Speed Graphic Goes Skiing. We're All Wimps. Check this out

[robklurfield]

Check out Ray Atkeson's work on ski slopes in the western US in 1930-50's. Some stunning work. THEN, have a look at what he lugged up the mountains and used having had to ski to where he stood to catch these images.

http://www.skiinghistory.org/Kruck1.html

Quoting for the site linked above:
"A Selection of Photographs by: RAY ATKESON

These photographs are taken from the book: SKI &SNOW COUNTRY The Golden Years of Skiing in The West, 1930s-1950s
Photos by Ray Atkeson
Edited by Warren Miller

120 pages Illustrated with b/w photos.
Price: $24.95
Published by
GRAPHIC ARTS CENTER PUBLISHING
Call 425 844-8406
email: mac.productions@gte.net

Ray Atkeson became a legend in his lifetime, taking thousands of spectacular outdoor photos. He became especially well known for his stunning black and white images of the ski and snow country in the Western States taken with his Speed Graphic camera
He died in 1990 at age 83. "

 

[FrankS]

What, no gondolas? 😉

 

[charjohncarter]

I remember that guy, he had/and did pictures at Sun Valley in the 50s. I think my father used an Argus, not the same quality:

1939:

 

[Vics]

Oh, man! This stuff is gorgeous! That does it. I'm taking my Rollei up to Tahoe soon!

 

[robklurfield]

Your dad, Argus or not, made some great images. And, you inherited his eye.

I remember that guy, he had/and did pictures at Sun Valley in the 50s. I think my father used an Argus, not the same quality:

1939:

 

[robklurfield]

He's got a shot of a bus that was converted into a gondola. Wild stuff.

What, no gondolas? 😉

 

[Muggins]

Here in the UK we had the Abraham Brothers of Keswick who pioneered mountain photography.

http://www.bookscumbria.com/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_3001

Sure, our mountains are pretty wimpy compared to in other parts of the world, and they weren't as keen on snow, but they were lugging what were presumably full plate cameras up hill and down dale with their climbing kit.

Adrian

 

[bigeye]

Geez, no apologies required for the scenery of Britain!

The Speed had that fast shutter!
.

 

[raid]

This is very inspiring, Rob.

I am using my Rollei and Graflex XLSW extensively these days. I am determined to make my next Egypt trip a MF trip. My Rollei has been checked out and adjusted, and I have been using it for about 20 years now.

 

[freeranger]

THEN, have a look at what he lugged up the mountains and used having had to ski to where he stood to catch these images.

And just imagine him dragging the full-length mirror up the slopes that he used to capture that self portrait 😀😀😀

This dude is a GOD!

 

[dave lackey]

Thanks, Rob...

I love this. This makes me want a Speed Graphic badly.

 

[charjohncarter]

You have to admire Ray, have you ever taken a camera on the slopes? I took my Leica a few times, but would never put myself in a bad situation. Mostly I remember walking back to the car and leaving it there for the rest of the day.

 

[Frank Petronio]

Same mountain, fifty-five years later, 4x5 Linhof

Thousands of sports photographers carry far heavier gear into the mountains, how did all those 400mm lenses and tv cameras get up to shoot the Hahnenkamm? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEAHxJ_CifE

 

[sreed2006]

Oh, man! This stuff is gorgeous! That does it. I'm taking my Rollei up to Tahoe soon!

I'd like to quote Alec Pearlman from his "Rollei Manual, The complete book of Twin-Lens Photography." Chapter IX, Picture Making.

Toward the end of the chapter, he discusses carrying the camera. Then, he specifically talks about skiing.

"On Ski-ing

"Before leaving this subject it is perhaps worth while recording that a ski-ing photographer, successful in both spheres is quite a phenomenon! The sport completely denies the hobby - the artist shudders at the thought of the concentration necessary in such a pastime. They are both all absorbing, each demands a mind concentrated on its own problems and brooks no interference. The skier hurtling down the mountainside courts disaster if he looks at the view. The photographer looks at the view forming mental compositions from the exciting scenes around him, and falls at every hazard. The only suggestion I can make to photographers is - don't take up ski-ing!"

Wear snow-shoes, then, I guess. 😀

 

[dfoo]

Great shot Frank! I find it very difficult to take a picture of snow that actually shows detail without the snow looking dirty.

 

[ornate_wrasse]

Thousands of sports photographers carry far heavier gear into the mountains, how did all those 400mm lenses and tv cameras get up to shoot the Hahnenkamm? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEAHxJ_CifE

The only thing I could understand in that youtube video was that the skier was competing against Bode Miller and apparently beat Miller's time 😀
Great shots of the downhill skier.

I do admit to taking my M6 up to Mt. Hood for a day of skiing. But the M6 is far lighter than a Speed Graphic or a 400mm lens.

BTW, Ray Atkeson's images are beautiful and I see he did a lot of work up on Mt. Hood, my local ski playground and where I learned to ski. I can't be sure, but on the self-portrait image it looks like Mt. Hood in the background.

 

[wlewisiii]

Beautiful thread - in the work of Ray Atkeson, Frank Petronio's shot and not least, the shot shared by charjohncarter. Having carted my Speed & Crown more than a few places, I'm in awe of all of these.

Thank you.

 

[KM-25]

Ray's stuff is classic early ski genre, lots of snow in the pics, great stuff.

But many of us pro ski types haul heavy gear up to high end exposed places these days. I did an article for Ski last year in which I carried one Blad, 4 backs, 50mm, 80mm and 180mm CF lenses up as high as 12,500 feet.

Matthew Turley shoots a Graphic for ski stuff too, click on his "About":
http://www.matthewturley.com/mtp.html

In 1996, mountaineer film maker David Breashears hauled up a special "lightweight" IMAX motion picture camera up Everest. It weighed a feathery 23 pounds...that is not counting film mags and other gear....now that is a burly carry...

 

[robklurfield]

I stand corrected. Some us are wimps. I'm one. John's father, Frank P, KM-25 ... you guys and all those thousands of sports photographers/videographers are NOT wimps. Me? I can hardly keep from falling down on Nordic skis -- even before I hit the snow. The young lady in Frank's image is not a wimp. Cold maybe, but definitely not a wimp. A great shot, btw.

Anyway, I do believe, as little as I know about Alpine skiing, that it is easier to lug equipment up a mountain today than it was 50, 60 or 70 years ago when the lifts, where they existed, were kind of on the primitive side. And, the ski equipment has certainly advanced an awful lot, too.