Climbing and photography enthusiasts were out in droves Thursday, Aug. 6 for the Squamish Mountain Festival's Steep Shot Photo Contest at the Howe Sound Brew Pub.
"The Steep Shot Photo challenge has always been one of the most anticipated events at the festival," said festival co-organizer Ivan Hughes.
The festival invites five photographers to produce a slideshow of their best climbing-related photography using the latest multimedia techniques.
"We always try to get two or three of the best American shooters and put them up against a couple of locals," said Hughes.
Local photographer climber Sonnie Trotter -best known for his climbing talent - presented first, opening the show with shots spliced to Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion. Trotter fuelled the crowd with his images of local climbing spots and people.
"I'm not a photographer but I like taking pictures," said Trotter.
Susanica Tam followed with a powerful show dedicated to Micah Dash, a friend who perished in an avalanche last June while climbing Mount Edgar in western China. Squamish audiences may be familiar with Dash's slideshow presentation at the 2008 Squamish Mountain Festival.
"My images are really focused on people," said Tam. "When I started out it was all about technique and now as I move on, it's about developing a style."
Contest winner, Andrew Burr presented next. Burr mixed text with his images, asking, "What is Climbing?" and answering with shots filed into 12 climbing disciplines.
"The story was the only idea I could come up with," said Burr. "I boiled down the images to what I thought were the most authentic."
Cory Richards, based out of Canmore, was next and last year's winner Keith Ladzinski from Colorado Springs, presented last.
"Mine was not a story so much but just a balance between photos I liked and emotion," said Ladzinski. "The edit was hard because you have such a huge body to work from. I started with 400 to 500 images."
The crowd grew more and more rowdy as the night progressed and the five photographers relished in the experience of showcasing their work to the audience and to each other.
"I don't ice climb but those photographs were amazing, his lighting on every single shot was so beautiful and his framing was superb," said local climber Amanda Green about Ladzinski's presentation.
The highlight of the evening for organizers may well have been when Burr shocked the crowd by donating his first place, $1,500 cheque back to the festival. Ladzinski won $1,000 for second place and Cory Richards received $500 for third place.
