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Event Photography Skiing Sports

2013 Stowe Derby

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2013 Stowe Derby photos are available online and indexed by bib number. Find yourself,order a print to relish the day. Or find a friend and order a print to mock their crash!

Another Stowe Derby is in the books. Congratulations to everyone involved! We were lucky enough to get some snow in the week prior to the race and conditions were nearly perfect. Warm weather on race day even made it a pleasure to stand on a mountain side for hours at a time!

My day starts with checking in and heading over to the short course start. This year, the scenery was beautiful as the first few hundred yards of the course came through the tree-lined Stowe Recreation Path. The fresh snow on the branches makes for an ideal backdrop.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (30)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (29)

 

While I’m shooting the start, Tawny gets settled near the end of the course. Some years, this vantage point provides a beautiful mountain backdrop, but this year we were socked in up on the hill. You can’t win them all!

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (28)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (27)

 

After shooting the start of the short course, I head to the top of the mountain and get settled on turn one.  The mountain was really quiet this year and I could clearly hear the “boop, boop, boop, boop, beep!” of the starting bell. Many of the first racers came flying around the first corner with apparent ease. You have my admiration.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (26)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (25)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (24)

 

Others had some trouble navigating the ice down the center, the powdery ruts along the outside, or the divots from prior competitors’ falls. You have my sympathy.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (23)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (22)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (21)

 

I think the photo below is my favorite position. I seem to capture one of these every year. This one scores a perfect 10.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (20)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (19)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (18)

 

As usual, spirits were high and most of the people that fell popped right back up with smiles on their faces. I especially liked the tutu troop’s costumes this year! A fun splash of color on a grey day.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (17)

 

In preparation for the classical start, I headed down the toll road a little ways to one of the more popular corners. When I arrived, it looked like many more people went over the edge than normal, but the patroller on scene said he felt it was about normal. Stowe Ski Patrol did a great job at padding the trees and saplings in the landing zone, though, and even coached skiers through extracting themselves from a difficult position. Props to them.

The classic skiers seemed to have it dialed through the corner.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (16)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (15)

 

Well… some did, but if you didn’t clean this corner don’t feel bad — you’re in good company.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (14)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (13)

 

This is Ray. He suffered some equipment issues… he broke the duckbill off of his boot while warming up at the start! Never the less, and with the assistance of a little electrical tape provided by a liftie, he started and finished the race. (Did I mention he’s skiing on his grandfather’s Bonna 1800 skis?)

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (12)

 

Back in near the finish, skiers always round this corner and start looking for the finish. You’re almost there!

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (11)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (10)

 

More equipment failures, apparently. This is dedication, though. He’s not walking to the finish, he was running when he passed Tawny and running when he arrived at the finish line about 1k later. How long did you run?

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (9)

 

The nice part about being down here is that people will wander about and sometime stay to chat for a few minutes. Some people are just out to walk the dogs and others are in town on vacation, only learning of the Stowe Derby from their waitress at breakfast.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (8)

 

Hey wait – I recognize you!

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (7)

 

When the action is over on the mountain, I head to the finish to catch some relieved looks as people round the last corner and cross the finish line. This guy had a mob of kids pushing him to the finish.

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (6)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (5)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (4)

 

Careful! Just a few more yards! (He stayed upright)

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (3)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (2)

 

 

2013 Stowe Derby, Stowe, Vermont (1)

See you all next year!

If you’re looking for photos of yourself, you can find them at http://benjamindbloom.com/stowederby. You can search by your bib number or just browse the whole pile of photos.

 

Categories
Event Photography Photograph Skiing Sports

Stowe Derby 2012

You can find all photographs from the Stowe Derby right here. You can even search by bib number to order a print of yourself (or a friend!) Thanks for supporting your local photographers!

Our Stowe Derby day starts by swinging by registration to check in, pick up a lift ticket, and coordinate any last minute details. The early bib pickup system has made this process a lot easier; it used to be that there was a long line of people waiting to pick up their race packets, but now it’s a calm trickle of people.

From there, Tawny and I head to find scout a location with a view of the mountains. With the re-routed course this year, we took a few extra minutes to find a new spot.  Once that’s settled upon, I rush back to the start of the short course to grab a few quick shots of the chaos that is a mass start.

While the racers are making their way back towards Tawny,

I head up to Stowe Mountain Resort to get set for the Freestyle start. The first skiers come through fast and gracefully.

