can for photos, but I’m almost bored with surfing! Maybe that’s cause I only get to surf when it’s bad because I shoot when it’s good! So these days I do a lot of my own fitness work. A friend of mine just made me a weekly program that is nailing me, but you have to keep to it.

Q: What’s inspiring you right now as a photographer?
I’ll always have a love with images made in the water, and I’ve been shooting them as much as possible. But in my down time, I’ve been working on a lot of strobe work and getting right into portraiture. I’d love to strengthen this side of my photography rather than just be labeled a surf photographer – I cringe at that title to be honest!

Q: Is there such a thing as the perfect shot?
I hope there isn’t one, because my job would be over!

Q: What interesting shoots or projects do you have coming up?
Since the Red Bull Illume awards I shot in Fiji for 6 weeks. That place is so amazing – it’s got the best water clarity in the world! In 2011, I’ve been booked on a snow trip to Alaska. I’m seriously frothing about going on that trip!!!

Q: What advice would you give a photographer getting started in the "game"?

1. Know the field of photography you're in, but don’t get stuck in it!
2. Take photos of everything! Shoot around the action, not only the action itself.
3. Taking the photo is only half the work.
4. Know the person you're shooting, build a relationship with them and the shots will flow naturally
5. Do it for fun!

www.stugibson.net

Judging by the presence of 3D camera technology at Photokina this year, 3D is gaining some serious momentum with manufacturers. For professional photographers though, the last year has been a time of experimentation with a brand new "old" technique. Especially if you don’t have a 3D camera, how do you get the 3D effect?

Markus Berger at Red Bull Photofiles gave this video tutorial on how to perfect the photoshop method. Pro photographer Ian Coble used the other logical approach – he used two cameras. Read on to find out about his shoot with pro kayaker Tao Berman.

What brief did you get for the shoot?
What made this shoot so incredible wasn't just the sheer athleticism of Tao in front of the camera, but the amount of creativity I was afforded. When organizing the shoot, Red Bull essentially gave me free reign to shoot it however I wanted.

When did you start getting interested in 3D?
For the last few months I've been dying to try shooting something in 3D. Since I saw the James Cameron movie Avatar, I wanted to test 3D technology and see how it translated from video to still images. When this shoot with Tao came about, I knew this was the shoot to make it happen.

3D photography is still pretty new. What research did you do for the shoot?
I'd come across plenty of other 3D photos, but none of them were action or motion based. Everything I was coming across was static – whether it was a landscape, portrait or still life. Not finding any 3D (also called anaglyph) photos of sports got me really excited. This was going to be something relatively new. Also, it's always fun to be the guinea pig on new things as you never know what you're going to encounter or how it's going to turn out.

What shooting method did you use?
With new versions of Photoshop, it's now easier to create 3D images in post-production with a single camera and manipulate the single resulting image. But that's not what I wanted to do here.

With this shoot, I wanted to achieve a true 3D image, by shooting two cameras offset from one another. The advantage in using two cameras is that the resulting 3D image has more detailed depth and texture as it does not require Photoshop to extrapolate and create new information. Even with two camera method though, you still have to do some post-production editing.

When you have your two images, what post-production work is required?
The basics behind creating a 3D image in Photoshop are to stack images in layers. Once there, you have to determine the focal point of your image and align the two frames. From there, you have to remove the red channel from the right eye‘s image and remove the green and blue channels from the left eye’s image.

You can do this for example in the levels window by selecting the appropriate channel and changing the output level from 255 to 0. Once you have a right eye image (which will look green) and a left eye image (which should appear red) you need to adjust your blending mode from normal to screen. This will leave you with a 3D image that you can make any final density or color corrections to.

What camera settings did you use?
I shot these images with 2 Nikon D3’s. Both cameras were set to manual exposure mode with a shutter speed of 1/500th and an aperture of f/ 5.6. Given the dark nature of the canyon we were shooting in, I had to bump the ISO up to 1600 in order to be able to shoot at a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action.

I set the focus of both cameras by pre-focusing on a rock near the lip of the drop. Once set, I locked the focus off so that it wouldn’t slip during the sequence.

How did you mount the camera?
I mounted one of the cameras on a Manfrotto tripod with a Manfrotto 3265 joystick head. The second camera was mounted on a Manfrotto 244 Magic Arm, which was clamped to one leg of the tripod. This positioned both cameras on a relatively even plane, which would not have been achievable with two tripods, given the rocky terrain of the river bank.

Did you have to experiment to get the right distance between the camera bodies?
Determining the distance between the camera bodies was quite tough to figure out. I had to do a lot of research online, and eventually discovered that the ideal distance apart between the cameras is determined by how far away your subject is.

An easy way to determine the distance between cameras – this isn’t 100% accurate, but it’s pretty close – is to separate the cameras by a factor of 1/30th of the distance to the focal point of your frame. The further away the subject is, the further apart the cameras must be in order to achieve a 3D affect. For this location, I worked out that a distance of about 12 inches (30 centimeters) would provide enough separation to give the resulting image enough depth.

When shooting 3D, the cameras have to be perfectly level – or at least on the same angle “off” of level – or the resulting image will cause the viewer to get a headache as their eyes try to focus on two non-corresponding horizons. To achieve a level frame on each camera, I secured my iPhone to each camera and used the iHandy Level App to zero in on the horizons.

Did the cameras have the same lenses?
Yes, both cameras had the same lenses on them (a Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 AFS lens). Both cameras have to have an identical field of vision for 3D to work, so both lenses need to be the same.

How did you trigger the cameras at the same time?
I triggered my cameras with two Nikon MC-30 remote trigger releases. I sandwiched the two releases together and pressed down on the triggers at the same time. I practiced this at home prior to the shoot in order to make sure that both cameras would fire at exactly the same time.

I experimented with a few other methods, including remote triggering with pocket wizards, but the MC-30 route gave me the most reliable results. Right now, I’m in the process of re-wiring the MC-30’s for future shoots so that one trigger will fork off to each camera and eliminate the need to press two triggers simultaneously.


What challenges did you have on the day?
Given the inherent danger in running waterfalls, and not wanting to subject Tao to any more danger than necessary, we only had a few attempts to make the shoot work. Just to make sure, we used 3 cameras at all times. I had two cameras shooting 3D and one camera shooting an alternative angle to ensure we had maximum coverage and guarantee differing angles and vantage points.

The other challenge was the inability to check our results in the field. Given the remote location, the limited amount of daylight we had to work with and the amount of time it takes to process a 3D image, we weren’t able to review the 3D image on location. All our research had to be done in advance and we had to trust that what we were doing was accurate. In this age of digital, it’s tough to go back to the times when you can’t check your work in the field and make adjustments.

Were you happy with the final results? What could be enhanced or experimented with?
In the end, the shoot turned out great. The 3D image turned out better than I could have hoped.

For future shoots, in addition to re-wiring my MC-30 remote triggers, I’m also trying to fabricate a sliding mounting bracket that allows two cameras to be mounted on the same tripod.  This will allow me to make quick adjustments to the separation distance between the cameras. The method I employed on this shoot worked, but it wasn’t really efficient for making quick changes.

Additionally, I’d love to shoot at a location that has more depth to it. The location of this waterfall didn’t have a lot of separation between the foreground and background. I’d love to experiment more with a location that provided more depth to it, as I think the resulting 3D image would turn out even better.

I'm excited to put this technology to use again on some more shoots in the near future, stay tuned!

www.iancoble.com

With "Your Photo 2010", Red Bull Germany are looking for the best photos of the year 2010! The deadline for entries is February 6. Click on this link to register for the facebook application and join in!

Upload the photos that personally inspired you the most. The twenty pictures that receive the most votes before the deadline have the chance to win a Leica D-Lux 5 camera – the Red Bull Illume edition!

The winning photo will be selected by the photographer Marcel Lämmerhirt, winner of the Wings category at this year’s Red Bull Illume compeition with his photo of the Red Bull Cliff Diving event in Hamburg.

Get to your computers, rummage through your photo archives for your photo highlights of 2010 and also get voting!

Entries can be submitted until February 6th, 2011. The winner will be informed via email.

N.B. Applications from worldwide are welcomed but note that the facebook application is in German only.

http://apps.facebook.com/fluegelsammler

Houston, TX – January 7, 2011 – Over a thousand Houstonians gathered at Discovery Green in downtown Houston for the unveiling of Red Bull Illume, the world’s premiere action and adventure sports photography contest and exhibition.  

International skateboarding sensation, Ryan Sheckler, was master of ceremonies and kicked-off the highly anticipated exhibit.  Red Bull Illume is now open nightly from January 7-17, from 6pm-10pm. It’s free and open to the public…and not to be missed.

“Red Bull Illume showcases the hard work of action sports photographers everywhere,” said Sheckler.

“These photographers brave every circumstance to capture an athlete in his or her finest moments, and without these pictures, who would know, who would believe?”  
While thousands submitted photos, only 50 incredible images made the cut and are on display in Houston. The winners were chosen by a jury of renowned photography experts.  

By illuminating these breath-taking photographs, Red Bull Illume honors the photographers who’ve traveled, overcome the risks, scaled buildings and navigated waves to capture a magical moment. The Red Bull Illume judging categories include culture, playground, energy, spirit, close up, wings, sequence, new creativity, experimental and illumination.

“Discovery Green is thrilled to host the 2011 state-side debut of Red Bull’s Illume,” said Barry Mandel, president and park director at Discovery Green.

“What an outstanding venue to showcase the works of the globe’s best action and adventure photographers. Houstonians have a rare opportunity to witness true spirit and grit captured by these photographs.”

Check out the Houston event page to see the latest images. If you visit the exhibit, share your photos on Red Bull Illume's facebook page and include "Red Bull Illume Houston" to see your tweets!

Skateboarder and X-Games Champion Ryan Sheckler will be present at the US debut of the Red Bull Illume tour at Discovery Green in Houston on Friday, January 7th from 6 to 10PM.

The 19 year old pro-skateboarder and star of MTV’s Life of Ryan is the new-blood of the skateboard scene. A child prodigy who could pull off ollies at the age of 4, Ryan incredibly won the Summer X Games at the age of 13 in his first season as a pro. In 2007, Ryan made history by becoming the first skateboarder ever to win an AST Championship three years in a row. The Life of Ryan, charting the twists and turns of his life as a skater, ran for three seasons on MTV from 2007.

Red Bull Illume honors the photographers who capture the passion, high adrenaline lifestyle, and unique culture behind these winning shots. After premiering in Dublin, 50 of the world’s best action and adventure sports photographs will be illuminated at night between January 7 and 17th in Houston’s most popular urban park.

Each evening from 6 to 10PM, visitors can wander around this unique night-time outdoor exhibition and witness stunning or beautiful images of athletes pushing themselves to their limits in incredible locations.

www.ryansheckler.com, www.discoverygreen.com

The Red Bull Illume Team would like to thank all the photographers who submitted photos to the competition in 2010 as well as the fans who follow www.redbullillume.com. We would also like to thank the judges and Red Bull contacts all over the world for their support.

It’s been a fun and exciting 2010. Nearly 23.000 images were submitted to the competition. 53 judges expertly selected a stunning collection of the world’s best action sports images. Who could forget the mesmerising night-time exhibition and unveiling in Dublin?

The Red Bull Illume photobook has been sent to homes world-wide while the special edition D-LUX 5 from Leica was the first camera ever made by the manufacturer for a photography competition.

In 2011, Red Bull Illume looks forward to amazing you all over again with Exhibit Tour stops in the USA and Europe with exciting, new locations!

The Red Bull Illume website and team will go into hibernation over Christmas and the New Year but we look forward to posting exciting new features and news on www.redbullillume.com in 2011. Our servers never sleep however, so mail your enquiries to info(at)redbullillume.com or media(at)redbullillume.com.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2011!

The Red Bull Illume edition of Leica's exciting new D-LUX 5 premium compact camera is now available for purchase world-wide. Fans can now also order cameras directly from zooom productions at orders(at)zooom.at.

Priced at €699, this top-of-the range camera is a tribute from Leica to their involvement in the world’s biggest action sports photography competition. Only 250 cameras have been produced, a number specially selected to honor the 250 photographs featured in the Red Bull Illume Photobook.

After providing Chris Burkard €30,000 worth of high-spec equipment including the Leica S2 for his winning photo, the D-LUX 5 is for anyone who wants professional results with a compact size and price.

The Leica D-LUX 5 is distinguished by its classic Leica design and extra features. Registered camera owners can also download a copy of Adobe Lightroom (RRP €300) for free to process the camera's DNG raw files.

Finished in matt black design with silver colored Red Bull Illume engraving, the camera’s sophisticated features, super fast lens and potential for creative on-the-spot photography make it a perfect fit for action sports photographers and amateurs looking for a portable solution.

“Thanks to its ultra-fast image processing, simple handling and compact form, the Leica D-LUX 5 is a truly unique compact camera with system character,” says Peter Kruschewski, product manager for digital compact cameras at Leica Camera AG.

“It offers users endless opportunities for creative photography and allows photographers to capture the most spontaneous, fleeting moments as unforgettable pictures.”

The compact also has a comprehensive range of features and manual settings.

