The Video Shoot

Helped out with my first real video shoot today. Anders had a concept for a product shoot and solicited a couple of actors, a DP (director of photography) and myself. I held a boom and a mic and pushed a start/end button whilst the Black Magic camera was rolling to gather some ambient sound during shooting. It was a good education.

When we switched locations my mic holding skills were not required so I took the opportunity to document the action via shooting a few stills... Some talented and good people to spend a few hours with...

Snow!

Over 9 miles yesterday in the James Peak Wilderness.

Snowwwwww! Fun to finally be in a Colorado - with seasons and easy accessibility to awesome areas and work that keeps me outside.

Pretty stellar hiking shared with two women from Denmark that had me questioning my fitness level. They were tough and I don't think I ever saw them winded even at near 11,000 feet. Maybe I should take up competitive team handball as well to stay in better shape...

We were using Kahtoola snowshoes that had a sweet feature that allows you to unclip from the shoe and walk with the crampon portion which was great for yesterday's conditions - post-holing up to my waist at times while breaking trail, even with the shoes... the return with some icy steepness a few miles from Heart Lake made it nice to just use the crampon portion... Nice to have the right gear for sure...

Tandem Annual Meeting... Santa Fe 2013

It is difficult to describe the synergy that is created when you gather together a contingent of some of the most dedicated and productive photographers in the field of adventure sports, travel/outdoor lifestyle/conservation... 

Ian and JP at Tandem Stills and Motion have done a stellar job of continually finding and creating markets for those dedicated to visual storytelling. Once possessed, it is nice to have an agency that continues to be photographer-centric and the Annual Meeting helped further forge the feeling of being a very active part of the company and its trajectory. The company is living up to its name...

The amount of creative energy and passion is a little scary and incredibly humbling when you consider that among the 30 or so individuals at the Tandem Annual Meeting you have folks that have worked and published for National Geographic, the Nature Conservancy, Outside Magazine, Sierra Club, Backpacker and dozens of other top end adventure, travel clients both commercially and editorially.

They are the image makers, the photo editors, creative directors, videographers... the ones shlepping gear and a unique eye to the far corners of the earth, staring at screens till eyes glaze tear and blur, often trading sleep and the comfortable life - for that of the modern day nomadic griot and share stories...

 I wanted to gather passports and count the countries everyone had been to. Bhutan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Svalbard...

Post meeting there was an offshoot contingent that wandered the streets and galleries of Santa Fe and the hills above. One of the coolest experiences ever is getting to walk and shoot with people whose work you have admired for years. To see their unique processes and passions unfold and expressed is magic at work. And to see just how real they are too is fun...

My hope is that next year 's meeting is a day or two longer and that we can have more opportunities to run around and shoot more... I am banking on proximity and synergy to amplify the conduit to the creative muse... Thanks to everyone.

All image ©Bennett Barthelemy

Sierra Club Magazine...

A photo published with the Sierra Club magazine for November/December. Yay! A picture of Max Tepfer, an incredible climber and skier that was patient enough to let me trundle after him on snowshoes while he skied Mt. Tumalo in the Oregon Cascades. Sweet to see the a shot get published from the shoot last year as it makes the frost-nipped thumb worth it. Lost feeling in it for three months after continuously holding down the exposure lock button with my un-gloved hand.

Bennett Barthelemy/TandemStock

58 Summits in About 70 Days...

I met Junaid and Luke a few miles in on my ascent of Mount of the Holy Cross last month. It would be my second fourteener in Colorado. Junaid and Luke had summited earlier in the day and it was their 56th Colorado Fourteener together. They dispatched of the last two over the next few days.

The last would prove to be the most logistically challenging. Amazingly a tiny window opened between biblical massive flooding that rocked Front Range and parts of the Rockies. The doors to Longs Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park - the last and northern-most peak on their quest - was effectively slammed shut with a fine of $5000 levied on trespassers. The park opened in time for them to complete the quest on September 29th.  A few days after their ascent the Federal government shutdown would again make it impossible to gain access to the peak as the Park was again closed.

The pair are the first to through-hike all of the 58 peaks. They managed it in about 70 days, finishing on September 29 after nearly 1,300 miles of tramping and close to 300,000 feet of elevation gain. Junaid and Luke said their enthusiasm and spirits were renewed when they would go to their Summit For Someone page and see that, whilst they had been crunching away up another string of fourteeners, 150 or more dollars had been added to help underprivileged kids get into the mountains through Big City Mountaineers.

Junaid Dawud

Luke DeMuth

You can still donate through their page at BCM if you are so inclined. Check out their website that details the quest. Take a vicarious stroll with them along their path at  http://14ersthruhike.com/

Image courtesy of and © Junaid Dawud and Luke DeMuth

Clear Creek and Tyroleans...

I met Dan and his wife in Golden Colorado. Dan was turning 35 and this was his birthday present - to climb as many pitches as he could in Clear Creek Canyon. We managed six before 2 pm. I was fairly blasted by the end but I am fairly sure Dan would have kept charging... Dan is a Shawangunks climber and in just three seasons he has become quite dialed on a rope making him a solid partner.

There were forces conspiring to make it a stellar day. Our early departure meant zero crowds on Playin' Hooky and incredible morning light in the deep walled canyon. Clear Creek rushed far below and soon the traffic noise from the highway all but stopped. We rapped into a crowd of 8 climbers at rigging up at the base and made our escape to a second crag. As we pushed through tunnel 5 we were stopped at the far end by a highway worker. There would be no eastward driving on highway 6 - we could see the massive rockslide that covered both lanes. He told us the road would be shut for hours and we would have to go around to the 70.

Back through tunnel 5 we assessed our climbing options and opted for the wild tyrolean over the river and into virgin climbing territory on the wall rising directly from the river. Dan's wife who is 6 months pregnant was not climbing but became the cheering section and defacto photographer as I handed her my camera. We ascended to of the coolest sport routes I had done in years. The tyrolean added a high level of excitement and physicality to the 5.8 and 5.10 pitches at the far end of the horizontal ropes.

The pictures below were taken by Dan's wife, she did a great job documenting a stellar day - Thank you both!