It’s funny photographing on the Toll Road. I like to shoot around the first corner to get some interaction between racers (and, I’m not gonna lie, to get some great crashes.) The thing is, it’s a blind corner so I do a lot of listening to know when to shoot. Generally, the first sound you hear is skis snowplowing down the first pitch before the corner. Next, the less experienced racers will often let out a little (or sometimes big!) scream as they realize they have to turn more than 90 degrees and have no edges. From there many will fall, but nearly everyone gets up laughing.

Scrape, Scream, Fall, Laugh – the pattern continues for quite some time!

 

This year there were definitely some powder hounds who had to get fresh tracks where they could.

I’m not sure what it was this year, but skiers took this corner wide and a number of people came close to the wall.

 

A few even hit it!

 

Racers then continue through the bulk of the course before reaching Tawny’s spot with views of a freshly snow-covered Spruce mountain with blue skies. Hard to beat that!

 

So about two hours later it all begins again with the start of the Classical race. A little further down on the course this time, a crowd has gathered to watch the carnage.

 

This guy makes it look too easy.

When the last racers have come through, I pack up my gear and head to the finish. Tawny captures everyone in the field with the mountains or Smuggler’s Notch in the background and I get to watch racers smile as they realize they’re within a few hundred yards of the finish.

Nice work everyone! I look forward to doing it all again next year! (When, hopefully, I’ll remember the sunblock.)

 

You can find all photographs from the Stowe Derby right here. You can even search by bib number to order a print of yourself (or a friend.) Thanks for supporting your local photographers!

 

Categories
Event Photography Photograph

It’s a beautiful day to paddle a pumpkin

What do you do when it’s 70°F and sunny in Burlington, VT? Hollow out some pumpkins and paddle them in the lake, of course! This weekend was Burlington’s 4th annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta and Festival. In addition to the paddled pumpkins, pictured below, there were food vendors, music, dance performances, and even a dog costume contest.

Categories
Event Photography Sports

Race Vermont Half Marathon

This past Saturday, Race Vermont held their annual Spring Half Marathon. I’ve photographed a number of events for them and they’re always a good time; this one was no exception.  The weather forecast threatened rain, but we only got the lightest of sprinkles during the event. The flooding in Vermont meant that Rayne had to reroute the course a little bit and, thankfully, Shelburne Farms was willing to accommodate him.

There was a good sized crowd at the start as last-minute race details were covered (including the standard no-iPod rule) and then they were off.

After the pack takes off, I relocated to Shelburne Farms’ South Gate and waited for the runners to arrive.


This guy was taking advantage of the change of scenery and cheering on the runners as they passed.

Congratulations to everyone that ran! I hope you enjoyed your morning as much as I did. All of these photos and more are available on SkiPix.com!

Categories
Event Photography Sports

Unplugged Half Marathon

Note – all of these photos and many, many more are available on SkiPix.com. If you ran, you should hop over and check it out. There are prints, posters, magnets, and even digital downloads if you want to use these on Facebook.

This past Saturday, Run Vermont organized the 5th Annual Unplugged Half Marathon along the Burlington, VT waterfront of Lake Champlain. 600 runners pre-registered for what can be a questionable day by the lake. Some years, we get freezing temperatures, cold winds, and even snow. This year, it was in the mid to upper 30’s at the start and it got downright warm once the race was under way. Even standing at my first location, I was able to take off my jacket, roll up my sleeves, and enjoy the sunshine.

The course is the same every year, as far as I’m aware. It starts in Colchester, just over the Burlington line (aka the Winooski River) where it makes a quick loop through some neighborhoods before joining up with the Burlington Bike Path and heading due south along the lake shore. This is the third year I’ve photographed this event and I try not to shoot the same location twice in a row. This year, I was drawn back to the bridge over the Winooski where the curved lines make for interesting framing and the sun really highlights what a beautiful day we had.

Most of the events I photograph are filled with a relaxed crowd, out to have a good time, but this one seems exceptional. Some people will run through the “photo trap” with arms around their running partners,

some smile & chat

make a point to wave hello and / or thank me for being out there (it really is my pleasure)

or suggest that world peace is the answer (at least, I think she was saying that and not whirled peas.)

When I moved to Oakledge Park to take some photos by the lake with Burlington in the background, I came across this group of fans cheering for someone’s mom if I remember correctly.

They certainly caught the runners’ attention as they came through the park!

Near the end of the race, they really encourage you to finish strong.

No, seriously, the truck drivers that go through there did an amazing job navigating the fans, runners, and cones. And the runners knew the trucks didn’t really want to run them over.

Thanks for putting on another great race, Joe!  I’ll see you next year.