Behind Deep Summer With Paris Gore

If you have not yet seen Paris Gore's second place winning Deep Summer slideshow from Crankworx this year, do yourself a favour and scroll to the bottom of this interview (go now). In delving into the behind the scenes of his project it is clear that Deep Summer is much more than shooting photos. In fact the contest is more about communication, planning, ethics, team work, and simply surviving without sleep the longest, than it is about pointing a camera. Paris' crew, that included Kenny Smith, Kevin Landry, Jackson Goldstone, Graham Aggasiz, Kate Holden, James Doerfling, and a host of other support people, spent three days intensively shooting, riding, and waking up before the break of dawn. Read on to find out exactly how unglamorous but completely worthwhile the experience was, why Jackson does not always need his own bike to make the shot, and exactly what it takes to get a killer super moon image.

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BEHIND DEEP SUMMER WITH PARIS GORE

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What was your vision for you Deep Summer show?
I had an idea that I wanted to show changes through time. I have seen shows with really dramatic themes in the past that haven’t done well so I went for a subtle storyline and strong images. In the end I think it could have had a bit more elaborate, but I don’t regret anything about how the show turned out.


Who was on your team and how did you choose them?
I assisted on Reuben Krabbe’s Deep Summer show a couple years ago, Kenny Smith and Jackson Goldstone were on it, they both worked incredibly hard so I wanted them to be involved. Everyone expects Kenny to hit crazy shit and he doesn’t disappoint, and Jackson, of course, is on fire right now with his riding.

Kevin Landry is not only a great mountain biker, but with his knowledge of the area and experience filming with Artbarn Films, it was a real benefit having him onboard. He went beyond my expectations of his role with the team. If it wasn’t for Kevin I would not have had any of the connections or locations that I was able to use. Ultimately, Kevin played a huge role in the show and couldn't have done any of it without him.

You don't need to give much intro to Aggy's badass riding style as it speaks for itself, but he has a great personality off the bike as well and really fit the feel that I wanted for the show. James Doerfling came onboard for all three days of shooting, he was so committed and was a huge asset to have on the team. Katie Holden is a friend who I have worked with before on other projects so I knew that we could work well together in an intense scenario like it was.

I really wanted a crew that I knew all had unique personalities on and off the bike and it was a real honour to have a team like this riding for my camera!











Did you have a photo assistant help you?
Yes, Ben Shaw. He’s a great guy and I’ve known him for a few years. Ben was with us for all three days and I really couldn’t have done it without him. He carried an extra 40lb bag for me, helped me set up, held lights, and even drove my truck off the ridge while I took a nap.


Is it true that you had a jump built just for Aggy?
Yes, having my own unique feature was something that was important to me. There were a lot of jumps up on the ridge that I could have poached, but I know who built them and who has shot them before, I really didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

Kevin and I had a bunch of scouting to get done in one day on the ridge, so having Pat Podolski, who is a professional trail builder, there just to work on the jump was a huge help. We picked a spot that overlooked Howe Sound and got some great shots of Aggy jumping over the Tantalus Range along with some from the heli.


Exactly how did you get the blisters on your hands?
Kevin and I built a zipline - it was pretty crazy. I had a plan to get an overhead pan shot of a rider. Kevin and I scouted for a few days until we found a straight section of trail to use. Kevin already had some of the gear that we needed, but we came up about ten feet short when we tried to set it up, so we had to improvise. It was totally safe, we sent a test log down it. But the first time I tried it I got stuck in the middle and ended up with blisters from trying to pull myself up, and finally repelling down.

In the end the zipline wasn’t as steady as we had hoped and I didn’t get the shot I was planning on, instead I just climbed a tree and panned from there. It was still worth it though as I got an unexpected shot from it that made the cut.



What was the first day of shooting like for you?
Day one was the hardest day. You have no shots yet and you don’t really know what you need, but you have all this time. I felt like I was scrambling to get shots and it felt overwhelming. By the second day I felt more dialled and was like ‘okay, I have this shot, but I still need that shot.' The first day was definitely the hardest part of the contest for me.




What was your biggest fear of something going wrong?
Obviously cameras can fry and other gear related stuff can go wrong, so that’s always a fear. But the worst thing that could have gone wrong was someone getting injured and fortunately we didn’t have any crashes. Kenny’s line was pretty crazy and it made me nervous but he’s a good rider and knows his limits – it was just a really nerve-racking line to watch.


Was the helicopter an essential part of your plan for shooting?
I don’t think the helicopter was actually necessary. The main shot that I had in mind for the heli was of Aggy hitting the jump we had built and that one worked out really well, but the shots of Kenny and James in the show didn't portray how steep their lines actually were shot from the air. I don’t think it would have impacted my show that much if I hadn’t hired it, but it was a great experience organizing the shoot and definitely worth it in my books.




What was it like to plan the logistics behind a heli shoot?
We had a team of five up on the ridge in Squamish for the heli shoot; Katie, Kenny, Aggy, Landry and Doerfling. We had been up to the ridge twice before, a two-hour drive each way up the most heinous road I have ever been on, to scout and build. We had Aggy’s jump built, found a scree line for Kenny and Doerfling, and picked out a beautiful section of trail for Katie and Kevin. The riders all headed up in two trucks while I stayed down in Squamish to take the heli up. The pilot took the door off and I was clipped in using some climbing gear so that I could hang out to shoot. I had rented radios so that we could be in contact with the team the whole time. When we crested the ridge everyone was in place and dropped one after the other as we flew from section to section shooting. It was all done in under 30 minutes.