Super fast lens
The D-LUX 5 has a 10Mp 1/1.63'' sensor, a wide angle 3.8x optical zoom lens (24-90mm) with f/2 - 3.3 aperture, making it an ideal camera for "available light" photography.

Brilliant image quality
The D-LUX 5 features a newly designed 1/1.63'' CCD image sensor that is particularly large for a compact camera. Even at the standard resolution of 10.1 megapixels, this contributes to a significant increase in image quality, guaranteeing brilliant high-contrast images with natural colour rendition and superb sharpness in 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and even 1.1 formats.

Creative freedom
Thanks to its manual setting option for subject distance, aperture and shutter speed, the D-Lux 5 opens up a whole vista of creative opportunities for discerning photographers to take complete control of image characteristics. It also offers numerous automatic functions for effortless photography that guarantees the user perfectly exposed and sharp images by simply pressing the shutter release ideal for less experienced photographers.

Classic design
Classical elegance meets premium quality materials. The D-LUX 5 has elegant matt black throughout, with sparse accents in chrome and uncomplicated distinctive lines.

Professional image processing
Registered D-LUX 5 owners can also download a copy of Adobe Lightroom (RRP €300) for free to process the camera's DNG raw files. White balance, exposure, sharpness, tonal balance, color saturation and many other parameters can be modified during post-processing to get any desired result.

Video in HD-Quality
Record 1280 x 720pixel HD videos in memory-saving AVCHD-Lite format.

Upgrade accessories
Thanks to an optional electronic viewfinder and detachable flash unit, you can not only expand your photographic options, but also the range of your creative freedom.

Click on the link to see the original Leica D-LUX 5 promo.

Priced at €699, the camera can be ordered online at the Red Bull Shop in English and German (www.redbullshop.com).

www.leica-camera.com

The Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour is now going stateside to the great US of A! The world's greatest collection of action and adventure sports photography will illuminate Houston, Texas in January 2011.

All 50 finalists will be on show at Discovery Green in downtown Texas between January 7-17, 2010.

“Red Bull Illume is such an amazing event,” says the winner of this year’s contest Chris Burkard (USA). “The photos look completely surreal illuminated and printed so big. I feel honored to have been a part of it."

Red Bull Illume is arguably the world’s greatest collection of action and adventure sports photography. After attending the Unveiling in Dublin, judge Nick Hamilton from Transworld Snowboarding is delighted that US photography fans also will have the chance to see the exhibition.

"Red Bull Illume is unmatched for action sports photography. Truly incredible images. People are just going to be floored in amazement when they see them exhibited at night."

The photo exhibition will be fully open to the public between 6-10pm. Admission is free. Further US tour stops will be announced in the near future on www.redbullillume.com.

www.discoverygreen.com

The Red Bull Illume edition of Leica's exciting new D-LUX 5 premium compact camera is now available for purchase world-wide through the Red Bull Shop.

Priced at €699, this top-of-the range camera is a tribute from Leica to their involvement in the world’s biggest action sports photography competition. After providing Chris Burkard €30,000 worth of high-spec equipment including the Leica S2 for his winning photo, the D-LUX 5 is for anyone who wants professional results with a compact size and price.

Finished in matt black design with silver colored Red Bull Illume engraving, the camera’s sophisticated features, super fast lens and potential for creative on-the-spot photography make it a perfect fit for action sports photographers and amateurs looking for a portable solution.

The “Red Bull Illume Limited Edition” is the first ever camera made by Leica to be dedicated to a photography award.

These handcrafted, meticulously manufactured special editions are only made by Leica to mark historical occasions and are always produced in very limited numbers. Only 250 cameras have been produced, a number specially selected to honor the 250 photographs featured in the Red Bull Illume Photobook.

Revealed at Photokina 2010, the D-LUX series marks Leica’s exciting entry into the compact digital market. The versatile D-LUX 5 offers a broad spectrum of photographic options, from macro and wide-angle architecture and landscape photography to reportage and portrait photography.

“Thanks to its ultra-fast image processing, simple handling and compact form, the Leica D-LUX 5 is a truly unique compact camera with system character,” says Peter Kruschewski, product manager for digital compact cameras at Leica Camera AG.

“It offers users endless opportunities for creative photography and allows photographers to capture the most spontaneous, fleeting moments as unforgettable pictures.”

The compact also has a comprehensive range of features and manual settings.

Super fast lens
The D-LUX 5 has a 10Mp 1/1.63" sensor, a wide angle 3.8x optical zoom lens (24-90mm) with f/2 - 3.3 aperture, making it an ideal camera for "available light" photography.

Brilliant image quality
The D-LUX 5 features a newly designed 1/1.63"-CCD image sensor that is particularly large for a compact camera. Even at the standard resolution of 10.1 megapixels, this contributes to a significant increase in image quality, guaranteeing brilliant high-contrast images with natural colour rendition and superb sharpness in 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and even 1.1 formats.

Creative freedom
Thanks to its manual setting option for subject distance, aperture and shutter speed, the D-Lux 5 opens up a whole vista of creative opportunities for discerning photographers to take complete control of image characteristics. It also offers numerous automatic functions for effortless photography that guarantees the user perfectly exposed and sharp images by simply pressing the shutter release ideal for less experienced photographers.

Classic design
Classical elegance meets premium quality materials. The D-LUX 5 has elegant matt black throughout, with sparse accents in chrome and uncomplicated distinctive lines.

Professional image processing
Registered owners can also download a copy of Adobe Lightroom to process the camera's DNG raw files. White balance, exposure, sharpness, tonal balance, color saturation and many other parameters can be modified during post-processing to get any desired result.

Video in HD-Quality
Record 1280 x 720pixel HD videos in memory-saving AVCHD-Lite format.

Upgrade accessories
Thanks to an optional electronic viewfinder and detachable flash unit, you can not only expand your photographic options, but also the range of your creative freedom.

Click on the link for videos of the Leica D-LUX 5.

Priced at €699, the camera can be ordered online at the Red Bull Shop in English and German (www.redbullshop.com).

Although action sports photographers treat the great outdoors as their studio, don’t be surprised to hear that they’re not always on a glacier, beach or skatepark. To give their portfolios variety, they shoot commercial and fashion photography when the chance comes their way.

Well-respected surf photographer Agustin Munoz was given a brief by Somos Magazine in Peru to do a fashion shoot of some of the world’s best women surfers – including Sally Fitzgibbons, Sofia Mulanovich and Maya Gabeira – during their visit to a mid-season high performance camp in Peru.

The concept was both pretty obvious but also new for the sport: treat some down-to-earth surf girls as models for the day – in full make-up. Surprising to hear perhaps, but female surfers don’t get the opportunity to do fashion shoots that often.

“We tried to make the shoot different to a regular surfing shoot by mixing fashion with surfing action. Doing fashion shoots with athletes is usually pretty limited by what they can do but we always work something out. Obviously, if it’s an action sports shoot, it’s better to use athletes. If it’s a fashion shoot I prefer models."

“I was really happy with the shots I got though – the girls did a fantastic job.”

However Munoz wasn’t working with just any athletes. Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia) was the youngest and quickest, male or female, World Surfing Tour qualifier in ASP history. Sofia Mulanovich (Peru) was the first South American woman to win the ASP world title in 2004. Maya Gabeira (Brazil) surfed the biggest wave ever by a female when she successfully surfed a 45-foot wave at Dungeons Beach in South Africa. She also won the Billabong Girls Best Overall Performance Award for a record four years in a row.

After shooting the girls hitting the waves, Munoz gave each of them a theme to play for the interior shoot: soccer player (Fitzgibbons), film maker (Mulanovich), model (Gabeira) and artist (Nadja de Col). The day ended with the obligatory swim-suit shoot.

“The only problem was the weather and it’s pretty cloudy at that time of year in Peru so I concentrated on getting some interior shots from the house.”

As for equipment and post-production requirements for a fashion shoot, Munoz has his own preferences.

“Generally, I like to use pretty wide aperture lenses, like 85 – 1.8, 50 – 1.2, 24 – 1.4 and sometimes I use zoom lenses like a 200 – 2.8. As for flashes, I like to use Elinchrom. Normally I use soft boxes as they make the light softer and skin looks better. For this shoot, I also used a ring flash.”

“For post-production, most of the time I just have to fix the skin and colors, but it’s mostly just color corrections.”

For the girls, the shoot was a chance to be both feminine and show their credentials as top athletes. They were of course delighted with the final shots.

“What we normally do is so different,” said Maya Gabeira. “We’re always in the ocean and, you know, we can never wear make-up or really think about how we look out there. It was just fun to be a model for a day.”

Press play on the image to see the making of video and check out the gallery for a selection of surf and lifestyle photos of Sally Fitzgibbons, Sofia Mulanovich and Maya Gabeira as well as fashion shots from Agustin Munoz.

www.agustinmunoz.com, www.carlosserrao.com, www.redbullsurfing.com

The Red Bull Illume photobook is now available for purchase at Austrian branches of Thalia, one of the market leaders in the German-speaking book market.

Available since September, photobooks have been distributed worldwide and were also available for purchase at branches of FNAC in Porto, Portugal.

With 35 branches in Austria alone, Thalia is Austria’s leading book-chain. However, the limited edition photobooks will be available only at selected stores nation-wide.

“The Red Bull Illume photo book 2010 is a unique book with stunning images from sports, extreme sports, music, lifestyle and art,” says Christian Loebenstein from Thalia’s Vienna branch. “The high quality production and layout underlines the commitment of Red Bull to exclusivity.”

The photobooks can be purchased for €49.90 at Thalia’s online shop with free delivery within Austria. Online orders are also accepted from residents in Germany and Switzerland.

Contact your local store to find out if the world’s best action sports photography is available at a Thalia near you!

www.thalia.at

Leica are to produce a special Red Bull Illume limited edition of their exciting new D-Lux 5 premium compact camera as a tribute to their involvement with the world’s biggest action sports photography competition.

Finished in matt black design with silver colored Red Bull Illume engraving, the camera’s sophisticated features, super fast lens and potential for creative on-the-spot photography make it a perfect fit for action sports photographers and amateurs looking for a portable solution.

The “Red Bull Illume Limited Edition” is the first ever camera made by Leica to be dedicated to a photography award.

These specially handcrafted, meticulously manufactured special editions are only made by Leica to mark historical occasions and are always produced in very limited numbers. Only 250 cameras have been produced, a number specially selected to honor the 250 photographs featured in the Red Bull Illume Photobook.

Revealed at Photokina 2010, the D-Lux series marks Leica’s exciting entry into the compact digital market. Successor to the acclaimed D-LUX 4, the versatile LEICA D-LUX 5 offers a broad spectrum of photographic options, from macro and wide-angle architecture and landscape photography to reportage and portrait photography.

“Thanks to its ultra-fast image processing, simple handling and compact form, the LEICA D-LUX 5 is a truly unique compact camera with system character,” says Peter Kruschewski, product manager for digital compact cameras at Leica Camera AG.

“It offers users endless opportunities for creative photography and allows photographers to capture the most spontaneous, fleeting moments as unforgettable pictures.”

The compact also has a comprehensive range of features and manual settings.

Super fast lens
The D-LUX 5 has a 10Mp 1/1.63" inch sensor, a wide angle 3.8x optical zoom lens (24-90mm) with f.20 aperture, making it an ideal camera for "available light" photography.

Brilliant image quality
The D-Lux 5 features a newly designed 1/1.63"-CCD image sensor that is particularly large for a compact camera. Even at the standard resolution of 10.1 megapixels, this contributes to a significant increase in image quality, guaranteeing brilliant high-contrast images with natural colour rendition and superb sharpness in 4:3, 3:216:9 and even 1.1 formats.

Creative freedom
Thanks to its manual setting option for subject distance, aperture and shutter speed, the D-Lux 5 opens up a whole vista of creative opportunities for discerning photographers to take complete control of image characteristics. It also offers numerous automatic functions for effortless photography that guarantees the user perfectly exposed and sharp images by simply pressing the shutter release ideal for less experienced photographers.

Classic design
Classical elegance meets premium quality materials. The D-Lux 5 has elegant matt black throughout, with sparse accents in chrome and uncomplicated distinctive lines.

Professional image processing
Registered owners can also download a copy of Adobe Lightroom to process the camera's DNG raw files. White balance, exposure, sharpness, tonal balance, colour saturation and many other parameters can be modified during post-processing to get any desired result.

Video in HD-Quality
Record 1280 x 720pixel HD videos in memory-saving AVCHD-Lite format.

Upgrade accessories
Thanks to an optional electronic viewfinder and detachable flash unit, you can not only expand your photographic options, but also the range of your creative freedom.

Click on the link for videos of the Leica D-Lux 5.

Priced at €699, the camera will be available to order soon at the Red Bull Shop (www.redbullshop.com).

Wings category winner Marcel Lämmerhirt made a special studio appearance on “Bullet Points” for Servus TV (Austria) on October 30th as part of a unique feature on the life of an action sports photographer.

Dubbed “Hero’s Journey”, Marcel was followed by a camera crew from his FMX and MTB shoots on the mountains of Mayrhofen in Tyrol to the unveiling of the final of the Image Quest in Dublin.

