Rather than let these slides languish in a dusty file somewhere in my office, I figured I’d scan ‘em, put a little caption on ‘em, and cry one last hurrah for those who failed to make the grade.

I'm a fervent advocate of the "pack it in, pack it out" philosophy, but this discarded chain could almost pass as a snake in the long grass. This was my first and only "real" print I did for Bike Mag, back when I had a proper darkroom setup.

Searching for a different way of shooting the Fruita Fat Tire Festival Clunker Crit, I used a 6x6 Bronica medium format camera, black and white film and had it processed to have a warm sepia tone.

Back in 2006, when I first moved to Canada, I found myself living in Edmonton, AB. While not exactly the epicentre of mountain biking, I still managed to find a house that backed onto some pretty great trails and deserted jump spots.

Who doesn't love trees?

The Sunshine Coast doesn't always live up to its name, and in 2007 the Rat Race was cold, wet and very muddy. Perfect conditions for shooting grainy, x-ray damaged film.

These two shots were taken in 2006 as I waited for my ride to the Colorado Sleepless in the Saddle 24hr race, which I was shooting for the organisers. Nat Ross' garage was impressively clutter free!

This shot came from the end of probably the wettest ride of my life. I went out with the intention of shooting on Eagle mountain, BC, but the torrential rain persuaded me to leave the gear in the car.

Despite partying the night before, Ryan and I got up super early to snag these shots at Silver Star, even hiking our way up before the lifts had opened.

2006 saw my first trip to Crankworx, and being fresh off the boat I have to admit it was a little intimidating. Funny to think it took me just four years to go from newbie to official photographer for the comp.

These next few shots are, you guessed it, all from back in the UK. Whenever I'm there, I try to sneak a ride in on the home turf of Singletrack magazine - Calderdale. The area boasts a pretty unique landscape - deep valleys for lots of descents (and climbing!), roots, rock, steps and cobbles.

This is a rare bike-related shot of my wife, then girlfriend, Laura. We realised pretty soon on that I'm not ideal husband material when I'm working, so these days she stays far away.

The Sunshine Coast is one of my favourite places in the world, for obvious reasons.

Consider these bribes payment for your promise to visit there some day.  Unfortunately because this blog tries to put everything in a fancy popup window, you’ll need to do the “Right click & Save As…” method on the appropriate size for your display.

Marsha and Sylvain on Hospital Ridge, Whitehorse    1920 × 1200 1280 × 800 1280 × 1024

Endless summer light in the Yukon    1920 × 1200 1280 × 800 1280 × 1024

Sylvain and Lili ripping up the bone dry trails    1920 × 1200 1280 × 800 1280 × 1024

Really quite impressive to see so many dogs working together, doing something they obviously love and live for.  Anyone who considers dog-sled racing “cruel” should take the time out to witness the spectacle; the fact I can do it while “working” is something I’ll forever be grateful for.  While you’re checking out the gallery below, spare a thought for the racers involved, both human and animal – they’re still out there, and will be for another week at least!

You can see the details of the trip here.

You too can take shots like this, on this very trail

For the last couple of years running, starting with a trip I did with the guys at NSMB.com, I’ve travelled to Whitehorse, Yukon, to spend time with the guys at Boréale Biking, and it’s quickly become one of the highlights of the year for me.  Nowhere else I’ve ridden quite manages to top the incredible combination they offer – world-class singletrack, very, very long days of warm sunshine, gourmet food and fantastic beer – not to mention some of the best hospitality you could ever hope for.

Summer life is not hard in the Yukon

With all that in mind, it was a no-brainer for me to run the first of hopefully many trips like this.  As far as what’s on offer in the course, having a small group size of six people means the experience can really be tailored to what each person wants to learn, but the main topics I’ll be covering will give everyone interested in bike photography a good grounding in all aspects of what’s involved:

• Proper exposure and composition
• Capturing the ‘soul’ of the sport
• Making your images more engaging
• Lens choices
• Packing and riding with gear
• Basic image adjustment and processing
• Insight into the business aspect of the job
• Advancing lighting / remote flash

Here’s what Boréale have to say about the package:

Professional mountain bike photographer Dan Barham (senior photographer for BIKE magazine and Singletrack UK) has joined forces with Team Boréale to do a special sport photography retreat! Have you ever taken a picture of a rider mastering a super steep descent, only to have the photo depict a non-challenging, flat terrain? Dan is here to help!

