Trail Runner’s World?

It’s great to see the world’s biggest running publication, Runner’s World, giving trail running the attention it deserves. The September 2010 German issue features our image from last year’s multi-day trail running tour of the Dolomite’s Alta Via 1.

Hopefully there will be a push in this direction – is Trail Running still the fastest growing segment of the outdoor industry…? Based on the number of trail runners we see, and their enthusiasm, it may well be. It’s a relatively inexpensive fitness fix, and there are few feelings as good as being fit to run through the mountains.

Even after 12 years of seeing our work published, it is always exciting to see a big job in print, especially when it looks its best thanks to great design. This last week we received the Jack Wolfskin 2011 winter catalog, at nearly 2cm thick it is probably the biggest catalog in the outdoor industry. Jack Wolfskin is an enormous high end German gear manufacturer with a massive presence in Europe. Last winter we were contacted by their advertising agency about doing a sizeable commercial shoot for them in California’s Sierra Nevada. The timing worked out perfectly, plans were made and a short time later we had a pallet (yes, pallet) meet up with us in California. Along with the product came the creative direction – our job was to realistically document a backcountry ski and alpine climbing trip in the Sierra. Our specialty.

The next step, and always the most difficult, was to find the right people to do the project with. We needed three friends with very specific requirements: the right sizes, a high level of skiing ability, alpine climbing skills, fun for the camera, personable, dynamic, and of course the necessary time. In the end, we had the ideal group; David Page, Ben Grasseschi and Brandyn Roark Gray. Together with the stars we had an equally important team of porters to carry all our stuff into the mountains so we could be free to shoot and not deal with logistics.

The Sierra Nevada was at its best for us, abundant blue sky above a very fresh two feet of unusually dry powder. Our location choice was Basin Mountain above Bishop – we nailed the timing, the conditions and the creative. Our models nailed the turns, the fun, the laughing and the friendship. A huge success. A happy client and a very happy group of skiers, porters, and photographers.

Included here is a small sampling of image usage from the alpine climbing segment of the story. Thanks to Jack Wolfskin and all our friends for a great shoot.

Stella Alpina - Edelweiss

In 1999 it wasn’t quite “in” yet to do a version number of your site. While Photoshop was at about V5.0, Janine and I were very much at V1.0 – beta even. Now, in 2010 we must be around V9.0 for websites – but a better way to benchmark our progress is V.ery happy. This has been a phenomenal year for us for both work & fun. But, the last couple of weeks have been terrible for photography (rain) but great for office time (rain). So we thought, “Let’s get a new site up and running”.

Our last portfolio was up for almost two years so we had some serious editing to do. Where to begin? What are the image categories? We want to show our best work but not too much, less is more, all that sort of thing. In the end we want to honestly and accurately present who we are and what we do for our clients; new, old and those searching for the best mountain sport photographers. Now it is ready, this new site is us.

Our photography is perhaps a bit unique in the outdoor industry. After 12 years in this business we still prefer to shoot our own experiences, our own friends, our own travels. Of course we do commercial photoshoots, editorial projects where we document stories, and production stock shoots. But the real Dan & Janine Patitucci love nothing more than to head out with friends trail running, skiing or mountain biking, one lens in the pack, and see what we find. If we don’t find anything, we make turns. Come November, we enjoy traveling with a simple camera and lens to shoot purely what we run across. Our Travel Photography is telling of exactly how and what we see as image makers, photographers just doing what they love.

While editing 12 years of work down to 87 images, we had some decisions to make. It is often difficult to not just show personal favorites, or images we are emotionally attached to, we need to show what we can do as professionals –  a balance must be found between these things. There was one image I kept coming back to, a personal favorite of mine, yet one I wasn’t even there for. In 2006 we were set to go to Morocco for a Patagonia ski shoot. Our gang met in Chamonix where we first spent some days skiing. Immediately upon arrival I crashed and split my tibia & fibula. I was out, Janine was bumped to lead, and solo, photographer. Off she went.

Months later, with the job delivered, I was clear to trash the outakes. One image in the folder caught my eye, it was nearly black, but some details were trying to come through. I decided to open it in Photoshop, bring up the exposure and have a look. I found the image below. To me it is perfect, I may not have been there, but this one image made it all present. Our friend Susie Sutphin, inside a tent with a Moroccan guide, writing in her journal. So simple but so perfect for revealing life while traveling. We love making images, we look forward to another 12 years.

If you have thoughts on our work, we’d love to hear, please feel free to comment on this post. Thanks.

Lately, I have been inundated with two very different observations about photography.

1. “Why do you charge so much for photos? They’re just pictures.”

