Adventure Photography: About the Shot – Skiing Whistler, British Columbia
Photograph by Eric Berger, Red Bull Illume
Which photo is your favorite from this year's collection of Red Bull Illume adventure photo contest winners? Here's one of ours from the "New Creativity" category. Click through to see the photo gallery >>
About the Shot
This image was captured in a snowmobile-access backcountry area just south of Whistler. My friend Adam Topshee had scoped out some interesting ice formations that he thought would be good to shoot. We asked our friend Dan Treadway to join us.
At first it didn’t seem like much, but as we began to explore, we found interesting angles and got more comfortable working around the ice. Eventually, I was comfortable enough to position myself in one of the cracks in order to shoot out toward the opening. I was pretty nervous and excited at the same time, as I realized it was a unique angle and had some potential to be a great shot.
On his first try, Dan sent too much snow down with him and I never saw him pass. I only saw a wall of snow pouring over the opening. The whole thing was coordinated with radios so that we could communicate effectively. Even with the radios, the moment was very short-lived as Dan passed very quickly over the cave opening. Luckily, I managed to capture the shot on the second attempt. It was pointed out to me later that the scene resembles a closing wave shot from within. Ice is just frozen water, so it’s ironic in a way. I think it’s one of my strongest images to date.—Photographer Eric Berger
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