Page 20 - Dec_13

Vermont
SportS

Q

A

and

a coNVerSatIoN

WItH blotto –

phoTographer Drew

“BloTTo” gray shares

insighTs inTo riDing,

phoTography

By evan johnson

GrOWING UP IN PHOeNIX, arIZ., drew Gray started BmX riding blotto: I’d say, over the past 14 years, I’m up. We were able to get the job done, and
and skateboarding before beginning to snowboard at nearby Flagstaff while usually on the road about 270 days a year.
it made the whole trip worth it.

studying graphic design.
VS: sounds like quite a lifestyle.
VS: When you see that kind of a spot,
Photography, he says, was a skill learned out of necessity while working what exactly are you looking for? How

at a snowboard shop with a group of friends. lacking funds for professional blotto: [laughs]. It’s very fun. It’s quite do you recognize the potential in a place
advertising, Gray taught himself how to shoot product photos and taught a balance, you can imagine, with family like that?
and friends and all that, but it all seems
himself editing skills for the shop’s own catalogs and websites—all of which to work out very well. I can’t say enough blotto: I guess when we drove up to this
he and his fellow snowboarders at the shop designed themselves.
good things about the people I work with spot —and this spot is a good example—
In 1999, he was hired by Burton and moved to Burlington, Vt. where at Burton because everyone’s so talented or to any kind of man-made structure like
he presently works as principal photographer. His passion for snow and pho- and so driven and so creative over there this building, we’re looking for something
that it makes it easier for you to do your that has multiple levels, what we like to
tography has led him on adventures around the world from New Zealand to job. you’ve got a lot of support around call a “terraced” building.
eastern Canada.
you.
jeremy saw the vision, like, “Ok.
recently, his sequence photo of Vermont snowboarder jeremy jones was We can create a little jump up there with
featured as one of the top 50 images in red Bull’s Illume photography contest. VS: tell me about the contest you entered plenty of run-in speed. I can gap over and
at red Bull. What’s the story behind the land on a wall that’s facing the other di-
the top images were featured on an international tour and were published in shot you entered of jeremy jones?
rection.”
a book released this year.
Basically, you look at a spot that has
Blotto spoke from san Francisco with Vermont Sports staff writer evan blotto: I believe this was the third year of these levels, and you just start thinking,
johnson about his work at Burton, his progression into snowboarding pho- red Bull Illume, and I hadn’t entered yet. “OK, could I go there to there, could I do
they contacted me, and I said, “I should this, what’s feasible?”
tography, and what it takes to become recognized in a competitive field of
photographers in an increasingly democratic digital age.
definitely send them some pictures,” so He felt he could do this safely and
I did. the one that they chose was un- actually land it, and he did. We probably
der the “sequence” category, it’s one of spent two hours constructing the land-
jeremy and we captured this photo two ing and the jump, and we probably took
seasons ago while we were working the another 30 minutes for jeremy to do just
VS: In the late ’90s, when you started VS: and since you’ve come to Burton,
Burton project called “13.”
“run-ins”, where when we used the winch
We were doing street snowboard- to pull him in, he would check the speed shooting in arizona, what was the equip- what is some of the gear that you find
ing, which is what we call that, and we of the run1in.
ment like?
yourself using the most?
were up in anchorage on a couple differ- this obstacle is pretty gnarly, you
ent trips. at the end of one of the trips, we definitely don’t want to fall to the flat, and blotto: I shot with a Canon 530. they blotto: Nowadays, I shoot with the Nikon
called it the Canon eOs 530. It’s a small, d4 and the Canon sl-1. I choose these
were driving out of town, headed to the you don’t want to hit the wall at a weird
airport, and we were like, “let’s check angle. so he did the run-in about 10 times 35 mm film camera. We probably had a cameras due to their size and depending
one more spot.” We drove through this and felt he had the speed and the trajec- wide-angle lens and just a small zoom on what the mission is with Burton, or
area where you see the sequence, and we tory correct, and then I’d say by the fifth lens, but every few months, we tried to when we’re traveling, what I need to carry
were like, “Oh boy.”
try, he landed it. so it was a pretty quick gain a new flash or maybe a new lens. We with me. and then alongside me, I always
kept experimenting and trying to teach have a couple of cinematographers with
We couldn’t extend the trip, but we process given the nature of this obstacle.
decided to make another trip there just ourselves everything about each piece of me using red cinema equipment.
to hit this spot, so we did. When we got VS: In addition to your work at Bur- equipment we got.
there, the snow was good, the weather ton, your website (www.blottophotto. VS: How often do you find yourself on the
road doing these projects?
was perfect, and it all just kind of lined
com) also features photography from all

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VtSportS.com
December 2013