Print Mailer: Snow

by Asad Haider

We’ve had our share of snow in Philadelphia. But our parking-lot mountains can’t quite compare to the ones pictured in our recent print mailer, printed by Modern Postcard, courtesy of London-based photographer Julian Love.

Julian’s photo distracts you with an incredible snowy landscape, and then you realize that there is actually a person there, with a snowboard, ready to conquer the slopes. I asked Julian how this image came about, and he gave me a detailed description.

This picture was shot near Chamonix, France. Chamonix sits at the base of Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest peak, and was the birthplace of mountaineering in the 19th century. The mountains around there are some of the most dramatic you can find anywhere. I know the area well having shot there a couple of times in the summer, and decided to spent a couple of weeks out there last winter shooting some new winter sports material for my portfolio. I hired a guide and spent a few days scouting out potential locations for some dramatic shots, and got in touch with a few of the local pro skiers and riders—this shot features RJ. I had found this dramatic cornice with the beautiful mountains of the Grandes Jourasses behind, and when the weather was right got RJ to hike out onto the cornice as far as was safe. Meanwhile I rigged up a strobe just off to the right to separate him from the background. I then skied around to the snowbank opposite and made this shot. We made a few more shots on the way back down and had a real blast doing it. Photo shoots can be frustrating for skiers and riders if they’re not used to it, as you don’t actually do a lot of skiing—there’s lots of time spent finding locations, setting up the shot and coordinating over the radio. But once they see the pictures they usually can’t wait to do it again.

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