2. “Thank you so much for sharing/providing your work – it made all the difference to our brand/experience.”

So what is the real value of photography to a brand? To a website/magazine/catalog visitor? Or to someone researching a destination and looking for information/inspiration? These are the three primary users/viewers of our work. In the past weeks I have had an incredibly positive response to our work that demonstrates the true value of what images are worth. For those asking the question in number one above, the stories from others might help explain why the work of a professional photographer is indeed worth something. And I am not even going to go into all that is involved in making images, from the time, expense and knowledge – this is simply about the image.

Brand Value

A client of our’s wrote to tell us that an image we made for them on a commercial assignment launched their brand in ways they never dreamed of. They created a new product that was picked up by REI in the US. They hired us to do the photography to support it, both POP (Point of Purchase) and catalog. Off we went with a great model, had some good weather, and came up with a strong concept. The result… images they were very happy with, one of which ended up being used as the brand image. A year later? Seems REI sold over a million units, far beyond what they ever thought possible on launch. Rush orders were made to the manufacturer and the product continues to sell. Their reason for writing was to remark that the image made the difference. Value.

Experiential Value

In the outdoor industry the Patagonia catalog stands as a monument to which others are compared. Perhaps the photos are not all the best or the most creative, but as a whole, the catalog produces a feel, there is emotional appeal to outdoor people – the images are outstanding for what they are meant to do. The Creative Team knows this, it is all by design, they seek the best content for their brand. The same goes for some magazines. Pick up a magazine at the newstand, if the photography is weak, you are likely to have made a judgement regardless of the content. There is an immediate response to poor images – a shoddy product. The same goes for advertising. Often, companies spend money to advertise but not on the advertisement. Placement is simply not enough, in fact a poor ad might actually do a brand harm by decreasing the perceived quality of that brand. Ditto for editorial content. Basically, the old rule applies, “If you are going to do something, do it right”.

Recently, we have had the best response of all to our work as several people have taken the time to write and tell us that our images made a difference in their lives. One wrote to report that our Iceland images were so compelling that he booked a trip and had an amazing experience. Another couple followed our DolomiteSport site’s stories and decided to spend their honeymoon in the Dolomites. And in the last two summers our images have inspired about 50 different people to visit the Dolomites for cycling, to hike, or to trail run – the very things we shoot most. Best of all, one wrote to say that an image of our’s made in California’s Owen’s Valley landscape was so beautiful, she went, checked it out, and decided to move there.

I am not trying to blow our own horn here, I am simply relating my experiences as an image provider. For new shooters, it is critical to understand the value of your work, not only for your own compensation but to truly be a professional photographer means to understand how to provide the most value to the brands you work for. You must have clarity about what it is you are trying to provide, be it for an emotion, a brand or a location.

Right now we are in the planning stages for some upcoming travel, we have to decide between a few new destinations. What will make the difference in where we decide to go? Undoubtedly, it will be the images we see.

All our images get downloaded into a computer to an incoming folder, and from there they are separated into either a Work or Fun category. Fun being primarily from the iPhone or outtakes from photoshoots.Work is work; clean, sometimes produced, sometimes from the hip.

Today I began cleaning out the folders as we have processed the jobs and the workflow is complete. There, side by side, was two weeks of work vs. fun. Beyond the quality of the pixels themselves, I was happy to see that we have brought together everything we do, our work is much the same as what we do anyway. I thought it interesting to compare them.

Fun iPhone…

Work Digital SLR…

With no schedule we moved about as we pleased; climbing perfect limestone in Paklenica National Park, cycling along the intricate and stunning coastline, island hopping and of course making some fun snaps. Then there was Dubrovnik… For photos, getting lost, and meeting new friends in the various piazza’s each evening for outdoor World Cup viewing on massive monitors, Dubrovnik is truly a special place.

Nearly two weeks freedom exploring a great country - 10 Big Photos here: Croatia Photography

Janine and I shot from a few locations along the top part of the course as well as the finish before jumping in a tram and descending to our house. Once home, we hit the download from Film Card in Lightroom, edited, processed and got them out in the market. Ta-da! Modern living. Love it.

Below are a few samples, or visit the full selection here: 2010 Plan de Corones Giro d’Italia Time Trial

Thomas Voeckler at 100% effort

Alexandre Vinokourov rides through a tunnel of fans

The Giro leaders's jersey on David Arroyo

The Dolomites are without a doubt one of the finest photo shoot locations in the world, our backcountry ski trip was truly perfection. For more photos, and the fun story of putting this trip together, visit the post at our site DolomiteSport.