Completely unaware whether he would win anything at the world’s biggest awards for action sports photography, the feature captures all the excitement of Marcel working outdoors on a shoot to his career-highlight win at Red Bull Illume, what he calls his “Oscar award”.

“Photography means to draw with light, which I love doing. I love working with shadows, to record the extreme, to capture a millisecond as a moment and bring across the passion of the sport.”

“For me it’s a massive success to be invited to Dublin. The competition is so strong, such good pictures. I don’t know which picture I’m in for. I had three in the top 250 which were published in the book the judges received. One picture must have made it, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”

To see Marcel’s exciting journey and hear what he had to say on his photography techniques and being part of Red Bull Illume, click here to reach the “Mediathek” of Servus TV and find the “Bullet Points” show, episode 12, transmitted at 22:30 on October 30th.

www.servustv.com

Using a motion blur technique makes your images more dynamic and adds a feeling of speed. In this video Marcos Ferro demonstrates some techniques, which can be good additions or creative approaches for any sport photography shoot.

Equipment and settings:

Camera:
Canon EOS 5D

Lenses:
17.0-40.0mm f/4.0
70.0-200.0mm f/2.8
15.0mm Fisheye f/2.8

Shutterspeed: 1/20 – 1/50
ISO: 50    - 250
F-Stop: 5.6 - 7.1

Memory card: SanDisk Extreme Pro 16Gb
Software and tools: Adobe Photoshop CS5

Credits:
Photographer: © Marcos Ferro (www.marcosferro.com)

Red Bull Illume will reveal an exciting new item for action sport photography fans next week.

After keeping the world entertained with unique online galleries, after-dark exhibitions and high-quality photobooks, Red Bull Illume has one more exciting innovation waiting around the corner.

In the dark about what it could be? Get ready to be enlightened soon when full details will be announced on www.redbullillume.com. In the meantime, leave your guesses and comments on facebook.

Red Bull Off the Planet was the shoot of a lifetime for professional photographer Chris O’Connell.  Melbourne-based installation artists ENESS wanted to bring a new perspective to action sports by fusing interactive art with skiers and snowboarders flying through the air. Chris was the man with the challenge to make the stills look as good as the motion video for the Red Bull Off the Planet shoot at Mammoth Mountain, California.

Although no stranger to mixing creative photo shoots with cutting-edge technology – he shot the first wireless synced flash sequence with a shutter speed of 1/500s – the Off the Planet shoot was an ambitious shoot for Chris and everyone else to say the least.

Here’s what Chris had to say on how they managed to create probably the best-looking kicker you have ever seen and visuals that really were out-of-this-world.

Chris, tell us about the idea behind Red Bull Off the Planet.
The concept was to have a 21-foot inflatable sphere hover between the two hits as the software mapped 3D visuals onto the snow and sphere. To make the visuals interactive, the riders [including Russell Henshaw, Sean Pettit and Simon Dumont] were tracked via an infrared camera as they flew through the air.

It was the most visually spectacular ski or snowboard shoot I have been a part of in my 15 years of being a professional photographer. But it almost didn’t happen. The idea seemed simple: Eness Agency would bring projection equipment over from Australia, set up a 21-foot helium-filled sphere in the gap with the earth projected onto it, and then project moon rocks onto the jump. And skiers would jump over the world. Easy right? Well, in theory it was.

What was the set-up like? It must have been a huge challenge?
We arrived to a perfect 65-foot table with the middle cut into a big channel to give room for the globe. Everything appeared perfect. The problems came when the Eness crew tried to inflate the sphere with helium. The size of the floating sphere didn’t bode well with the Sierra Mountain winds and the orb almost blew away. Then came projector problems: none of the projectors worked. The second day’s shoot was called off and it looked like this massive project was never going to happen.

So when did the shoot seem like it was going to work?
On night three, while we were enjoying a couple beers and sake at sushi dinner, we got the call at 10 p.m. saying that Eness had figured out the problems with the projectors and we had a go.

How did you freeze the action with lighting without affecting the multimedia graphics?
I used Broncolor Scoro A4 and A2 lights and a Broncolor Verso Battery Pack. I used long throw reflectors and had to get really creative with the lighting. I had to side light and hope I got enough light to wrap, because anything on the jump would destroy the projections for the video. It was like a chess game trying to get all the pieces to line up, but they did.

I had to shoot everything on a tripod and make a composite to make the most of the projections and really get them to pop.

How did you get power up on the mountain?
Luckily, the shoot wasn't too far from Hollywood so we had a dedicated lighting and a power guy came to Mammoth. He brought a huge diesel powered generator up the mountain to provide lots of clean power for everything we had going on.

What camera gear did you use?
I shot with Canon Mark IV with Zeiss lenses to ensure max sharpness across the entire field.

How did you feel when the shoot happened?
When the Eness crew flipped the switch and turned on the projectors at about midnight, the sight was awe-inspiring. As promised, there was a rotating earth and moon rocks projected on the jump, but the fun didn’t end there. There was a 3D laser light show with birds flocking across the jump onto the sphere, exploding lights and even goldfish and jellyfish were swimming around. The potential was limitless.

Best event shoot ever?
I think we got some of the most interesting video and still shots of skiers and snowboarders that I have ever seen.

Find more behind-the-scenes action on the Off the Planet shoot, see Chris O'Connell's making of video here on YouTube and check out the photos in the gallery.

http://chrisoconnell.com

The Red Bull Illume Photobook reached the shores Portugal last week and is now exclusively on sale at FNAC in Porto. The 300 page photobook was launched on September 25th at the Gaia shopping centre in Vila Nova de Gaia and can be purchased at the store.

Luis Lopes, the photo editor of Onbike magazine, was present at the launch to share his experience on being a judge in this year’s contest.

"What I like about Red Bull Illume is the fact that it is the only world-wide contest where people that cover these kind of sports events can get their work recognized. To be one of the elected jurors was a great privilege for me."

"The photobook is extraordinary, a masterpiece – it was above all my expectations. I hope it does really well."

Visit the FNAC website for more information on where to buy the photobook. Fans can also order online through the Red Bull Shop.

A month has passed since the unveiling of the finalists and category winners of Red Bull Illume in Dublin, just long enough to get nostalgic about that truly spectacular night on August 31.

With a touch of mystery surrounding the unknown identity of the finalists, the night was all about revelations. Who were the finalists? Which photos were selected? Who would win? The photographers and judges present were as clueless as everybody else. With everyone housed in the beautiful 18th century buildings of Trinity College Dublin, the evening had an extra touch of magic about it.

The vibe of course was one of suspense, excitement, goosebumps – but also one of mutual respect. The photographers were with their peers, friends and – for some – their heroes. The Red Bull Illume 2010 Unveiling was one of the few occasions in a photographer’s career where the focus was on them.

Read the thoughts and feelings from the photographers and judges on one of the biggest nights in their careers.

ON WINNING

Nathan Smith (Australia), Athletes’ Choice and Close Up winner
I’m dizzy from the whole experience. I’m humbled to be here and happy to have made the top 50 let alone win two awards that in my book are very prestigious. I’m in a room full of photographers who I look up to.

Stuart Gibson (Australia), Energy category winner
I’m excited, it’s great to be recognized. I think sometimes I get a bit numb from my photos sometimes, I look at them so often. When you get a different person’s point of view from it, it’s great.

THE OVERALL WINNER

Alessio Barbanti (Italy) finalist in Energy category
It must have been really hard for the judges, they did a great job. It’s difficult to judge 23,000 images and come just to one. The winning picture though is really cool. As Chris Burkard said, sometimes you’re really focused on the action. In Chris’ picture, you see everything around the action: the environment, the light, the sky, the sea. It’s really amazing.

Silvano Zeiter (Switzerland), finalist in New Creativity category
The overall winning shot is amazing. When I saw the random pictures exhibited on the Red Bull Illume website, I looked through them and saw that one picture by Chris Burkard. I made a screen shot and said to my friend, “This is going to be the shot!”

THE LIGHTBOXES

Flo Hagena (Germany), finalist in New Creativity
I’m stoked to see my picture in that size. I’ve never seen one of my pictures that large. Getting into the top 50 is a real honor and to be judged by so many photo editors, it makes me really proud that they chose one of mine.

Eric Antoine (France), finalist in Experimental category
It’s great to see the pictures big. My photo especially, it’s just a little piece of glass. It’s good to see it this big. It’s interesting to see how people perceive the photos because the photographer has their own opinion. It’s very interesting to hear the different visions people have of my work.

Maiko Mou (French Polynesia), finalist in Close Up category
Now that I am back in Tahiti, I am realizing that it was so nice to be out there, to be invited at such a great event, to meet talented people and to see and know that there is a big lightbox of me somewhere in a big city.

ATHLETE’S CHOICE

Robby Naish (USA), Red Bull Athlete and surfer
Especially in sports like mine, the relationship with photographers is maybe more profound than a lot of other sports where competition is the focus. I’ve been lucky to work with photographers for the last thirty-four years. A lot of who I am and my career and everything I’m based around is because of the images provided by photographers. That’s why it’s so cool that Red Bull is doing this. We get all the glory but it’s constant work with a lot of photographers to make it happen. It’s great to see a platform where the guys on the other side of the lens are getting a bit of attention and respect and reward.

Orlando Duque (Colombia), Red Bull Athlete and cliff diver
I think Red Bull Illume is awesome. The photographers are always putting so much on the line. Red Bull Illume is for them, this is for the photographers. I think it’s great that Red Bull is putting them in the spotlight.

JUDGING PHOTOS

Lyn Walker (Australia), Alpha Magazine and Red Bull Illume Judge
The quality of the photos was incredible. The judges got an amazing book, it was awesome to flick through and see all the amazing photography. There were definitely some standouts. The shots that really captured the essence of Red Bull and the excitement in the picture – they really stood out.

Calvin Bradley (South Africa), Zig Zag magazine and Red Bull Illume Judge
I was blown away by the quality of photos in this competition. It’s always surprising to see how different a lot of these top photographers’ eyes are to other photographers. It’s great that Red Bull Illume is run to showcase guys like this, they’re the secret heroes of surfing – no one really knows what they look like and they’ve made so many people famous.

Alan Sparrow (UK), The Metro and Red Bull Illume Judge
I thought the pictures were fantastic, everyone of them was a difficult choice: it was hard to make a decision between the ones that won and the ones that didn’t. The defining line between them was really close.

THE PHOTOBOOK

Corinne Tâche-Berther (Switzerland), 7sky magazine and Red Bull Illume Judge
In general the quality of photos is amazing and the photobook is incredible. You go through the book and you will just fall in love with the photos. The photobook shows where action and adventure sports photography is right now.

ON RED BULL ILLUME

Lorenz Holder (Germany), finalist in New Creativity category
As Robby Naish said, to give the people behind the lens something, to put a picture to a person, is really cool.

Sergio Urday (Peru), Etiquete Negra and Red Bull Illume Judge
It’s amazing to change opinions and feelings about photography, but I think Red Bull Illume does that. Photography is a way of changing peoples’ minds. I think photography brings people from different countries and cultures together and when you have a competition and a gathering like this Unveiling you can see that.

Camilla Stoddart (Scotland), finalist in Wings category
I saw the Red Bull Illume photos from 2007 and it was something I always wanted to be involved in. You see all the photographers doing this really cool stuff and you aspire to become them. And here I am!

Ulrich Grill (Austria), Red Bull Illume founder and photographer
It’s great to see the Red Bull Illume exhibition come together again. It was amazing to see all the hard work coming together so well. To see the photos in full size, in a way they should be presented – it blows me away, mind-blowing. It’s great seeing the photographers on stage getting their prizes, it’s so emotional.  Maybe it’s the only time in their lives where these photographers will be on a stage and receive a prize, it’s really motivating for action and adventure sports photographers. Everyone is totally stoked.

Red Bull Illume exhibited in Germany for the first time ever at the Photokina in Köln (Cologne) last week. The top ten category winning photographs were exhibited in an exclusive exhibition space arranged thanks to SanDisk at the world’s most important trade fair for the photography and imaging industry.

After being unable to attend the unveiling premier in Dublin due to work commitments, Culture category winner Vincent Perraud (FRA) was delighted to finally collect his trophy and prizes from SanDisk and Lowepro in person.

“Winning at Red Bull Illume means so much to me. To win was a big surprise. I wasn’t in Dublin because I was on a photo shoot in the US.  When I heard that I won, I was really astonished. There were so many good pictures in those 23,000 images. My family and friends were so proud and it gave me more motivation to shoot new pictures!”

With a record 180,000 visitors at the trade fair, Photokina proved itself again to be the world’s most important trade fair for the photography and imaging industry and also the most popular one for consumers and amateur photographers.

With 1,251 exhibits from 45 countries, the public could get up close with the latest innovations, meet world-class photographers in person and of course see stunning imagery – including the ten 2x2m back-lit lighboxes from Red Bull Illume.

For Perraud, seeing his image amongst the top 10 best action and adventure sport images is a huge career highlight.

