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Good news! There’s still space to join me at the Canon Live Learning Workshop in Aspen Sept. 24th- 25th. This is a great opportunity to learn portrait and landscape shooting in one of the country’s most scenic locations, which I am lucky enough to call home.  We are going to be doing field shoots at an Aspen ranch using authentic cowboys as subjects as well as a landscape session at the famous Maroon Bells alpine lake. Canon provides a huge range of the latest demo camera equipment, and I’ll also be teaching Lightroom processing tutorials, etc.

If you are interested please register here.
Hope to see you there!

Shooting a campaign at high noon can be challenging, particularly at 8,000 feet in Colorado where the sun is FIERCE -- but it's not impossible! On our Sports Authority shoot for Fitness Magazine's August issue advertorial, we had only a 1-hour midday window to capture former bachelorette Trista Sutter doing yoga at the Four Seasons in Vail. The light simply couldn't have been any harsher! We used a large 3/4 stop silk scrim overhead to soften the sunlight and let Trista's natural beauty shine. The light on her was now nice and soft, but relatively flat. So we used three Hensel Porty L 1200 strobes with Westcott softboxes to accentuate the garments and her physique; one light was a backlight on the left of the frame; another was at a 45-degree angle in front of Trista on the camera left, and the third light was at a 45 degree angle in front of Trista on the camera right.

The other technique we employed to enhance the midday light was to make the background go soft and high key. By scrimming the sunlight overhead, Trista became darker relative to the background; so when I set my exposure properly for her, the background went high key. I shot the image with the Canon 5D Mark II and the 70-200mm f/2.8 II lens wide open at f/2.8, to bring Trista forward from the background, and to lend a painterly blur to the Four Seasons' beautiful pool yard. Photo details: 1/200th second at f/2.8, ISO 100, 120mm.

I was excited to see the finished images from our spring photo shoot on the new automotive and workwear catalogs for Cabela’s. We shot the images at a local log and timber construction company near my hometown of Carbondale, Colorado. As always, it was a privilege to work with Cabela’s art director Bruce Brosnan and the model Ben King brought great energy to the shoot.

We wanted beautiful dusk light for the automotive cover so we had to work quickly and efficiently to make sure we captured the light before it got too dark. With my Canon 1Ds Mark III camera on a tripod, my first assistant Draper moved the Hensel Porty Lithium 1200 strobe around the truck and I took multiple exposures so we were able to light the truck from different angles. We also positioned a strobe with a small Westcott softbox by the logs on the left to light the model in the background. Draper than composited the frames in Photoshop for the finished image. Image details: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III with the Canon 24-70mm lens at f/4, 1/25 and ISO 800.

For the workwear cover, we shot the model backlit and used a big reflector from the right side for the main light and a smaller reflector for the fill. Image details: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III with the Canon 24-70mm lens at  f/3.2, 1/1000, ISO 200.

We are excited to announce our studio manager/producer position has been filled. We had a lot of great applicants. Thanks to everyone who applied for the position!

I had the privilege of photographing Amanda Boxtel this winter for a feature in Aspen Sojourner, and in the process I got to learn about a revolutionary new device that is helping paraplegics walk again. Amanda is an Aspen resident who cofounded Challenge Aspen, an amazing nonprofit that helps people with disabilities enjoy the outdoors. We shot at sunset on Christmas Eve; Amanda was incredibly generous with her time, and just a joy to work with.

Amanda became paralyzed in a ski accident in 1992 and recently became a tester for Berkeley Bionics’ eLEGS, which allow people with spinal-cord injuries to walk again. The user dons a backpack and leg braces; the backpack houses a battery and computer, so that when the user moves his or her arm forward, the computer signals the opposite leg to move as well. Amanda has been an inspiration to many through her journey to walk again, and for her work in empowering people with disabilities. Read the full article by clicking here.

We used a two-light setup for the portraits, as shown in the image below with my photo assistant Corie. The sun was setting to the back right side of the frame, adding a touch of natural backlight. We used two Hensel Porty Lithium 1200 strobes with Westcott Octobank and Strip softboxes to help Amanda stand out from the snowy mountain backdrop.

The cover image of Amanda Boxtel was taken with the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, f/5.6 at 1/250th sec and ISO 100.

