New Mexico Magazine runs Portfolio of Michael's Work

In the July 2007 issue of New Mexico Magazine, Michael Clark's work is featured in an article entitled Focus on the Extreme: The Photography of Michael Clark. The article, written by Steve Larese, details some of Michael's more harrowing adventures and dispels several myths about being a professional photographer, especially in the adventure genre. The six-page layout also contains a nice set of images shot in New Mexico and one portrait of the photographer at work while shooting images on assignment for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom in Moab, Utah.

The teaser in the table of contents reads: "See the heart-stopping action shots of Michael Clark of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and learn how this avid climber made the journey to become one of the country's top adventure photographers."



And the opening few paragraphs set a super-hero tone: "Whether it's photographing a mountain biker launching off of a 40-foot-high cliff, kayaking through boiling Class IV rapids or rock climbing with nothing but 200 feet of air between himself and oblivion, for Michael Clark, it's just another day at the office."



"Santa Fe-based Michael Clark has made a name for himself in the world of extreme sports by capturing beautiful, death-defying shots of athletes pushing the limits of their physique and, some might argue, sanity. If you've ever breezed through any climbing magazine, Bike, Men's Journal, National Geographic, or have seen ads for Patagonia or other outdoor sports companies, chances are you've seen Clark's work. When editors or marketing teams need big air or whitewater, Clark is high on their list of shooters to call."

To read the rest of the article pick up a copy of the July issue of New Mexico Magazine or you can download a PDF version of the article from my website at:

http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/nmportfolio.pdf

Michael wins Teva Mountain Games Photo Competition

Michael was just recently awarded the overall grand prize "Best in Show" in the Teva Mountain Games Zest for Adventure Photography Competition for his image of Chris Sharma deep water soloing on Big Momma (5.13d/14a) in Mallorca, Spain (see image above). The image also won "Best in Category" for the Ice & Rock section of the competition as well. With close to 400 images submitted it is a great honor to have my image chosen as the "Best in Show".

The image of Chris Sharma - who was also awarded an Everest Award for "Male Climber of the Year" - will appear in Outside Magazine this summer and it was also on display at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado.

For more info on the Teva Mountain Games and the winning images visit:

http://www.tevamountaingames.com/ev_photo.cfm

ASMP Los Angeles Presentation Recap

I was just recently in the City of Angels giving a presentation for ASMP Los Angeles. About 75 people attended and it was a 3-hour extravaganza of digital workflow and discussions. My thanks to ASMP Los Angeles for having me out and to Digital Fusion for hosting the event. I had a great time and it is always nice to hang out with my peers.

I also had a stock shoot in Encinitas, California the day after the presentation. I was shooting some surfing and surfing lifestyle images for my stock agency Aurora Photos and the Outdoor Collection. Thanks to my good friend Laura Perfetti, pictured above, who was kind enough to meet me and be my athlete for the day. The weather was perfect and the waves weren't bad either. And I even got to get out and try surfing again - my second day ever out on a board. I have to say that surfing is an awesome sport - if only I lived closer to the ocean I would be out there every day I could.

Spring 2007 Newsletter available for Download

Just in case you didn't get the Spring 2007 issue of the Michael Clark Photography Newsletter in your email today, it is now available for download from my website. If you'd like to sign on for the Newsletter just drop me an email and I'll add you to the mailing list.

This issue includes an editorial on blogging and my new blog site, equipment reviews of the Epson R1800 Photo printer and Pocket Wizards, a tutorial on CMYK conversions and much more.

The Michael Clark Photography Newsletter goes out to over a thousand photo editors, photographers and enthusiasts around the world. You can download the Spring 2007 issue and back issues on my website at:

http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/backissues.htm

ASMP Los Angeles Presentation

Michael has been asked to speak to the Los Angeles chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers on the topic of digital workflow on June 5th , 2007. The presentation will be held at Digital Fusion in Culver City (part of West LA). The presentation will start at at 7 PM officially and will go for three hours. Michael will cover his digital workflow from shooting through processing and final preperation of his RAW images using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as well as his cataloging and archiving systems. If you’d like to attend you can get more information through the ASMP LA chapter and on their website at www.asmpla.org.

Risky Business

This article was originally published in the Summer 2005 issue of my Newsletter.

A few months ago I photographed some good friends, Ryon Reed and Nate McKay doing some extreme mountain biking (aka Freeriding)at a brand new secret location near Moab, Utah named Canfield Canyon. Having photographed these guys before I knew it was going to be extremely dangerous, not for myself but for the riders. When we got to the canyon, which was basically a set of sandstone bowls dropping into one another Nate gave me the scoop on what he had done and what he wanted to do that day. As I usually do, I encouraged the riders to start off casual and I gave them the lecture “don't do anything you aren't sure you can do.” After some casual warm ups, or at least what the riders would call casual - 20 foot jumps off the lip of one of the bowls they moved onto jumping off another drop - this time the lip of a 25 to 30 foot overhanging cave. All of this went off without a hitch and without too much fanfare.

But the piece de resistance was an 80 foot near vertical wall ride Nate had done only a few times before (see photo on the contents page). When Nate told us what he was going to do Ryon and I stood there silent with our mouths agape. I had never seen or heard of anything like this or on this scale before. The upper part of the wall was at least 80 degrees, just off vertical and it also had an overhanging cave in the middle of the wall so that if something went wrong Nate would free fall from 80 feet at the top of his arc onto sandstone rock! On his first go Nate hit the line perfectly and it was unbelievable. By the time he dropped into the lower bowl he was going in excess of 80 mph. He thought it was so fun he did it three more times for the camera (so I could get different angles) and on the last ride he almost stalled over the cave - so we called it quits.

On the way out, Nate told us about another drop he had been looking at and we went over to check it out. I looked over the edge and the rock climber in me took over. I was looking down an 80 foot sheer vertical rock face. The bottom was a smooth transition but that wasnʼt what alarmed me. A small ledge halfway down was the only break in the cliff. I tried to talk Nate out of doing it. If he hit the ledge he would go headfirst all the way to the bottom but he was sure he could do it. At that point I told Nate I wouldnʼt photograph it even if he did do it and that I was going to hike out. I didnʼt want to watch someone die. He was still adamant that he was going to drop in and got on his bike. Luckily, Ryon, an EMT talked him into waiting
until he could get down there on another day and Nate took his advice. I was very much relieved. But I would not be surprised if he has since dropped that line. I still would not want to see it.

This article is an excerpt from the Michael Clark Photography Newsletter which is available through my website. To check out back issues of the newsletter cick here.

Shooting in the Studio

I recently shot some new images of outdoor athletes in a studio for my stock agency Aurora Photos. The image above is a portrait of my good friend Celine Cousteau, member of the Ocean Futures Society, scuba diver and all around elite world traveler. This image of Celine was worked up using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Photoshop CS3. If you would like to see the process involved in working this image up you can see that in my post on the Inside Lightroom website here:

http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2007/04/selective_desaturation_with_li_1.html

It is always refreshing to do something completely new, and while this wasn't my first photo shoot in a studio - it has been a while and it was a lot of fun.