“The lightbox is huge. It made me think ‘Wow is it really my picture?’ It's so much better seeing it exhibited large than seeing it small on a computer! And it's funny to look at the people watching it and to see their reaction – especially when they don't know it's you who took it!”

Vincent received 10 SanDisk 64 GB Extreme Pro memory cards and a Classified 160 AW shoulder bag from Lowepro. The French BMX specialist also received his limited edition copy of the Red Bull Illume Photobook. The 300 page book, featuring the best 250 images submitted to the 2010 Image Quest, was also on sale to the public.

“It's a really nice book – like wow! And it’s massive! It has selective varnish print which I’ve always liked too. I love photo books anyway and even if my pics weren’t inside I would also get it. It doesn’t happen often that there’s an action sports book as good as the Red Bull Illume Photobook.”

Other highlights of the week included a talk by Wings category winner Marcel Lämmehirt (GER) and Red Bull Illume project manager Sandra Viertauer on the Leica stage.

Further tour announcements for Red Bull Illume will be announced on www.redbullillume.com over the coming period.

Chris Bukard, photographer – there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name by now. Since he won the Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010, that name has travelled worldwide. That beautiful sun-drenched photo of Peter Media surfing in Chile has put him rightfully in the spotlight.

Just 22 years old but already published in every surf magazine worth mentioning and the man behind the “California Surf Project”, he was also the winner of the first Follow the Light Foundation grant. His success didn’t just come out of the blue.

As for the camera he used that day, that’s already gone into folklore. While his winning image has already been burned into our imaginations, the camera he shot it with is lost forever. Apparently it’s lying at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean somewhere. He lost it a day after the shoot in April 2009 after the boat driver made a wrong turn.

To find out about the man in his own words, read our exclusive interview with Chris fresh from his victory in Dublin on August 31.

How do you feel about winning the Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010?
I’m overjoyed, it’s hard to put into words being able to be nominated and to win this award in front of all your peers and people I respect, I’m truly blessed. I feel really lucky right now. My expectations were to put a photo in there and hope for a few editors to see it.

To be a finalist was a huge honour and to be able to come here was a huge honor. Being up on that stage was an out of body experience. I didn’t know what to think. There are few moments in a photographer’s life where he is truly appreciated for the work he does and to be looked at as someone who creates beautiful images. We’re usually the workhorses that are behind the scenes and this is something I could only dream of. I’m really grateful.

More than anything I’m grateful to the surfer, Peter Mendia, he’s the guy who paddled out there and made it happen. And to the landscape: we live in such a beautiful place and my main goal in photography has always been to inspire people to see and seek out the world around them.

What’s the story behind the shot?
We went to Chile in 2009, and it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We sat in the rain for weeks and it was terrible. We woke up one morning and it was bluebird skies and the waves were the best I’d ever seen.

We went down to check all these spots and this was the last place we went. This was the last session of the day and I hiked up to a sand dune so I could get a pulled back shot to capture the whole landscape and environment that the surfer was in. This image was the outcome. For me it was scary. Photographers usually want to get up close to the action but in this case I went further away. I’m lucky I did because this came of it.

For me it’s all about light or the absence of light, dark clouds or a moving storm: the simple moments. Or the most beautiful evening you have ever seen. By shooting a silhouette like in this image it makes them timeless. I want to capture moments on earth like this in their natural state, as if (humans) were not even there.

Is it true that you lost the camera you used to take that shot?
It's true, I lost the camera the day after. It was a big day at an outer reef in Chile, and the boat driver was a little wasted. We had the boat angled the wrong direction and a wave broke really wide, sending us into the impact zone. We rushed the wave head on and it crashed over the top of me, flooding everything and washing my camera to sea.

What was it like being part of Red Bull Illume?
The competition in general was amazing. I looked at these people’s photos and I thought, ‘I need to step up my game’. I did not think there was any chance that I might win. I looked at all these different sports and the beauty that they create and everything that they do and I thought, ‘wow there is such good photography out there now.’

My photo is not flash, it’s not experimental, it’s just natural light in a natural setting and I thought people would be looking for something more technologically advanced and more new age. My photo was almost a step back to just the basics of photography.

What’s next for surf photography?
Surfing photography is going to keep evolving. There’s going to be people pushing the sport in all different ways. I don’t think there is going to be one thing that is the next big thing, but it’s going to be everyone pushing each other to capture more and more incredible images.

As far as technology is concerned the sky is the limit. Flash, different types of lighting and the different studio effects that are done. I think some people are going to revert back to using film and maybe large formats. Surf photography is untapped, there are so many opportunities for everyone to explore and create.

What do you do day to day?
I’m a staff photographer at Surfer Magazine. My day-to-day routine is to check emails and see what the editor and photo editor want. I talk to surfers, check what’s going on and plan what I’m doing in the next weeks, months or years. I usually have trips planned long in advance.

How did you get into photography?
Photography was something that never came easy to me; it was something I had to work on. I took art at school and draw and paint a bit to have fun. I always used to go surfing a lot with my friends and one day I picked up a camera and it was like I had found the most expressive medium I have ever put my hands on. It was everything I wanted to do. I worked hard and I managed to make it into a career. It took me a long time to come up with something like this!

As Overall Winner of Red Bull Illume 2010, Chris Burkard won a Leica S2 camera, a year's supply of 20 SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB memory cards and a ProRunner x450 AW camera bag from Lowepro.

www.burkardphoto.com

Fresh from the exhibit tour in Dublin, the ten award winning photographs from Red Bull Illume 2010 will be exhibited next week at Photokina, the world’s most important trade fair for photography and imaging.

Billed this year as the kick off for Photography 3.0, Photokina will present the latest developments, trends and products in professional and amateur photography. The trade fair, which takes place in Cologne in Germany every two years, is the only event in the world that brings together the media, technology and business sectors in the industry for consumers and professionals.

At Photokina 2008, 1,579 companies from 46 countries took part and over 169,000 visitors from 161 countries attended the fair.

Chris Burkard’s winning image from Red Bull Illume as well as the nine other category winners are sure to be one of the highlights of the trade fair. According to Red Bull Illume judge Laura Luykenaar from Salt Magazine, the photos are a must-see. "I think Red Bull Illume is important for this type of photography. It brings together all the action sports that you don’t always see on TV and shows what the feel and the culture for these sports are like."

For Wings category winner Marcel Lämmerhirt, the event offers him another chance to see his stunning diving shot in the flesh once more. "I love the shot. It’s two years old now, but I really like it. To see it big on the screen is really nice."

Other highlights include a special show on the future of 3D and 360° photography. A Matrix Ring will also be on show in Hall 4.1, giving visitors the chance to be part of their own Matrix-style photo or film.

Amateur and professional photographers will also be eager to get their hands on the latest cameras, lenses and gadgets from all the major manufacturers – including Leica (Hall 2.1, stand A010-BO12), Lowepro (Hall 5.2, stand C010) and Sandisk (Hall 2.1, stand D041).

The lightboxes of the 10 category winners will be on show at Hall 4.2, Stand D011 from Tuesday, September 21 until Sunday, September 26 between 10am and 6pm. Visitors will also be able to buy copies of the Red Bull Illume Photobook 2010.

Daily tickets for Photokina range from €11 to €43.

www.photokina-cologne.com

The world’s best action and adventure sports photographers were revealed at a spectacular unveiling in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland on August 31. A stunning landscape-style surf photo by Chris Burkard (USA) wowed the international jury and was selected as the overall winner of Red Bull Illume 2010.

“I am so blessed,” said Burkard on picking up the biggest prize in freesports photography. “I feel really, really lucky just to be here and be surrounded by people I look up to and my peers. There’s something to be said to win an award in front of people you respect. So for me this is huge, a really huge honour. I’m really grateful.”

Check the video to see how the night went down.

Enlightenment arrived at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland tonight August 31, as Chris Burkard was named Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010 winner at an emotional unveiling ceremony packed with photographers, competition judges, athletes and special guests.

The 24-year-old professional photographer’s image of surfer Peter Mendria riding waves on Chile’s West Coast in golden sunlight was named Overall Winner of the world’s biggest action and adventure sports photography competition out of 22,764 photos submitted to the contest by nearly 5000 photographers.

“I’m overjoyed, it’s hard to put into words being able to be nominated and to win this award in front of all your piers and people I respect, I’m truly blessed.” Said Burkard.

As the sun set, the Image Quest’s top 50 images – the five best from ten categories – were revealed for the first time ever and illuminated on 2m high lightboxes. The energetic ceremony, which focussed on putting the photographers in the spotlight, was held in the magnificent and historic Trinity College dining hall used in the Harry Potter movies.

American windsurfer Robby Naish and Red Bull Cliff Diving World Champion Orlando Duque (COL) were among the guests and Irish TV star Sile Seoige hosted the ceremony while Red Bull Illume Judge Eileen Ryan of USA Today presented Burkard with the Winner’s trophy.

Fifty-three judges from respected picture desks around the globe voted over three rounds to determine ten category winners as well as the Overall Winner. The outstanding quality of the photography made voting a tough job for the judges.

“I thought the pictures were fantastic, everyone of them was a difficult choice: it was hard to make a decision between the ones that won and the ones that didn’t,” said Red Bull Illume judge Alan Sparrow (UK). “The defining line between them was really close.”

Burkard was presented with a €30,000 of Leica equipment including a S2 camera and lenses plus 20 SanDisk 64GB Extreme Pro flash memory cards and Lowepro ProRunner x450 AW camera bag.

The ten category winners, who receive SanDisk flash memory cards and a Lowpro camera bag are:

Experimental - Daniel Grund (GER)
New Creativity – Eric Berger (CAN)
SanDisk Sequence - Miguel Lopez-Virgen (MEX)
Energy - Stuart Gibson (AUS)
Illumination – Chris Burkhard (USA)
Playground – Tim Korbmacher (GER)
Culture – Vincent Perraud (FRA)
Spirit – Adam Kokot (POL)
Wings – Marcel Lämmerhirt (GER)
Close up – Nathan Smith (AUS)

Nathan Smith was also named Athletes’ Choice winner.

The top 50 images will continue to be displayed on the lightboxes free to the public at Trinity College until September 11, 2010 before embarking on a world tour.

Check out the top 50 finalist images on the gallery, and images from the Unveiling in Dublin are on the Exhibit page. Like what you see? Join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

The world’s best action and adventure sports photographers were revealed tonight at a spectacular unveiling in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. A stunning landscape-style surf photo by Chris Burkard (USA) wowed the international jury and was selected as the overall winner of Red Bull Illume 2010.

“I am so blessed,” said Burkard on picking up the biggest prize in freesports photography. “I feel really, really lucky just to be here and be surrounded by people I look up to and my peers. There’s something to be said to win an award in front of people you respect. So for me this is huge, a really huge honour. I’m really grateful.”

“As action sports photographers, we’re used to getting towards the action and getting close to it. And nine times out of ten, that’s what we’ll do. But I decided to get as far from the action as I could so I could show the whole landscape so people could appreciate everything that was going on and not just the surfer.”

Burkard’s image proved to be a hugely popular choice with fellow photographers and the public on the night. “The overall winning shot by Chris Burkard is amazing,” said New Creativity finalist Silvano Zeiter. “When I saw the random pictures exhibited on the Red Bull Illume website, I looked through them and saw that one picture by Chris Burkard. I made a screen shot and said to my friend, ‘This is going to be shot!’”

Fred Montagne, the previous winner of the Image Quest in 2007 also thought Burkard was a worthy winner. “My favorite photo was the overall winner by Chris Burkard, really. I like these kind of photos where you see the athlete in a big environment. It’s not just about the action, it’s about the action in some crazy environment. I like when the individual is really small. It would still be a good photo without the surfer.”

See the full list of category winners and finalists here on www.redbullillume.com.

The Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010 Unveiling Ceremony is underway very soon! Stay posted to the website the page to view the winners as they are announced live on www.redbullillume.com.

Like what you see? Join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

There's just one day until Red Bull Illume unveils its top 50 finalists, 10 category winners, one Overall winner and one Athlete's Choice winner.

Who are they? The answers are on these boxes, currently under heavy guard at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. Tomorrow night the covers will be lifted and the 50 finalist images illuminated for all to see.

If you can't make the opening night, don't forget to tune in on www.redbullillume.com where the images will be unveiled live from 2100 (CET). There will be updates throughout the night and you can join the discussion via Facebook and Twitter.

If you can't make tomorrow night's (August 31) Unveiling Ceremony at Trinity College, Dublin, then stay posted to www.redbullillume.com from 2100 (CET) where the category winners will be revealed live on the homepage.

Fifty finalists, 10 category winners, one Overall Winner and one Athletes' Choice will be illuminated for online viewers as it happens - prepare to be enlightened!

Want to comment on the images? Join the discussion via Facebook and Twitter.

"Photography is not much of a mystery anymore. As a result, photographers need to work harder to surprise the viewer," says Eileen Ryan of USA Today. What is a mystery to everyone however, including the judges, is the identity of the Red Bull Illume finalists. Even the Jury do not know yet which image was voted as the Overall Winner.

Acting as spokesperson for the Jury, she will officially represent the judges at the unveiling ceremony on August 31 in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. We interviewed Eileen to get her thoughts on selecting the finalists and category winners as well as her hopes for the premiere exhibition of the world’s best action and adventure sports photography.