The biggest challenge was realizing that there was a discrepancy between what I thought the pilot would be able to do and what the heli was actually capable of. We were a bit heavy to get some of the shots so we dropped a passenger off on the ridge in order to have more maneuverability. It is essential to work with a pilot who understands what you are going so that they can work within their limitations.



Why did you choose not to put any photos of the actual helicopter in the show?
I think helis are really cool, but my show didn’t have anything do with heli drops or heli riding. I simply used it as a tool to get shots just like I would use a tripod or lights, and I wouldn’t put either of those in my shots.


Speaking of lights, how many shots in your show did you use lights for?
I tried to shoot mostly with natural light because that’s my style, but I’ve used lights for a long time and I know the judges wanted to see variety, and obviously I wanted to have variety in my show. When it came to the final cut though, I only used one shot of Aggy that was lit for the show.


Whose idea was it to put Jackson on Kenny’s back for the rock roll shot?
Oh yeah, Uncle Kenny. We were hanging out and Kenny chucked Jackson on his back and started riding around, we immediately decided that we had to do something with it, so we headed down to freight train to a small rock roll. It was really safe and Jackson just held on like a monkey on Kenny’s back. Ron was in the background shaking his head in disbelief.



Holy crap, the moon shot! The crowd loved it, how did you get it?
I had known about the super moon during Deep Summer for a few months and I knew moons were really hard to shoot. I also knew that it was only going to rise and set once and we were only going to be there once, so I started planning. You need the compression of a big lens in order to get the moon big enough just to put something in front of it, so I borrowed a 400mm and 600mm lens from Nikon. During our scouting trips up the ridge before Deep Summer I used an iPhone app to find the moon path and get a rough idea of where it would rise and set. The positioning was really tricky because I knew I would need to be about half a mile away from the riders in order for the moon to look big enough in the picture.

That moon image with Aggy was the shot I wanted more than anything else, but once I started working it out and realizing how challenging it was going to be, I had to step back and check my expectations a little. I had decided that I wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t get it.

On the evening of the super moon Katie, Kevin, Ben and I explored and found the ridge we wanted to shoot for the intro shot of the show. You could see the moon start to glow behind them and I radioed to tell them exactly where they need to be. Once the moon rose, Kevin and Katie both took turns riding loops back and forth for about ten minutes before the moon was too high up. We were so amped on the shot and couldn't believe that it actually happened. I went to sleep that night happy with the shot we got and wasn't expecting to get any other moon shots.

Aggy, Katie and myself woke up early the next morning to shoot some sunrise photos and were back up on a North to South running ridge when we noticed that the moon was starting to set. I ran full sprint back to base camp and could see the moon getting lower. We didn’t have much time and luckily Doerfling had his ATV so we could get Aggy in place quickly. I was talking to him on the radio about where the shot was going to be and he radioed back saying there was actually a jump right where I was directing him and he thought he might be able to flip. I still can’t believe how it all came together so perfectly.

I had planned out every shot and pretty happy we actually nailed all of them. That doesn't always happen.



Is it true that you shot some of your show while sitting down and drinking a beer?
It was at the end of our last day and I was shooting Katie on the saddle up at the peak of Whistler. She was about a mile away and I was using a 200-400mm with a double teleconverter, so I was shooting from the Roundhouse. I had some time to kill while she got into position so I grabbed a beer and a seat and was able to grab the shot from there when she was ready. It was a great way to wrap up some pretty intense days of shooting!



You finished three intensive days of shooting, then what?
Once I shot the last image of Jackson and Aggy in front of the No Tobogganing sign, I immediately headed back to my computer to upload and start editing. Scott Secco had agreed to help me build my slideshow, but he was already running on little to no sleep from filming at Crankworx. I told him to get some sleep while he could and I worked until about 3:30am before I woke him up. We worked together on the show until I had to crash on the floor in the Pinkbike media room around 6am.

In the morning Reuben Krabbe joined us. I was lucky to have worked with him on his Deep Summer show a couple years before and he was kind enough to lend a hand with photo selection for my show this year. He has a great eye and is very particular, so it was great to have him there.

The three of us worked all day towards the 6pm deadline and finally exported the show at 5:55pm. We were just across the street from where we had to hand it in and we ran out of our hotel at 5:59pm and dropped it off at exactly 6pm. I was holding my phone up with the time on it as we ran in the door!


How were your nerves from the time you turned in your show until the actual Deep Summer event the next night?
I think I was too tired to be nervous. I knew that all the teams had been out there killing it every day, but you have no idea what they are putting together. I felt confident in my show though and happy with everything I did.





What was it like to see you show on the big screen?
After such a crazy and intense few days it was relieving just to sit down and watch. I think that hearing Pink Floyd on the surround sound and all the crowd reactions was the best part for sure!

Obviously you were hoping to win, how do you feel about taking second place?
Everyone wants to win and we all put the same amount of work into it. Obviously I was a bit gutted about it, but Ale had a great show and that’s what counts. It’s more of a celebration of photography and I’m happy to have been a part of it. Besides, second is pretty sweet, I’m stoked on it.


How do you feel about the overall experience?
The experience is incredible and I wouldn’t change anything, if I had this opportunity and there wasn’t a contest or a reward involved I would still want to do it. Just to be able to put that much effort into a project and have so many amazing people to work with is something photographers dream of.


How are you going to spend your winnings?
Replace the suspension on my truck after all those scouting drives up the ridge.



Have you formatted your cards yet?
No, it’s pretty scary. I have everything backed up, but there’s something about formatting those cards and deleting images that I just don’t want to do.

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Interviews Deep Summer