Tyler Stableford Photography + Film is hiring a Studio Manager/Producer!

We are an adventure photography and cinematography company specializing in outdoor sports, lifestyle and heavy industry shoots.

30-40 hours per week in Carbondale, Colorado

Tasks include:
-Producing photo/video shoots (casting, permitting, scouting, and organizing schedules, etc.).
-Marketing communications, social media, and client relations.
-Photo and video editing if skills allow (if not, we’ll train you!).
-Managing a busy commercial photo business.
-Assisting on location during outdoor photo shoots.

Compensation includes competitive salary, vacation, 401k match, and medical subsidy.

Applicants should be very well organized and detail oriented; have strong writing abilities and people skills; have solid computer fluency; and should be a self-starter with a good work ethic. Additionally, applicant should be adept in the outdoors as many of the shoots take place on ski slopes etc.

Please send resumes and letters of interest to studio (at) tylerstableford.com
No phone calls, please. Thank you!

Outdoor Life magazine’s latest issue on America’s Top 200 Towns for Sportsmen features my cover and inside spread images of Aspen outdoorsman Harve Hoff casting in the Roaring Fork River in Woody Creek. We scouted many beautiful locations on the river but chose this gorgeous spot at the Blue Skys Estate.

I shot these images with the Canon 24mm tilt-shift lens and tilted the lens at a diagonal to match the fisherman’s fly rod, dropping the rest of the image out of focus. For the cover image, my first assistant Draper reflected light from the right side of the frame.

Cover image details: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with the 24 mm lens at f/5.6, 1/500 and ISO 400.

I’m excited to post some of the great work that my workshop participants have shared with me from my Canon workshops in Moab. The image above was shot by Joanne Damian at the workshop last fall. Joanne won the Photo of the Year honor for this shot with the Cleveland Photographic Society. Way to go, Joanne!

And from the spring workshop, the talented Dana Underwood shared some outstanding photos with me on his photo blog from the Canon workshop:
Moab with Tyler Stableford: Day 1
Moab with Tyler Stableford: Day 2

Our weekend workshops push students to see light and composition in new ways and also include Lightroom and Photoshop instruction so you can create polished, print-ready images.

I am teaching two more Canon weekend photo workshops this year, August 6-7 in Acadia National Park, Maine and September 24-25 in Aspen, CO. Click here for more information.

I am very honored to learn that my homecoming image is the Grand Prize winner in Digital Photo Pro’s Photo of the Year contest in their latest issue. I took the photo at Colorado’s Buckley Air Force Base of Staff Sergeant Joseph Imeraj (foreground) and Technical Sergeant Daniel Bateman returning to their loved ones from a 60-day tour in Iraq. It was an incredibly emotional event, with 250 airmen coming down the ramp to swarms of cheering families and friends. Over 1,000 people ran to greet the airmen, so I did my best to scramble near the ramp to capture the story of just one or two airmen (all while wiping an incessant flow of tears off my viewfinder). The highlight of the project has been sharing the images with the airmen and their families, and giving them prints for their scrapbooks. I feel very lucky to have witnessed this homecoming, and to see the sacrifices that the military families make during deployments. Many thanks to Major Haley for making my visit possible, and to my 1st asssistant Draper White and imaging specialist Mac Holbert for their help converting the image to a timeless black and white tone in Photoshop.

I took the photo with the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera and the 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 1/25th sec, f/6.3, ISO 400. I like working with a wide-angle lens as it allows me to capture the foreground action and also to tell a further story with the background. The photo was taken on assignment for 5280 magazine as a feature on F-16 fighter pilots of the 120th Fighter Squadron. Click here to see a video promo from the project.

Cabela’s just released two spring catalogs featuring my cover shots. The workwear cover was taken with the model Wade Livingston at a local log and timber construction company near my hometown of Carbondale, Colorado. For lighting, we angled the model so that the late afternoon sun was hitting him on his left side. My two assistants then reflected light to fill in under Wade’s hard hat and on his right side.

Image details: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV camera with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens at f/3.2, 1/400 and ISO 100.

The camping cover was taken with the Cathers family at a beautiful location in the Crown area outside of Carbondale. After prepping the scene and waiting for the evening light, we used one Hensel light with a Westcott Octobank softbox to the right of the scene to light the family.