Over the course of 3 days/4 nights, Dan will lead us through the world of digital mountain bike photography and show how to capture and process that ‘worthy of a frame’ action shot. Each day will be the perfect blend of riding bikes on our endless Yukon singletrack and taking advantage of our midnight sun while learning proper technique for shooting and processing action photos.

Accommodation is in the form of luxury yurts, with proper beds, running water, hot showers and some of the best gourmet food available.  If anyone needs any more info on the package, the location or the riding feel free to give me a shout – I’d be more than happy to answer any questions on what’s shaping up to be a fantastic trip!

You can see the article we put together, “Riding Yukon Style”, on NSMB.com in three parts, which accurately describes the incredible Boreale experience in detail:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Here’s just a small selection of the images from my 2010 trip:

This shoot took place last year in Whistler’s Bike Park, for the 2010 Bike Magazine Test Bible.  The awesome guys at Whistler Blackcomb were great enough to open the park after season just for us, so we enjoyed private shuttles and perfectly groomed trails all to ourselves.

My job there was to shoot two bikes, the Santa Cruz V-10 and the Commencal Somethingorother (disclaimer: may have forgotten the name), as piloted by Seb Kemp and Callum Jelley, on the trails they’d be testing the bikes on – the iconic Schleyer and Heart of Darkness among them.

Here’s what we snapped in the couple of hours available.

That all changed about a month ago when, while working on the Sugoi Apparel Fall / Winter 2011 catalogue, I happened to let one of my primary bodies – a top-of-the-line Canon 1D Mark IV with 24-70 f/2.8L lens attached – tumble out of a moving vehicle, only to see the $7000 rig get smashed to pieces under the van’s rear wheel.

Here’s a “before” shot of my legs contorted into what was a familiar position over the week:

With hindsight it’s fairly easy to see the potential for disaster.

The following gallery documents the aftermath.  Thanks to a backup camera we were still able to finish the day out; insurance and handy credit card meant was back to full strength within hours.  Ready to do it all again at some point, I’m sure.

I’m constantly in awe of what the athletes can achieve in such unforgiving and harsh terrain – seems like this is one of the few competitions that can truly be referred to as ‘extreme’.

See Jane Jump lightbox

If you were at the event, chances are I took a picture of you, but apologies in advance if you don’t appear anywhere.  It isn’t personal.

To whet your appetites here’s a small sampling of what’s on offer:

• A photographer.  Know about telephotos and wideangles, what depth of field is etc.  A photography student, or someone looking to start a career in photography would fit best.  You won’t be shooting much, but there WILL be images you need to capture.
• Willing to be bossed around and told what to do.  You’ll get the shitty jobs that I try to avoid, but nothing nasty – just things like running memory cards and comforting sobbing models I’ve yelled at (kidding, kidding).
• Willing to be cold, wet and tired for 12 hour+ days.  You’re allowed to complain as long as it isn’t louder than my grumpiness.
• Eligible to work in Canada.
• Able to get yourself to downtown Vancouver for Sunday 18th October, for a 7 day shoot in various parts of BC.
• Preferably have your own digital SLR gear – 10MP+, decent lenses etc.

If you think you’re the right person for the job, I want to see a few words on why and a handful of sample images you’ve taken.  Send them to me by email at photo@danbarham.com.

Best of luck!

Below is a handful of my favourite images from the 5 days I worked, along with something special I put together – a zoom-able, pan-able panorama of the crowd in Whistler village midway through the gala slopestyle event.  Total image size: an astonishing 136 megapixels, stitched from a total of 40 individual shots from my 16 megapixel camera.  Were you there?  If so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to spot yourself!