Eileen, how hard was it to make a decision on your favorite images in each of the three rounds of voting?
I actually found it most difficult to go from 250 down to 50.  The quality of the images that made the first cut was terrific.  Usually when the vote was tight between two photographs, I would look for the emotion in each. When one photo had a subject that showed the strain of competition or exhilaration, that image would get my vote.

Were you surprised by any of the photos that made it through to the top 50?
Not really.  By the time it got to 50, the quality in each of the categories was outstanding.

As a judge and if you had to summarize all the photos you seen, what photos impressed and excited you?
Well, I have to say there was one picture that surprised me a lot, but I can’t reveal which one it is yet! There are so many technological changes going on all around us, I basically thought to myself: “What next?”  I also enjoyed the sequence photo that made it into the top ten. I’m not a big fan of gimmicks and this image felt more raw to me and it wasn’t just about the trick.

One of the finalists has said that "My goal is to try to keep taking the viewer to places they have not visited and to see things unlike anything they have seen before." Did you feel that when you first saw the top 50 or category winners?
Yes indeed.  Many of these situations: skateboarding, surfing and skiing are not sports that I see everyday.  So not only is it fun to go someplace I don’t ordinarily go, but it’s also fun to view them in such creative ways.  The composition of these photographs in general is phenomenal.

What difference will being nominated for a Red Bull Illume award, or even winning, make to an action sports photographer's career?
For USA TODAY, if you can be a spectacular sports photographer AND can shoot other things, you will get work.  I can imagine as a Red Bull Illume finalist, it’s a great selling point on a photographer’s resume.

You've been involved since the contest started in 2006. What do you think about Red Bull Illume as a photography contest and the event?
I did not get to see the exhibit in 2007, but I know that the quality of the photographs is getting better each time the contest takes place.  Red Bull Illume is a massive production but it would really be incredible if the contest could be held annually.

Are you looking forward to the exhibition in Ireland and being the Jury Spokeperson and co-host?
Well it’s in Dublin, which for me personally is a great international location to visit. I am so looking forward to the exhibition because in 2007 I was not able to go to the opening night in Aspen. When I look at the photos from the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour in 2007, I can just sense how much more majestic it will be viewing the images in person.  

As for being the Jury spokesperson, that role is a little humbling from looking at the talented people who were judges this year. I am sure we all have our separate reasons for choosing a particular image, but sometimes a photograph is just so good that it has universal appeal and we will see that in the category winners and finalists.

What are your hopes for the event and exhibition?
My hopes would be that the weather is glorious and I get a chance to meet some of those phenomenal photographers.  And I can’t wait to see the campus of Trinity College Dublin all decked out for this exhibition.

www.usatoday.com

There’s just over one week to go until the Red Bull Illume Unveiling. After months of anticipation, the best 50 photos and the identities of the photographers will be unveiled for the first time on Tuesday August 31st at 7.30pm (GMT) in Trinity College Dublin.

On the night, category winners and finalists from each of the ten categories will be celebrated at the spectacular ceremony and for those who can’t make it in person, showcased on www.redbullillume.com – it’s going to be big!

The overall winner will receive a Leica S2 camera and equipment to the value of €30,000. Each photographer with a photo in the final 50 images will receive one SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB card, while category winners will receive ten each. The overall winner will receive twenty cards – a year’s supply.

The exhibition will run between August 31 and September 11, 2010. The photos will illuminate the Front Square of Trinity College Dublin every night between 8pm and 10pm and entry is free to the public.

Want to hazard a guess at who wins? Post your thoughts on our Facebook page or on Twitter with the #redbullillume tag.

Top sports photographer Mark Pain is today launching the first school dedicated to sports photography in the UK.
 
Offering specialist individual tuition to keen amateurs, the award winning photographer Mark Pain will run a full day’s course at various top UK sporting events, uniquely giving the photographers an opportunity to shoot with full pro accreditation.
 
Kicking off the school in front of a full house of 70-80,000 people at Twickenham, the home of English Rugby, Mark is offering photographers the opportunity to be pitch-side for the Aviva Premiership London Double Header on 4th September 2010.
 
Mark will be giving clients access to the best sporting events, working with key sporting bodies and venues to provide a taste of professional photography life.
 
By putting clients in front of massive crowds to capture a moment, the course will offer a genuine insight to the world of professional sports photography. Mark will work on a one to one basis during the events with the photographers.

"I won't be shooting at the events. I'll talk with the workshop participants before the match, talk about their skills and what they want and we'll make a reasonable judgement together about what we can achieve that day. Then I'll be pitch-side with everyone and help them to get the best possible pictures during the match and then do a professional edit with them afterwards at the hotel. There's nothing like shooting at an event with 70-80,000 spectators – it's fantastic experience for a photographer."
 
The courses will cover all aspects of photography for the keen amateur;
 
•    Preparing for the event
•    Action photography basics
•    Choosing the right lens
•    Capturing the moment
•    Technical know-how
•    Post-production and editing

For more information, visit www.sportsphotographyschool.co.uk.

Photographers don’t need a 3D camera to get a fantastic 3D image. Follow Red Bull Photofiles’ Markus Berger as he works with top Russian BMX athlete Pavel Alekhin and turns a 2D image into a 3D image using the wonders of post-production software.

Equipment and settings:

Camera:
NIKON D300

Lens:
80.0-200.0mm f/2.8

Shutterspeed: 1/800
ISO: 200
F-Stop: 5.6

Memory card: SanDisk Extreme Pro 16Gb
Software and tools: Adobe Photoshop CS5, Wacom Tablet Intuos 3

Credits:
Photographer: © Markus Berger (www.redbull-photofiles.com)
Athlete: Pavel Alekhin

Red Bull Reporter is giving one lucky person the chance to report on the Red Bull Illume event in Dublin on August 31.

Applicants for the assignment have to be passionate about both writing and photography. Red Bull Reporter is looking for a lively written report from the Red Bull Illume unveiling ceremony as well as shots to document the happenings in Ireland.

Red Bull Reporter offers UK-based talent the chance to show their skills and start working as a writer, photographer, filmmaker or presenter. Reporters are regularly sent across the UK or world-wide on exciting assignments to cover world-class sports, cutting-edge music and innovative culture events such as the recent Red Bull X-Fighters Jams tour in Nottingham (see gallery).

Applicants are open to all UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man residents aged 16 up to 26 years old. Register at www.redbullreporter.com

If you're impressed with the incredible images shown on the gallery on the redbullillume.com homepage, why not embed it into your website or blog?

The gallery is available in different sizes and you can even select which sports you want to display. It will also update itself to show the 50 finalists and category winners once the unveiling has taken place in Dublin on August 31.

Visit here to generate your own embed code and display these amazing photos to your website's readers!

http://www.redbullillume.com/custom-galleries.html

The Red Bull Illume unveiling exhibition has been moved forward by a couple of days and will now be on August 31 at Trinity College in the centre of Dublin.

As night time falls, the 50 winning images will illuminate the court of Trinity College. The university, in the heart of Ireland’s capital city, will host the exhibition for ten days. This is arguably the world’s greatest collection of action and adventure sports photography and it is fully open to the public.

Founded in the 16th century, Trinity College is one of the world’s most prestigious universities, it boasts a long and rich history of artistic excellence, and remains an important part of Ireland’s cultural history. Amongst its most famous alumni are writers such as Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker (Dracula), while it’s also home to the world famous ‘Book of Kells’ a priceless eighth-century artifact.

www.tcd.ie

Freesports photographers travel – a lot. Try to get in contact with one and he or she is more often than not on the move to some new city or remote location. For a photographer then, deciding on what equipment to pack for a shoot and get it all safely through the airport and onto the plane is stressful. Stricter security and tighter baggage controls as well as local customs regulations make packing a shooter’s bag a complicated decision.

To find out some practical advice, Red Bull Illume asked Red Bull Photofiles photographer and motocross expert Garth Milan for his travel tips.

What preparations should a photographer make before flying?
Make sure you have your correct itinerary with you, and that everything lines up on it. Don't forget the five essentials: camera bag, ID, wallet, cell phone, and keys. You might need your passport and visa too, depending on where you’re traveling.

Also, make a list of all the camera equipment you need for that job. Include every little detail, all the way down to batteries and gaffer tape, and make sure anything rechargeable leaves the house with a full charge, including your cell phone.

Try to get a feel for the job and trip before you leave so that you can make your best educated guess on what you'll need, versus what is just wasted space and won't get used. There is no point in dragging 50 pounds worth of lighting equipment around an airport, then carry it on the side of a mountain all day, and never use it.

But at the same time, if you think you'll need that light and it's part of the shoot you envision, then by all means it's worth lugging around. Just be realistic; if you're going to shoot portraits and lifestyle along with a couple of skateboard action shots, you probably don't need to bring the 600 along.

How strict are the airlines on bringing camera equipment?
The airlines, within reason, are pretty good about allowing us to bring camera equipment on board. As long as you follow the rules about how big your carry on is etc., it's really not too bad.

How do you economize with baggage weight?
I don't! I try my best to keep the weight down, but my pack is always ridiculously heavy. I think that is just part of being an action sports photographer. Though I can always make the most out of just a single lens or camera if I have to. At the same time, I'm the type that feels if I don’t bring it, I'll most likely need it so I normally just go ahead and bring anything I can think of for that particular shoot – just in case I need it.

What essential camera equipment would you bring?
For most jobs, I try to bring two camera bodies: one to shoot with; and another one that just sits as a backup in case something happens to the primary body. As for lenses, I try to just bring what will fit in one large, barely carry-on-able backpack.

In most cases, my typical setup that I travel with is: 15mm fisheye, 16-35mm, 28-70mm, 70-200mm, and 300mm. This way, I pretty much have my focal lengths covered. Although I love shooting with prime lenses, considering how much crap I always have to bring, I am forced to stick with zooms for practicality's sake. I also bring a speedlight, or two, an accessory battery pack for the flash, a couple of flash diffusers, some pocketwizards, a polarizer filter, and plenty of memory cards.

Would you ever rent equipment on location?
Yes, I rent on location here and there, and it usually works out great. I mostly rent lighting. And considering the costs of checking extra bags on most airlines nowadays, you nearly break even, and your precious equipment never has to leave home! Once you are happy with a certain place's service, file their contact away so you can remember them for next time you're in that particular city. Also, never assume you'll find a good, pro-quality rental house. Do your research online ahead of time, and make reservations to make sure you don't get burned and pay too much.

Any other practical tips for traveling?
Be careful with light stands, monopods and tripods. Some security controllers consider it as a separate carry-on, and some don't. I once made it all the way through an extremely long security line, only to find out right at the end that I had to go check in my light stand, which was barely worth the extra baggage fee the airline then slapped me with. Now, I just pack them in my checked luggage to be safe if I have the room to spare.

What’s the worst travel-disaster story you’ve heard or experienced?
A friend of mine carried his photo backpack with him as usual onto the airplane. Since the overhead spaces on the flight were all full, the flight attendant made him check his bag right there at the gate. When he arrived at his destination and claimed his pack, it was there, minus his camera bodies and lenses! Naturally, he complained immediately, but the airline never reimbursed him for the stolen gear. It was basically their word against his. And who do you think is going to win? After hearing that story, I would rather wait for the next flight then check carry-on bags at the gate.

See the photos to see Garth Milan’s shooter bag and essential kit.

Leica have expanded their online community with a new blog giving the company's fans and followers a dynamic space for product news, developments and related events, plus stories and insights from Leica photographers.

The company, which will present the winner of the Red Bull Illume 2010 Image Quest with a Leica S2 camera and equipment to the value of €30,000, already has a strong social networking community of over 50,000 photography fans on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

“We are excited to have yet another medium to engage Leica users on a daily basis,” says Christian Erhardt, Vice President of Marketing at Leica. “A Leica blog seemed to be a natural addition to our social media portfolio and we look forward to bringing fans along on this new Leica adventure.”

Check the blog here: blog.leica-camera.com

Leica's other social networking pages:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/LeicaCamera
Twitter: twitter.com/leica_camera

Ambitious young snappers take note: the Times Young Photographer of the Year Award, sponsored by Canon, has begun its search for entries.

The ninth edition of the award was launched on July 15 and entries close on August 31. The eventual winner will receive a six month placement to the Times where they will receive photojournalist training. The winner will also be presented with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and lenses.

Entrants will need to submit images in three categories: Lifestyle, Portraiture and Reportage.

After entries close, six finalists will be set an assignment by Times picture editor and Red Bull Illume Judge, Paul Sanders. The finalists will have their work displayed at London's Business Design Centre at the end of October.

“Winning this competition has become one of the most prestigious prizes for young photographers," says Sanders. "It has a proven pedigree of placing young talent in a position to fulfill their dreams."

Information and entry details can be found here: www.timesonline.co.uk/youngphotographer

Professional outdoor and adventure photographer Lucas Gilman recently contacted Red Bull Illume, telling us about a trip on the USA’s West Coast where he documented a group of kayakers in search of large waterfalls to launch off.

