LIVE!  We just released a behind the scenes look from our New Zealand photo shoot this year.   Check it out and enjoy more running photography here afterward.  

Behind the scenes photography from our Running photo shoot in New Zealand with Altra Running. Mix of trail running, road running, and some heli-running of course!

Trail running photography in New Zealand - Be a Photo Editor

Every week (via my Facebook fan page), I like to give folks the chance to be a photo editor.  The images will usually be fairly similar in nature - same location, athlete and roughly the same lighting.  The composition and moment, however, will vary and it's your job to choose the best shot. In this case I've selected two trail running images.  These running images are outtakes from a recent commercial shoot come from the beautiful trails on the South Island of New Zealand near the beautiful queens town area.

Comment below: 

Salt Lake Shootout: Ski photography contest photos

Last week I participated in the Salt Lake Shootout; a Ski photography contest that took place over four insanely exhausting days.  What made matters worse is that the snow conditions were in all honesty quite miserable.  But we had a contest to compete in and still worked from before sunrise to after sunset just about every day trying multiple angles, lighting, lenses, etc. to take what are normally killer spots to shoot and create something unexpected.  

Well on literally the last night of the last day of the contest at Alta ski resort, we created an image I am completely stoked about; and it all paid off.  It's always ironic to me how as photographers we say those dreadful words, "one more time" to our talent.  Well, after 60 hours of straight shooting and editing, this shot came just after the very last "one more time" was uttered.

About this shot:  First, I wanted the athlete positioned against a sunset or dusk sky.  Next, I added my first strobe; an Elinchrom Ranger pack with one S-head and my assistant (lg) positioned the the strobe just off camera right and down the hill toward where the skier would land.  We quickly tested a few power settings and landed on roughly 300 watt/seconds (A channel - 2.5 power) to give enough light to the scene.  We then threw on the High Performance 48 degree reflector to focus the light and push it out further.  The whole set-up was triggered via Pocket wizard remotes and shot the full frame Canon 5D II with 16-35mm f/2.8 II @ 16mm focal length.  One more trick: one of my concerns as soon as I saw the scene was how many footprints there were all around the jump.  It was a mess.  I knew if we lit the scene those footprints would be part of the composition and image.  Because I wanted to create as clean of an image as possible, I quickly dug down into the snow a couple of feet and shot almost from a foxhole perspective with just a few feet of clean snow in front of me.  This eliminated the clutter all around and helped finish the composition and frame.

Kevin Winzeler
Sports and Active Lifestyle photographer

Timelapse Photography: Sunset on Mount Timpanogos in Black and White

I feel so grateful to live in such a beautiful part of the world.  Literally within five minutes of my house I can be shooting one of the most stunning mountain ranges in the world; the Wasatch mountains of Utah and the Mount Timpanogos peak.

It was right after a snowstorm last week that I peered out the window for a split second to catch a glimpse of the clouds moving out and completely giving way to blue skies and snowcapped mountain peaks.  I quickly grabbed my camera, jumped in my car and rushed up the mountain just in time to snag this timelapse of the sun setting on Timp.  For me, the black and white conversion and choice to not include audio/music left me to completely immersed in the visual beauty of this mountain.

-Kevin Winzeler
Photographer | Filmaker 

Real Salt Lake (RSL) Photo Shoot 2012

Here's a quick peak into our 2012 photo shoot with this years Major League Soccer, Real Salt Lake team.  This clip is primarily with RSL defender Chris Wingert as he was the lucky one to get a bit more time to shoot BTS with, but in the finished images you'll also see the usual suspects including: Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando, Nat Borchers, Will Johnson, Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales, and well as the rest of the team.  So, first and foremost a huge shout out goes to all the athletes for being so cool to work with once again!

In terms of art direction for the shoot, we drew inspiration from a few ESPN cover stories over the last year or two and wanted to bring a bright (high key) feeling to the finished product as opposed to the moody/edgy RSL portraits we've shot in the past.  Despite the very short amount of time we get with each player, I was stoked with the final results as was the creative team and I'm excited to see the finished product through this years marketing and advertising efforts.  GO RSL 2012!!!

So, what questions do you have?
Hit me below and I'll do my best to answer!

-Kevin
Commercial Sports Photographer

Mount Superior in Utah - Free HD Wallpaper/Background for Skiers!

So if you love Winter in the mountains, but are stuck in the office right now, staring at some boring picture on your monitor, check in below for a FREE wall paper download and mount this photo directly to your display for a pseudo vaca-chion!   Or feel free to slap it up as your background on your 60" HD TV when you get home.

If you like this shot, share the KWP Facebook Fanpage love for future stuff like this.

Download the wallpaper:
1080p HDTV Skiing Wallpaper - download here
iPad/iPhone Skiing Wallpaper - download here
4K Resolution Timelapse: available for license, just shoot me an email.  (Seeing the clouds dance around the mountain peaks and up the canyon is spectacular in full time-lapse format).

*Please note: downloads are for personal use ONLY.  If you want to use this photo for commercial or editorial purposes or want a huge signed print for your wall, let's talk!

About: Yesterday was an absolutely stunningly, gorgeous (and every other adjective you can think of) bluebird day up little cottonwood canyon.  After some much needed snowfall the sun came out to play and I spent the morning skiing and shooting a bit of active lifestyle photography as well as soaking in the beauty around me with some more casual scenic and timelapse photography.  So here's my "shot of the day" from the adventures; the beautiful Mount Superior as seen from Snowbird and Alta Ski resorts in the cottonwood canyons of Utah.

It's up on my screen right now:

Kevin Winzeler | Commercial Sports and Lifestyle Photographer

If there's a cow in the road?

Take it as a sign! Stop, look around and live life in the moment.  (then take a picture)  
Kevin Winzeler | Photographer

This photograph was created in Maui, Hawaii past the road to Hana.
More Landscape Photography

Pray for snow...

...in the Wasatch!

After crossing the road late one afternoon in Little cottonwood canyon, it began to snow.  It snowed and  snowed some more and would not stop snowing.  Large flakes floated out of the sky touching down on aspen trees, chalets, cars, and completely blanketing our photography equipment.  I was smiling from ear to ear.   It was the 2010.  It was the week of the Salt Lake shootout and we were getting pounded!

It's January 2012.  The snow is coming!  I think.

(The 2010 Salt Lake shootout was an unbelievable week for both athletes and photographers pushing the limits each day to create some spectacular ski photography.  I felt fortunate to be around world class athletes and photographers and lucky enough to take the best of show award at the end of competition.  About the winning image:  It was our first day and first run of the day.  After a solid hike up the Fantasy Ridge cliffs above Solitude Ski resort, Pro skier Jason West decided to launch a 60 footer just to warm things up a bit.  He stomped it.   That image would win both "Best Air" and "Best of Show" for the shootout. )