Posted on November 16, 2009 by patitucciphoto
Almost exactly ten years ago, a rickety old VW Westfalia pulled into Moab. Its owners had no real plan as to what they would do, they just knew that things would fall into place. The length of their stay would depend on how things went, how they liked the area and how they found the community. With no home but the van, life was free and easy, the days would be full of mountain biking, climbing or trail running. If it rained they would sit it out in some cafe, making friends and plans for when the sun returned. Life was good.
Today a Subaru with mountain bikes on the roof rack pulled into Moab. Like the VW, its owners have no real plans, they simply know that things will fall into place much as they always do. The length of their stay is also undetermined, it depends on how they like Moab and how they find the community.
The people are the same in both these cases and they are of course us. After not having really been on a road trip in several years, we are marveling at how little has changed in terms of who we are. I drove along singing off key back then and I sing along off key still today. A road trip is a road trip, it offers a “take it as it comes” lifestyle and serves as a mirror reflecting the difference the years have made.
In these years we have built a successful mountain sports photography business – which was our goal upon arriving to Moab so long ago. We bought a home in Bishop, California where we lived for many years until deciding to get a second home in Europe, where we now spend the bulk of our time.
While making our way back to Utah, we have had numerous reminders of what we have done with our business. Numerous mountain shop visits along the way had us continually confronted by our own work; as store displays, posters, in magazines, hang tags, and catalogs. Finally it culminated in seeing the current Runner’s World on the reception desk of our B&B as we checked in, a Runner’s World in which we have a two page spread.
Janine (x2) alongside a Deuter Packs poster
We have worked extraordinarily hard in the last ten years and this journey back to our roots has revealed where we have taken our business and how we feel about it. This trip is neither a beginning or an end, it is simply a moment within the process in which we find ourselves.
We are excited at the coming months of being on the move, we have no idea where we will go, what we will shoot or whom we will meet. Life is still free and easy and it is most certainly still good.
Janine (x2) at Patagonia's San Francisco store
Filed under: Personal, Photo Business, Random Thoughts | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 4, 2009 by patitucciphoto
This week’s selection is meant to be inspiration. Snow is falling, thoughts are turning to skiing and the coming ski rando season is nearly upon us. This photo is from the start line in Corvara, in the Alta Badia.
Last year I did my first races in Italy and had a great time, I also got thoroughly schooled in one of the hardest endurance tests I have ever done. Sci alpinismo, or ski rando racing as it is called in English is massively popular in Europe. The sport combines backcountry skiing with mountain running and alpinism.
One of the biggest races in Italy is the Sellaronda Ski Marathon. Beginning at dusk, the race circumnavigates the Dolomite’s Sella Group using both pistes and service roads – at night!
Participants use powerful headlamps and ultralight ski gear, the climbs are incredibly fast and the descents are on torch lined pistes and typically in full tucks. The sport is 100% full on.
We shot the race in 2008 and it was enough to make me want to try it the following winter. I can confirm; fun, addicting and painful.
Filed under: DolomiteSport, Dolomites, Photo of the Week, Photography, Skiing | Tagged: Dolomites, Italy, Mountain Sports, Skiing | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 31, 2009 by patitucciphoto
We just returned to the US and found the newest issue of Trail Runner Magazine, November 2009, sporting an image we made in the Dolomites. Patrizia Taibon and Christina Tauber joined us for a run around the Tre Cime di Lavaredo area and wore some of Mountain Hardware’s newest endurance gear for 2010.
In the background are the Tre Cime towers themselves, around which are a network of trails that if done early or late in the day guarantee having the Dolomite’s most famous landmark to yourself.
Filed under: DolomiteSport, Dolomites, Photo Business, Photography, Trail Running | Tagged: Trail Running | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 20, 2009 by patitucciphoto
Janine and I spent the winter of 2000 living in Moab, Utah. Our address was wherever we parked our van and we were free to roam and photograph anything and everything in the amazing Utah desert.
Just outside town and along the corridor of the Colorado River are the steep towers of Wall Street. There we met some Swedish base jumpers who invited us along to photograph them for a day. We hiked to the top of the wall, shot them prepping their gear, and then photographed the actual jump. Back then, before being inundated with YouTube videos of all things extreme, seeing someone jump off a cliff was not at all normal, in fact it still isn’t – when seen in person.
After they jumped we had still to walk down. While doing so we passed, and said hello, to two other base jumpers headed up. Then we realized that if we hurried down, we might catch them as they jump. Our arrival back to the bottom was perfectly timed with Jimmy Pouchert’s exit. I remember having seconds to get the camera out and an image framed before he jumped. Later, when we first saw the photo on the lightbox, we new we had something special. Thanks to its simplicity, it reveals what it means to base jump.
Filed under: Photo of the Week, Photography | Tagged: Base Jump, Extreme Sports, Photography | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 17, 2009 by patitucciphoto
SP Parker, Susie Sutphin, Janine Patitucci and Todd Bibler find the perfect airport bivouac
This week’s Photo of the Day is purely for fun.
When you travel a lot, are an outdoor type and don’t mind what people think of you – it is entirely normal to do odd things. Like setting up camp in the San Francisco airport after a missed connection while returning home from Canada’s Fairy Meadows. Note, we tried to establish a boundary/privacy screen with our ski bags.
The quote of the night, at 2 a.m., was Todd Bibler’s. As we lay trying to pass out, with speakers blasting, “The red zone is for emergency vehicles, the blue zone for dropping off, blah blah blah”, Todd uttered, “Think we need to set an alarm?” I giggled myself to sleep.
Filed under: Photo of the Week, Travel | Tagged: Humor | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 16, 2009 by patitucciphoto
Smartwool 2010 Winter Catalog
The 2010 Smartwool winter catalog is out and features our work from last April’s ski touring shoot in Austria’s Silvretta Group. Models/Friend’s extraordinaire Susie Sutphin and Andreas Irsara (a.k.a. TaTa) are featured doing their thing… laughing and skiing.
Smartwool’s creative direction is simple – show the lighter side of whatever subject we are shooting. It has been a welcome challenge for us to produce images for numerous Smartwool catalogs as they require us to change our approach to a shoot. Where we typically focus on the sport itself, Smartwool has us think more about the quirky little things people do during sport. Their branding is successful, one look through their website or catalog reveals a fun, playful and desirable product. We love how they use color, real colors!
And… One big benefit of doing a Smartwool shoot is that I know some new cozy clothes will trickle down to us. Let’s just say that there stuff does NOT stink, in many ways.
Filed under: Photo Business, Photography | Leave a Comment »