Here, Lucas shares his trip diary with us, explaining what it took to get great shots in remote and occasionally dangerous locations.

“I got a call from pro-kayaker Pat Keller who said that the water levels in Washington State and Oregon were epic and lots of 80-100 foot (25-30m) waterfalls were good to go.

“Two days later I hopped on a plane and we headed for Oregon’s beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Washington and Oregon are a waterfall hucker's paradise when the flows are right. Joining us were Jesse Coombs, Evan Garcia and the Wells Brothers - Todd and Brendan.”

DAY 1: WARM-UP, UPPER LEWIS FALLS
The first day we thought it would be good to warm up a bit and that Upper Lewis Falls would be the ticket. These falls are a two-stage drop approximately 25 and 20 feet (8 and 6m) respectively. Pat went first and chose a risky middle line. His line was dialed until he hit a little kicker rock on the second drop and was rocked over the handlebars.

The waterfall pulled him and his boat back behind the veil and we could hardly see him as he tried to roll. He pulled the ripcord and bailed just as we lost sight of him behind the veil of roaring water. Two tense minutes passed as we waited for some sign. We decided it was time to get someone in there and Brendan launched off a 50-foot cliff above the falls and swam across the river to the area where Pat was last seen.

At that moment Pat flushed out of the death cave behind the falls to our relief. His boat never resurfaced and is still deep in that cave somewhere. After Pat's misfortune, Brendan, Evan and Todd all ran the falls with no major problems. At this point I wasn’t sure how the trip would proceed and my dream of shooting100 footers was fading.

DAY 2: SCOUT METLAKO
We figured it would be an idea to scout some falls and take a breather after Pat's near-drowning experience. We headed to the 101-foot Metlako falls near Hood River, Oregon. As we hiked up the canyon we could hear the thunder of the falls growing louder. Finally we could see it off in the distance: 101 feet of water plunging from a spigot high on the far canyon wall into a huge caldron of exploding whitewater.

We bushwhacked around trying to find the best vantage point to shoot, trying to avoid poison oak, which was hard since it was pretty much everywhere. Foliage grew up to the very rim of the gorge so it was difficult to see where to go until you were right at the lip. The water levels were perfect and we decided to come back in the morning.

DAY 3: RUNNING 101-FOOT METLAKO FALLS
Running big waterfalls is a dangerous duty. The paddler has to have a perfect line and hit the water as vertical as possible, otherwise things could be catastrophic. If the paddler lands too flat, there's a good chance he'd break his back and shatter his ankles. If the paddler goes over vertical and lands on his head it could be fatal.

I decided I'd only use two cameras on the day as logistically moving around was difficult and I wanted to make sure all cameras were dialed. I decided my handheld would be a Nikon D3S with 24-70mm to shoot a sort of scenic horizontal showing paddler and waterfall giving the image a sense of place.

My remote would be a Nikon D3S with a 70-200mm on a Gitzo tripod and ball head, shot vertical and tight. I shoot remote cameras to maximize the amount of images from each shoot as well as having vertical and horizontal versions so editorial and commercial clients have choices, i.e. cover or two-page spread, banner or poster, etc.

I use Pocket Wizard MultiMaxes to trigger the remote camera and SanDisk Extreme Pro compact flash cards for their durability and super fast camera-to-card write speeds. When shooting big waterfalls you only get one chance.

With my cameras in place I radio the athletes who are gearing up. My nerves start to kick in and I run my mental checklist on my camera setups: Is the focus ring taped down on the remote? Check. Shutter speed above 1000/second? Check. Test shot done? Check. Camera/tripod safety cabled? Check. Aqua Tech cover zipped up? Check.

Now it's up to the kayakers. We are out of cell phone service and without sat phone, so any injuries will have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. In the event of a major injury we would hike or paddle out to where there is service and call for help. Not the best situation, but the athletes are OK with the risk.

One by one the crew successively stick their lines and roll up mostly unscathed as I digitally documented the day, firing away sequences on the D3Ss.

Afterwards, I asked the crew what it was like at the bottom. Jesse replied, "It's kinda like getting in a car crash.... you're rolling along and then BAM!"

I walked away from the day with a great feeling and some great images. I can't think of a better way to spend a day shooting. Outside, beautiful scenery, amazing action and everyone walked away with no major injuries. Beers are on me tonight!

Lucas’ waterfall shoot gear list:
1x NIKON D2X
2x NIKON D3S
6x SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB cards
1x AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
1x AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED,
1x AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
3x Pocket Wizard MultiMax
3x AquaTech rain covers
2x Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod
2x Gitzo Ball Heads
1x ManFrotto Super Clamp
1x LowePro Dryzone 200 waterproof backpack
Various remote cords

Climbing gear:
Dry climbing rope
Harness
Numerous daisy chains
Numerous locking karabiners
ATC
Ascenders
Grigri
Plenty of webbing

A winner of numerous prestigious awards, Lucas Gilman grew up in the mountains of Western Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Journalism. Traveling the world in search of untouched places and wild experiences, Lucas captures images ranging from kayaking in India, Brazil, Uganda and Costa Rica to backcountry skiing in Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Alaska and South America.

www.lucasgilman.com

Lucas' Facebook page

The best 50 photos from nearly 23,000 action and adventure sports images that were entered into the Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2010 will be displayed in Dublin, Ireland at a stunning unveiling exhibition from September 2, 2010.

As night time falls, the 50 winning images will illuminate the court of Trinity College. The university, in the heart of Ireland's capital city, will host the exhibition for ten days. This is arguably the world’s greatest collection of action and adventure sports photography and it is fully open to the public.

Founded in the 16th century, Trinity College is one of the world's most prestigious universities, boasts a long and rich history of artistic excellence, and remains an important part of Ireland’s cultural history.

Amongst its most famous alumni are writers such as Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker (Dracula), while it’s also home to the world famous 'Book of Kells' a priceless eighth-century artifact.

Fifty-three judges from around the world are voting to find the photos that stand out most for their composition, creativity and artistic flair. The judges will also vote for ten category winners and one overall winner – the results of which will be kept under close guard and will be announced at the Unveiling Ceremony.

"These are truly incredible images, I was floored," said Judge Nick Hamilton Director of Photography at Transworld Snowboarding. "It will be amazing to see them as a collection."

"'Staggered' is the word that comes to mind when considering the quality of images in this year’s Red Bull Illume," says Steve Dickinson of Adventure Magazine. "As a judge I was staggered by the quality, staggered at the variety and staggered by the creativity. I spend my professional life immersed in action based images and this year’s entries to Red Bull Illume are without doubt the very cream of the world’s best action images."

The 250 semi-finalist images, selected from nearly 23,000 entries, are now online and viewable on www.redbullillume.com and other partner sites. These 250 stunning shots represent the best in action and adventure sports photography.

This is the first time the semi-finalists have been made public although the images remain anonymous in order to preserve impartiality for the remainder of the judging phase.

The competition's 53 judges have been voting for their favorite images from the semi-finalists; the photos with the most votes will move forward to the final 50. In the meantime, fans can check out the gallery for themselves and pick out their most-liked shots.

Launched in June, the Manfrotto School of Excellence is a new online platform offering a range of resources for photographers looking to "access the experience and know-how of the world’s most famous photographers and videographers."

Users can log on to www.manfrottoschoolofexcellence.com and view a series of free training sessions of varying difficulty. Webinars and video seminars will also be accessible as well as tutorials in video and editorial format.

The school features professionals such as Bill Frakes, Roberto Bigano, Ami Elsius, Drew Gardner, Joe McNally, Marc de Tollenaere, Kristoff Ramon, David Duchemin, Jim Oltersdorf and Cliff Guy, and will focus on the most interesting topics and latest features in video and photography.

Manfrotto, manufacturer of photo, video and lighting support systems, are backing the project as part of their 'Corporate Social Responsibility programme'.

"It is just the thing for those who wish to take their skills to the next level and satisfy demanding customer expectations, or for hobbiests who want to pick up some tips to implement in their own creative world," say Manfrotto.

Articles currently online include advice from Kristof Ramon on how to photograph cyclo-cross in Belgium, while Teymur Madjderey talks of his experiences shooting on the streets of South Africa.

www.manfrottoschoolofexcellence.com

Flash memory quickly became more popular than film or traditional ways of storing data in the last decade as it could withstand intense pressure, extreme temperature and immersion in water. But when a flash memory card claims to be extreme, well, it better have some evidence to back that up.

Winner of the “Best Imaging Storage Media” category at the TIPA 2010 awards, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is designed for pro photographers who want high memory capacity (16GB, 32GB and 64GB), fast transfer speeds and equipment that will not fail in very hot, cold or wet conditions.

Based on the card’s claims to offer extreme durability and reliability, we tested it in situations where failure is most common: while travelling, when shooting in extreme locations and in post-production. We asked professional photographer Mark Teo from Singapore to test the 16GB card.

Travel tests:
Photographers are on the move all the time and have to work fast. What happens if you have an accident with your card, how safe is your data?

The Extreme Pro can withstand accidental drops up to 9 feet (2.75metres) – and anything can happen when you’re travelling. Yes, you might have a waterproof memory card holder, but what happens if you don’t?

In wet conditions, we dropped the card multiple times from a balcony, wiped off the moisture and inserted it back into the DSLR. The result? No corrupted images. The card’s housing showed no signs of cracking open.

If it could withstand drops, how about sudden impact? We ran over the card several times with a skateboard and a BMX bike to see if the card casing would crush under the pressure of physical weight. Surprisingly, the card took the abuse and the photo data was still readable after inserting it into a card reader.

Not satisfied with that, we threw the card repeatedly against a climbing wall. Yes, we shuddered every time we heard the impact.

"Ouch, no way is it going to take that. That’s too much," said Mark Teo, laughing out loud.

Again the card withstood the punishment. As an explanation, SanDisk have used fewer parts in the card’s circuit board to make the card more impact-resistant and reliable in case of individual component failure.

But what happens when you are going through security at the airport? Thankfully, because of the way flash memory stores information, data is not affected by magnetic fields or X-rays.

Extreme locations:
"Durability is really important,” said our tester Mark Teo. “Most photographers remember to look after their cameras but not their cards. Chances are that the card is going to be left around in all sorts of places – beaches, deserts, dirt-parks, glaciers. The risks to your gear are endless.”

Ordinary flash cards will work in a range between 0°C to 60°C. According to the SanDisk warranty, the Extreme Pro functions in temperatures between -25°C to 85°C which, quite honestly, is far more than most photographers would ever need. We left the card in our trusty freezer at -5°C over night and were able to use it again in the morning.

We can’t confirm whether the card is going to function in the world’s coldest locations, temperatures can go as low in -60°C and -90°C in Greenland and Antarctica respectively, but the Extreme Pro is an excellent solution for explorers, ice-climbers and ski or snowboard photographers.

In terms of extremely hot temperatures, the card can more or less be used anywhere on the planet as temperatures do not get much hotter than 50°C.

To test its reliability in heat, we left the card in the oven for thirty minutes at 50°C. When it was cold enough to handle, we inserted it again into the card reader. No corrupted data. We were pretty shocked that the plastic casing showed no signs of melting.

According to Mark Teo, heat resistance is a crucial concern for photographers who shoot in burst mode or leave their cards in direct sunlight for long periods.

"Some cameras heat up after extended use, so you want to be sure that the memory card can handle heat. The worst feeling is when you lose your work because of technical failure. The Extreme Pro stood up to that test."

Also interesting for photographers who work in humid conditions is that the card has a special silicone coating for added protection against moisture and humidity.

The Extreme Pro can withstand humidity up to 90 percent – the equivalent of extremely uncomfortable, oppressive and very humid conditions – such as in the Persian Gulf or by the Red Sea in North-East Africa.

To really test the card, you would have to be shooting in Ethiopia, which has the highest known dew point temperature at 46°C and a dew point of 94 percent!

Post-production:
Transferring data at speed is also crucial for a photographer working under extreme time pressure. Post-production is also where a photographer can accidentally spill liquids onto the card. Sugary drinks or coffee can be fatal for a memory card’s pins.

We spilt various liquids onto the card – water, sugary drinks, coffee and tea. After cleaning the card, the data was still readable from the memory card thanks to the protective silicone coating.

"I wouldn't dunk the pin-side of the card into coffee or sugary drinks though - that's asking for trouble! And if you leave the card in your trouser pockets and put it in the wash, forget it! But the casing could handle spills and moisture, which is comforting to know."

A card’s pins can apparently be used 100,000 times. As we couldn’t find anyone willing to do this test for us, we decided to remove the card from the card reader during file transfer to test if the card would fail. Although this is in no way recommended, the card did not have to be re-formatted and the data that was transferred was still readable.

Conclusion:
"You don't want to ruin your cards, you invest in good gear. But in fairness to the card, it took a lot of abuse and still worked. I'd trust the card in wet conditions, like if I was kayaking or if I was shooting in the snow."

"If you have one of these new high-end DSLRs with fast buffer speeds, you can also shoot in burst mode almost indefinitely as the card can write 90MB a second. However, do not expect major differences if you have a standard DSLR and a regular card reader."

"But if you have the right equipment, this card will save you a lot of time. Imagine if you have a thousand images on your card - this card will save you a few seconds every photo, which adds up."