A big thank-you to Bruce Brosnan from Cabela’s for his art direction on the camping cover.

Image details: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV camera with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens at f/4, 1/80 and ISO 1600.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences just released the first of their ads from our photo shoot this winter. We photographed several interior scenes of the beautiful Vail residences and shot some skiing images on Vail Mountain for this ad promo. For the skiing shots, we headed out early in the morning to catch first light on the mountain. I’m standing on a ladder to get a higher perspective and my two assistants are using reflectors to cast light on the models.  It was a spectacular morning on Vail Mountain and a beautiful view of the area! Thanks to Emily Curtis and Kate Hudnut for art directing this shoot. I’ll share the other ads as they are released.

Image details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II with the TS-E 17mm f/4 L lens at f/18, 1/50, ISO 200.

I’m excited to offer downloads of my award-winning film The Fall Line for sale on my website. The downloads are available for $9.99 and twenty percent of each sale will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. Click here to see a trailer of the film and purchase a download. The Fall Line has screened at film festivals around the country and received several awards including:

• Banff Mountain Film Festival – Selected for the 2011 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
• Taos Shortz Film Fest – Honorable Mention, Documentary
• Mammoth Mountain Film Festival – Best Documentary Short
• 5Point Film Festival – Most Inspiring Story
• Official Best of Fest Award
• Spokane International Film Festival
• Durango Independent Film Festival
• Vail Film Festival
• Ski Channel Film Festival
• Boulder Adventure Film Festival
• Mountainfilm in Telluride (screening in May)

I was thrilled that two of my top adventure shots were selected for awards at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival photo contest. My shot of the climber Jessa placed second and my Iceland caving image placed third in the sport category. Click here to see the full list of winners.

This caving image is of Mark Jenkins climbing inside the Langjokull Glacier, Iceland’s second largest glacier. Mark is a fellow adventurer and a monthly adventure travel columnist for Outside Magazine – see his writings, including three award-winning books, on his website. These caves are formed by meltwater from the glacier and are extremely rare. They usually only last a year or so before collapsing, hence this cave has long since disappeared. This image was taken with the Canon EOS 1Ds and 15 mm lens at f/4, 1/40 and ISO 200.

The climbing image is of the talented rock climber Jessa at the beautiful cliffs of Independence Pass near Aspen. I shot this image as part of a Canon campaign. This image was taken with the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III and EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM lens at f/4, 1/500 and ISO 200. I climbed along with Jessa to get the best perspective while my first assistant Draper – not shown in this behind the scenes image – is hanging above Jessa, alternating between reflecting light and using a strobe.

Here are some other shots from the day:

These images illustrate the advantages of using an ultra-wide lens. Not only do the 14mm and 15mm lenses lend a grander perspective to the image, the image looks different than what we normally see with our own eyes, giving the photo a unique viewpoint. These lenses really create breath-taking images and are my go-to lenses for many of my outdoor shots.

5280 magazine received great news about the Wing Men photo essay I shot for their July issue – the photo essay was awarded a Merit Award in Photography by The Society of Publication Designers (SPD). The essay included images from my year-long project on the F-16 fighter pilots of the 140th Wing at the Buckley Air Force base in Aurora, Colorado. Special thanks to Geoff van Dyke, Sarah LaVigne and Steffanie Woodward of 5280 magazine for all of their support and extraordinary work on this project. Please click here to view images from 5280 magazine.

I was very excited to have two images selected as Portrait & People awardees in the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards. This was a great honor as only 2 percent of the images submitted to the contest were selected for awards.

The first image is of a 7-year-old boy named Lalo foraging in a Guatemalan landfill. It is one of my favorite journalistic photos, for the sense of hardship and lost youth that Lalo conveys. Image details: Shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens at f/8, 1/1000 and ISO 400.

The second image is of a miner at the Marble Quarry in Marble, Colorado. I shot this image as part of an assignment for Aspen Sojourner Magazine. This marble mine produced the marble for the tomb block of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Shot with the Canon EOS-IDs Mark II, the Canon 14mm lens and an off-camera Canon 580EX speedlite to the right of the miner at f/2.8, 1/15 at ISO 400.