"A pro photographer needs a durable, reliable card that has mega-capacity to take RAW pictures and fast transfer speed to download them. So I think the SanDisk Extreme Pro ticks all the boxes."

Every photographer with a photo in the final 50 images of Red Bull Illume will receive one SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB Flashcard, while category winners will receive 10 each. The overall winner will enjoy a year’s supply of 20 SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB Flashcards.

www.sandisk.com, www.markteo.com

Top professional photographer Chase Jarvis' latest video has a bunch of great tips and tricks for aspiring photographers to enhance their shoots but who may not have the budget to fork out for high end equipment.

Chase used mid-range gear and some ingenious on-the-cheap solutions on a shoot for the launch campaign of SanDisk's new Extreme Pro cards. Check the making of video for all the tips and read his blog post here.

www.chasejarvis.com

Action sport photographers working in hard-to-reach locations require portable batteries to create studio lighting conditions outdoors. With the recent launch of the new and extremely powerful BatPac by ProFoto, there is now a healthy selection of portable packs to choose from.

While the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra and White Lightning Vagabond II have proved to be popular with skateboarding and BMX photographers for their compactness and price respectively, the BatPac is aimed at photographers who need a portable solution for more complicated and power-hungry shoots.

Weighing in at 11kg, the BatPac is a portable “power-in-a-bag” unit, a combination of a dedicated inverter and a high capacity battery.

The BatPac can be used for handling sophisticated high power moonlight flashes like the 1000W Profoto D1 which won the 2009 TIPA Award for the Best Compact Flash System. However, it is also compatible with smaller power units and flash generators. Photographers can make 300 full power flashes at 1000Ws and 1200 flashes at 250Ws, allowing considerable freedom in various lighting conditions

An even more portable but lower power solution on the market is the Ranger RX Quadra system from the Swiss-based company Elinchrom, which only weighs 3kg. Designed for 400W flashes and studio lights in particular, the battery can also be re-charged in only two hours.

The RX system version offers “Speed Sync” flash-duration for digital SLR cameras up to 1/250s. The Quadra also offers as fast flash recycling times as quick as 0.29 seconds as well as wireless trigger and remote options. The Ranger Quandra RQ can shoot 150 flashes at full power.

At the more affordable end of the market, US based White Lightning has also recently unveiled their latest portable power systems – the Vagabond II. It weighs 8kg, is designed to handle six to eight flash units, and retails at $300 (€245). The Vagabond II can also be connected to car batteries for all day shoots.

Battery packs can also be used for other practical appliances on a photo shoot. They can run constant light sources, wind machines, refrigerator boxes and many more electrical units that are frequently used while shooting on location. Battery packs can even be used to provide power for charging laptops and camera batteries.

Deliveries of the Profoto BatPac begin in June 2010.

www.profoto.com

To get gigs as a professional photographer takes years of experience. But how do you get that experience in the first place to learn your craft and shoot like a pro?

Aspiring photographer Ben Dean got the opportunity to fly to the beautiful medieval town of La Rochelle in south-west France to cover the second round of the World Cliff Diving Series through Red Bull Reporter. We caught up with him to find out what he learned.

Ben spotted the request for an event photographer on April 30th at Red Bull Reporter, who regularly give young photographers, writers, filmmakers and presenters in the UK the chance to cover the best sports and cultural events. By May 15th, Ben was in France on his own special assignment.

“My brief was basically to get 30 decent shots of the venue and location and to get a few snaps of the athletes during the competition, mainly focusing on the UK’s Gary Hunt. I was also asked to get behind-the-scenes shots, to give people a taste of what goes on behind the barriers.”

Cliff diving is regarded as one of the purest extreme sports around, being both beautifully simple and extremely dangerous to execute. Divers must be extremely fit, have the reflexes of a gymnast and possess the mental strength to cope with the pressure of competition as well as the risk of injury if they get their timing wrong.

For a photographer then, cliff diving has everything – spectacular dives, great locations, tough competition, drama and some real personalities. When you add in a 27 metre tower and 50,000 spectators at the event in La Rochelle, a photographer has all the ingredients they need for a great shoot.

The biggest challenge for the twenty year old from Devon however was that he had no experience of shooting the sport.

“I’ve been to quite a few events in the past like London Freeze, Red Bull Empire of Dirt, MX des Nations, but never as part of the media as an official photographer. Cliff diving was completely new to me.”

“When I saw the first diver jump off the 27m high tower I was completely shocked! I’ve seen a lot of extreme sports live but this really took my breath away. I had to remember to take photos as I was so transfixed by how crazy it was!”

With no prior experience of shooting the sport, Ben also had to learn fast on the day about how to adjust his lens and adapt to the light conditions to capture the action. Divers spend three seconds in the air and hit the water at 85km/h.

Although it takes years for a photographer to build up their equipment to pro standard, Ben was fortunate to have some good gear for his first big photography assignment.

“I used a Canon 50D with battery grip and a Canon 480 flash. Lens-wise I took my Canon 70- 200mm f4 L series lens for the action shots, a Canon 50mm f1.8 for portraits and a Sigma 15- 35m f2.6 for the background and general shots.”

“My main enemy on the day, apart from not having a tripod that worked, was the weather. One minute it was beautifully sunny, the other dark and cloudy so it was pretty hard to keep adjusting settings to make sure the shots came out alright.”

Ben also had to quickly initiate himself with the competition’s new format. As only the top six athletes after the first two heats made the final, divers couldn’t save their best jumps until last, meaning that Ben had to stay focused during the whole event.

What other challenges did he face on the day?

“The media centre, where I was based, was on the opposite side of the harbor to the divers – so I found myself constantly running around from one side to the other to get photos. On the plus side I did manage to talk my way to some good vantage points during the event, which photographers have to do. I had to get someone to hang on to the back of my jeans while I took a shot over the edge of the tower from about 90 feet up [27 metres], which was scary!”

As well as having to deal with the impact of several huge dives, the biggest in the World Cliff Diving series, the athletes also had to cope with cold water conditions at 14°C. Divers were even struggling to walk afterwards. This gave Ben the opportunity to capture some interesting shots of the athletes as they went through a rollercoaster of emotions during the event.

Was he trying to get any particular type of shot on the day?

“I have a strange love for sequence shots. I feel they show exactly what’s happening in one photo without having to explain anything to the viewer.

“My favorite photo was the one of Orlando Duque just before he hit the water, he must have been less than 30cm off the surface. It was a pure stroke of luck as well. I only found out I’d shot it when I got home and started looking through my photos! It’s a shame the picture wasn’t totally sharp though.”

What did he learn from watching the professional photographers at the event?

“I picked up a lot of things on the day. The main thing is that if you’re shooting the same location for years, it’s your job as a photographer to be able to spot something new and exciting that will set you apart from the rest of the field.”

Even better for Ben was that Gary Hunt won the event, giving him the perfect pictures to send back to Red Bull Reporter in London. The British athlete scored perfect tens on his last dive and received an overall score of 390 points, thereby maintaining his lead in the Cliff Diving World Series leader board in front of Russia’s Artem Silchenko and Colombia’s Orlando Duque.

Considering it was his first cliff diving shoot, would he do anything different if given the chance again?

“I’m lucky enough to work for an underwater camera specialist and I would be able to get hold of some pretty cool kit. If I ever get another opportunity to go to a cliff diving event I’d love to take some photos from the water so I could get a half and half shot of a diver entering the water - that would look awesome!”

Ben admits he has a lot to learn before he can mix it with the pros but he was happy to get some experience under his belt thanks to Red Bull Reporter. If he ever needs inspiration of course, Ben can always check out the online Red Bull Illume gallery in the future to see some of the world’s best cliff diving photography.

Check out the video and picture gallery to see Ben's assignment at the Red Bull World Cliff Diving event in La Rochelle. If you are based in the UK and want the opportunity to photograph for Red Bull Reporter, register at www.redbullreporter.com.

Action sports photographer Chris O’Connell has successfully completed the first ever wireless synced flash sequence with a 1/500s shutter speed.

Chris photographed skiers sliding over a ski lift at Mountain High resort, and over a jump at June Mountain, both in California.

The shots were taken on a Canon Mark IV with Zeiss and Canon lenses. A Pocket Wizard TT5 was used for the synching and Broncolor Scoro A4S and A2S flashes powered by Honda EU series generators lit up the skiers over the obstacles.

“I ran into my friend Chase Jarvis who is a big commercial photographer while he was in New Zealand,” said Chris. “He's got a background in skiing and had the Broncolor packs and was shooting sequences like this at sunset, so I got the idea from him.

“He was shooting with a 1/250s shutter speed and flash sync cables. I really wanted to push it to 1/500s and have the freedom of shooting with a wireless sync. With the new Pocket Wizard TT5, I was able to use the hyper-sync settings and get it dialled.”

“It was a week long project with a ton of gear and logistical considerations. It was expensive and time consuming, but other than that the equipment performed and it went pretty well.”

Check the making of video on YouTube to see how it was done and the images for the results.

“I’ve had lots of feedback,” says Chris. “Action sports photographers are really stoked on this.”

Visit www.chrisoconnell.com for more information.

World leading expedition photographer Martin Hartley used a specially tested Leica camera to beat the extreme conditions on a recent successful expedition to the North Pole with the Catlin Artic Survey project. 

The photographs for the mission would normally be impossible to take on digital equipment in harsh Arctic conditions, where temperatures can reach -45°C with wind-chill factors of -75°C

Regarded as some of the world’s toughest explorers, the team of three reached the Geographic North Pole on May 12th, ending a gruelling 60-day trek across the floating sea ice of the Arctic Ocean. The team also included the artic adventurers and navigation experts Ann Daniels and Charlie Paton.

To overcome the extreme cold conditions, Hartley used a Leica MP camera with a Leica Elmarit-M 24mm f/2.8 ASPH lens.

“At the very start of an Arctic Ocean expedition, temperatures can drop below minus 50 Celsius, but generally temperatures in February and early March hover around the minus forties and low thirties” said Hartley.  “At these temperatures, battery-powered electronic devices become unreliable and are prone to failure, cameras being no exception.”

“These low temperatures cause everything to shrink: auto focus lenses become too tight and have to be focused manually, aperture leafs often jam; it is during these times that photographic opportunities can be lost.”

“I carried the Leica MP around my neck in a thin waterproof bag to stop the moisture from my breath landing and then freezing on the viewfinder. The camera was instantly accessible all day every day, no matter how cold it got.”

“Every time I wanted the camera to work, it did. The focusing was fast and the shutter never failed – not once – during the entire expedition. Missing a shot because of camera failure due to severe cold was never a worry, no matter how low the temperature reached.”

The explorers collected water and marine life samples from beneath the floating sea ice as part of the expedition's leading edge science programme which is assessing the impact of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases on the ocean and its marine life.

The Arctic Ocean is the world’s smallest ocean, roughly 8% the size of the Pacific Ocean, yet more fish live along the edges of the Arctic Ocean than anywhere else on Earth. By 2030-40, scientists estimate that the white 'North Pole ice' will have been transformed into an entirely blue, open ocean in the summer periods.

Starting on the Ellef Ringnes Island north of Canada on March 14th, the three explorers travelled over 483 miles (777 kilometres) in total and faced extremely challenging conditions such as head-winds, negative drift, thin ice and had to swim across large areas of open water. It was Hartley’s twentieth expedition to the artic and antartic regions.

The analysis of the data captured during the trip and the results of the samples collected by the team will be announced in September 2010.

www.martinhartleypolar.com

Judging by the amount of submissions to Red Bull Illume, black and white photography is as popular as ever. In the 2007 contest, nearly a third of the finalists were shot in monochrome – thousands were submitted in 2010. Many freesports magazines continue to publish a serious amount of B&W photography.

But are more photographers using monochrome? Why is B&W still so popular in an age of high-definition colour?

Red Bull Illume talked to 7sky magazine editor Corinne Tâche-Berther, Josef Gruber from ARt on Snow and Fred Mortagne, who won Red Bull Illume 2007 with a B&W image shot on film.

After a century of B&W photography, colour photography went mass-market in the 1970s and full-colour publications became the commercial norm. In little over a decade, B&W went from a basic photographic commodity to suddenly being difficult to purchase and tough to process.

Today, high-end digital sensors can record an incredible 68.7 billion colours in 36-bit. The paradox of most black and white photography seen in the digital age is that the image was probably shot in colour first and grayscaled in post-production.  Shooting straight to B&W film is a rarity and photographers no longer have to learn to burn and dodge exposures in a dark room as it can be simulated.

Corinne Tâche-Berther says that publications are still very open to publishing B&W photography, but in moderation.

“For me, B&W has always had its space in the magazines as it touches and vibrates differently to colour photography. A really nice B&W image transports a more nostalgic, artistic or ‘retro’ touch. So it’s not more difficult for someone to get monochrome photos published with us.”

“But I remember when we did a special B&W issue of 7sky around five years ago and the general impression that I got from it was a mood of sadness. You can have too much of a good thing.”

According to Josef Gruber from ARt on Snow, which organises gallery events and workshops for freesport artists, B&W photography has never been more present.

“It’s not like B&W photography was ever dead. I see saturated colour photographs as a trend. I just think that people have had enough of exaggerated colours in magazines and advertisements. Some magazines now have up to a third of their photos in B&W – sometimes even the cover pages.”

When is a B&W image more appropriate for a magazine?

“For 7sky, we would rather consider a strong B&W shot over a colourful but less emotional picture” says Tâche-Berther. “But B&W can also look flat and boring, so it all depends on how much emotion there is in the picture’s content.”

“It also makes irregularities disappear in a picture, especially in portraits. People look more beautiful, more genuine – so it suits interview articles. And the photos always make a lasting impression. B&W is also always great for a portrait book or for an exhibition.”

But why is monochrome photography seen as more artistic and suitable for exhibitions? Fred Mortagne thinks that B&W makes people look at an image differently. An image in shades of grey presents a subject in a way that colours can’t match.

“A very powerful photograph shot on B&W can look like an instant classic. When you take away the full colour spectrum, it makes you travel in another dimension that's artistic, poetic, even surreal.”

“If you want an artistic feel when you are documenting a real life subject, rather than creating a scene from scratch, then B&W usually works best.”

“Magazines don't want to take risks though. I have a really hard time getting my photos published. I mostly shoot B&W skateboard pictures because, firstly, I like it and also because I want to propose an alternative to the flashed, crispy natural colour pictures that fill up 80% of the skateboard magazines. It's never good when medias get too formatted.”

Josef Gruber says that even if photographers feel that it’s more difficult to sell B&W images to magazines, the same is definitely not true in galleries.

“Every year when we ran ARt on Snow, the visitors were always more excited about the B&W photos and we always sold more of them. B&W photography seems more artistic as it inspires the viewer to think more about the subject in comparison to colour photography so it’s not a surprise that it’s popular. Maybe B&W also just suits being hung up on a wall or in someone’s home as art.”

“Action sports photography also features a lot of natural landscapes in the background, and they just look better in B&W than in colour.”

Indeed, grayscaling a picture can give winter landscapes and sports action tremendous impact. But Fred Mortagne thinks that shooting in B&W doesn’t necessarily create a better photo or suit natural scenes only.

“I used to have a hard time shooting B&W landscapes. I didn’t see the point of showing a colourful landscape without its colours. But I changed my mind after seeing photographs by Raymond Depardon or Joseph Koudelka for example.”

“But I really don't think B&W works best with any particular sport. There are no limitations.”

Even if today’s cameras and printers show colour better than ever, photographers and magazines editors have never forgotten the power of a monochrome image. Black and white photography it seems is never out of fashion.

See the gallery for a selection of black and white images from Red Bull Photofiles.

www.7skymagazine.ch, www.artonsnow.com, www.frenchfred.com

Limited edition artwork by Neil Blender and photography by J. Grant Brittain and Dave Swift will be on show on Saturday June 5th at Hensley's in the skateboard mecca of Carlsbad, California.

Known as much for his art as well as his tricks, Neil Blender was a trail blazer for skateboard-artists in the 1980s alongside Chris Miller and Mark Gonzalez. He created individual designs for G&S skateboards before starting up the Alien Workshop company in 1990 which introduced more individualistic riders, graphic art and products to the skateboard community. Blender has also designed collector's edition Nike Dunks, originally a basketball shoe which has long been popular with skateboarders.

Blender's two most known tricks, the "Lien Air" grab and the "No Comply" were influential as they were relatively straightforward to imitate but inspired countless variations and became standard moves in skateboarding.

The "Lien Air", Neil's name spelt backwards, involves the boarder grabbing the front or back edge of the board with their leading hand in mid-air. The "No Comply", a street trick, is where the boarder pops the board while keeping their front foot on the ground for a split-second.

Blender's art will be co-exhibited with photography from Red Bull Illume judge J. Grant Brittain and Dave Swift who helped to found the Skateboard Mag in 2003.

Hensley’s is owned and run by the former professional skateboarder and accordionist for Flogging Molly, Matthew Hensley.

www.hensleyspub.com

Finding a new angle for a photo is a challenge for every photographer. When assigned to shoot at May’s Red Bull Art of Motion free running event in Vienna, Marcel Lämmerhirt decided to think inside the box.

By constructing a special wooden box with a clear acrylic dome to house a camera, Marcel was able to capture the athletes from below as they performed various moves.

“I got the idea from seeing Vernon Deck’s cover shot of a snowboarder on Pleasure magazine,” said Marcel. “I asked him if I could use the idea and he gave me the OK.

“I looked for a company that works with acrylic and ordered a special size. Then I built a wooden box with a hinge at the bottom to open up the box for the camera.”

Using a fisheye lens, he connected the camera to his laptop so he could view what the camera sees in real time.

“The athletes first looked at it and said, ‘what the hell is this?’ But they looked at it closely and then they were really up for it to get the shot.”

Since this was a pre-shooting before the event, Marcel had three athletes and two hours to do the photos. The concept was to capture a hand plant manoeuvre from underneath, to make it look as though the hand is floating above the camera.

“I thought it was going to be easier than it was. One time the athlete’s hand was in front of the body, next time the style wasn’t right, and so on.

“We had to clean the dome all the time because the flashes showed up every scratch and mark on it.

“It was really important to communicate with the athletes. I showed them each image on the laptop after it was taken so they knew exactly where they had to place their hand.

“I wanted to freeze the action with the flash so my settings were ISO 125, shutter speed 1/200s and aperture f9.0.”

The results are exciting but Marcel believes there is more potential.

“We didn’t have the time to test more locations or ideas. It’s not ideal to do such a shoot before a contest because the athletes are nervous and don’t want to risk anything.

“For example, I would like to try and show two guys in the same shot – one guy in the background, the other on the box.”

More information on the Red Bull Art of Motion can be found here, and Marcel’s website is here.

Equipment used for the shoot:

Camera:
Canon 5D Mark II

Lens:
15mm fisheye lens

Box:
Wooden construction with hinged lid and acrylic dome cover

Memory card:
SanDisk 16GB ExtremePro Flash Card

Additional equipment:
MacBook with connection to camera
Profoto Pro 7b generator
Elinchrom Ranger Q flash and battery pack
Pocket Wizard TT1 transmitter and Flex TT5 transceiver

The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, USA recently celebrated its first anniversary as the main cultural destination in the city dedicated to photography.

Since its opening in March 2009, the Annenberg has championed digital photography and uses state-of-the-art, high-definition digital technology. Images are presented at 4K resolution (4096×2160) on two 2m x 4m screens, allowing playback of uncompressed TIFF and video files at 60 frames per second. One presentation typically requires 90,000 TIFF frames.

As well as hosting exhibitions such as Pictures of the Year International (POYI), the gallery has put on a number of lectures by respected photographers and photo editors. Recent guests at the gallery’s free weekly lecture series include Red Bull Illume judge Jim Colton and leading action and adventure sports photographers such as Art Brewer and Jimmy Chin.

The Annenberg’s next guest is David Griffin, director of photography at National Geographic Magazine, who will give a special lecture on the secrets behind the success of the magazine’s photographers on May 27.

Griffin will discuss what characteristics he looks for in photographers before offering assignments and also give the audience a behind-the-scenes view of how photographic stories are nurtured, shaped and presented to the publication's 40 million readers.

The lecture is part of the “Water: Our Thirsty World” exhibition at the Annenberg which runs until June 13, featuring the work of award-winning photographers on the globe's impending fresh water crisis.

More information on the Annenberg can be found here: www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org

“A clever man once said that ‘if a photo holds your attention longer than a few moments, it is a good photo.’” So says Fritz Schuster photo editor at Red Bulletin, the “almost independent” sport and lifestyle magazine from Red Bull.

For most photographers photo editors are the link between taking photos and getting them published. But what do these guys do each day and what is the key to impressing them enough to print your photos?

“Most of my job is dealing with other people,” says the 47-year-old Austrian. “Our team is based in Vienna and London. So we have to manage who in the team takes care of each story and that the photos are in at the right time.”

“It is also important to treat all people involved in a professional way. Being fair and making them feel good about the job they are doing - this always brings the best results and commitment.”

“Flexibility and good methods of communicating with others are essential.”

The Bulletin team has regular editorial meetings to discuss what stories have to be photographed and what images need to be bought from agencies.

“We prefer to do the shoots with photographers of our choice so we can have as much influence on the style of the photos. Briefing the photographers correctly is also very important otherwise we wouldn’t get the photos we need.”

The monthly 100-page magazine appears in seven countries, so it’s up to the Bulletin photo editing team to make sure that the local editors’ photographic needs are met and whether they can provide images from their local events.

“It’s also part of my job to control the quality and size of each image that gets used in the magazine.”

Sifting through thousands of images each day and finding the right shot for the magazine is no easy task.

“A good photo editor has a well-trained eye and knows how to pick the good ones from the rest. It all depends on the feeling a photo gives you the moment you see it.”

“We look at images differently from photographers. We know the needs and the flow of the magazine better than anybody else. Stories do not stand alone, all the layouts and stories must fit together.” 
 
What should a photographer do to impress him?

“Show me good and passionate work and do it in a very professional way.”

Having the skills to pick standout photos is not something learned overnight. Natural talent, a passion for photography and quality training are important elements that make up the job.

“I worked as a professional photographer for 20 years for daily newspapers and weekly and monthly magazines. I also had a studio together with some friends so it was a great advantage starting this job with lots of experience.”

“As well as my experience as a photographer and in print media work, I learnt a lot by doing.”

“I also attended the School of Photographic Arts in Vienna, which was great training, which was an excellent introduction to serious interpretation of photography.”

Like all art forms, photography is subjective – does he get into heated debates about the merits of certain photos?

“Anyone who has taken a few pictures in their life has an opinion on what a good photo is. I think the reason is because photography communicates information directly – you are instantly told a story just by looking at a picture.”

“However good discussions about photos can be very helpful in finding the right solution to making a strong story.”

Finding that right solution for each story is what makes the magazine compelling and visually attractive to the reader, something Fritz is completely aware of.

“A photographer does his own job but a photo editor must bear the entire magazine in his mind.”

www.redbulletin.com

The limited edition judges' book has been distributed to all 53 members of the Red Bull Illume jury and its contents kept under close guard.

All 250 semi-finalist photos are printed in the book, but without photo credits or other information in order to keep the judging process as neutral as possible.

Only the judges are given access to the book, who must choose their favorite five photos in each category based on a mix of technical superiority, composition, creativity, impact, artistic flair and the images’ overall qualities of photographic excellence.

The fifty winning images will be revealed later in 2010.

Kayak photography is nearly as challenging as kayaking itself. Keeping equipment dry but getting into the action is no easy task.

Red Bull Illume followed photographer Vitek Ludvik from the Czech Republic on his shoot with Olympic kayaker Vavra Hradilek to find out how he got a great shot in the rapids - without getting his camera wet.

The brief was to get a close up picture where you can see Vavra’s face and kayak in action. Check the video to see how it was done.

Equipment used in the tutorial:

Camera:
Olympus E3

Settings:
f / 2.8
Shutter: 1/250
ISO 80

Lens:
12x60 zoom lens

Memory Card:
SanDisk 16Gb ExtremePro

Water housing:
Aquapac

Credits:
Photographer: Vitek Ludvik (www.sharp-pictures.net)
Athlete: Vavra Hradilek
Camera: Tomas Galas, Radek Karko, Zuzana Kschwendova

The Red Bull 5 Pics is calling all photographers in the Netherlands to submit photos to the country's top photography talent search.

Participants are invited to enter a series of five images via www.redbull5pics.nl before June 1 and the winning shots will be exhibited at the Foam Photography Museum on June 11.

This is Red Bull 5 Pics third edition and more than 300 photos have been uploaded to the site. As well as having their images on display, the winner will join Dutch Red Bull Photofiles photographer Rutger Pauw during a national Red Bull event where they can share knowledge and experience.

After uploading, the photographers share their photos via the 5 Pics Facebook application where visitors and fans rate the images. The ten series with the most votes are judged by a jury of professional photographers who pick a winner.

Red Bull 5 Pics recently put on three 'safaris' in Amsterdam to aid and inspire photographers in the Netherlands to enter the competition. Photographers were given maps with a route to walk and themes to photograph. Lectures and workshops followed, attracting hundreds of budding photographers.

To see the photo series and more information, visit www.redbull5pics.nl. Check the photos below from the 2009 winning series 'Amsterdam in Motion' by Pim Hendriksen.

Red Bull Illume has opened up the photo banks to the 2010 Image Quest. Visitors to www.redbullillume.com can now get a glimpse of the world’s best action and adventure sports photography through the website’s new image gallery.

The 4,337 photographers who registered for the contest can now really size up the competition. As each photo is geo-tagged, it is also possible to see where athletes and photographers are travelling to find fresh snow powder, incredible climbs, huge surf swells and where the craziest jumps are around the world today.

Images are shown anonymously and randomly to preserve neutrality throughout the judging phase.

Feeling enlightened and inspired about Red Bull Illume 2010? Leave your comments about the new website at the Red Bull Illume facebook page (www.facebook.com/redbullillume).