Swim On Icebergs | Stoke-Ness
I could die happy, honestly.
Ok maybe that’s not saying much ‘cause I’m a pretty happy guy, but this summer has been all time. Last year I spent most of my summer traveling, and this year I made an effort to stay in Montana as much as possible. My heart is happy and I feel a momentum of joy that will carry me far into the seasons to come. I hope that’s what your summer feels like too.
In this months issue, I share my new favorite hike, what camera to get if you are just starting in film and the best and (in my opinion) only photography workshop you should spend your money on.
Be stoked,
Isaac
Who I'm loving on Instagram
Joey is the man every mountain bike company wants to hire right now. He makes films and photos of mountain biking that make mere biking “civilians” fall in love with the sport. For a sport that can lean towards Bro culture, Joey is a driving force to push it towards the mountain sport it really is. In addition to all that, he skis, pack rafts and thinks up the most creative expeditions i’ve seen.
If you were even slightly curious about mountain biking, Joey is the person to follow.
Give him a follow Here
Photo/Video Technique
Creating the Moment with Forrest Mankins and Alex Strohl
I feel like if you have been paying attention, I’ve shared some nuggets about creating photos and videos over the last 2 years on this newsletter. You could, in theory, go back and read each “technique” section and have a well rounded photo and video education. But honestly why would you when you can have all the knowledge you want from the guys who taught me most of what I know.
Forrest Mankins has teamed up with Alex Strohl to create a class that teaches you not only techniques but the “why” behind the images and story. You will finish this class with a deeper understanding of photography than anything currently available. I would know because I was on set watching and helping it be created.
Think of it this way: I spent hours, weeks, months and years helping both Forrest and Alex create. I said yes to nearly every project they ever asked me to be part of and did my best to make sure they never regretted inviting me by working hard to make their projects better. Just by being around them I learned how to take photos.
You can learn more than I learned for a few hundred bucks and in a few days. It’s crazy generous of them both to share this.
And one last note, neither of them know I’m sharing this, I’m not getting paid and I’m not angling for anything here. I honestly think this is the best course on photography you can buy and you’d be missing huge opportunity if you didn’t sign up.
Sign up today at www.mankinsxstrohl.com
New Places
Photo by Alex Strohl @alexstrohl
Iceberg Lake
I’m going to be honest, despite my reputation for being an experienced Montana local, you have probably done more hikes in Glacier National Park than I have. It’s not that I don’t hike, don’t like Glacier, or am a poser that isn’t really from here. It’s that I’ve had, in the past, a love hate relationship with hiking in Glacier.
I spent my younger years working for an outfitter just south, as the crow flies, of Glacier National Park. I would routinely spend weeks hiking 20+ miles a day with nothing but a bow saw and axe in whatever blown out running shoes I happened to have that year. Hiking was work and I was not too keen on spending my free time “working” among the tourists. Add to all of that 2 years as a seasonal bathroom cleaner in Glacier National Park and I was as likely to spend time there as I was the the local shopping mall.
I’m finally changing that. Despite the 3.2 million visitors that clog the park every summer I’ve hiked more trails there this year than ever.
My new favorite hike is to Iceberg Lake. It’s a 10 mile round trip, gently sloping trail that has it’s fair share of hikers. What lies at the end is a blue jewel of a lake littered with icebergs and surround by 2500 foot cliff on 3 sides. You couldn’t design a better lake if you worked for Disney.
Don’t wait years like I did, visit this Champagne of lakes while you're still young enough to do it more than once.
Gear
Canon AE-1 Program Film Camera
Beat up, unloved and with a high possibility it didn’t even work. That’s how I was given my Canon AE-1 film camera. It had been rattling around in the back of a friends dusty Landcruiser with out a lens collecting dust on the internals. I wanted it at first sight.
After cleaning it up and acquiring a Canon 55mm f1.2 lens that weighs more than the body, I was ready to try my hand at film photography.
And what photos they turned out to be. My first rolls of film were dreamy, the kind of images I always wanted to make but didn’t have the tools to do it. For under $250, I had a film camera that was giving me all the encouragement in the world to spend all my discretionary income on little rolls of magic.
You can easily find a AE-1 at your Grandma’s house or on EBay like this one for $76 with a lens and the 55mm f1.2 for around another $200. If you are really patient and thrifty, you’ll find one much cheaper.
Get one, start shooting and you will understand why even non hipsters like me are wasting all their money on our parents old photo gear.
Music I'm Diggin'
Dear Mexico (thank you for Joyce) by Twain
From the opening guitar you hear it. Every moment for the rest of the day and well into next week you will be annoying your co workers and family with “Dee dee dee, Dee dee dee”
This is a song you will come on back to at the end of the day like a good glass of wine with chocolate. It’s just good no matter what happens.
10/10 would recommend
Give it a spin on Spotify here.
Videos, Movies, and TV
RJ the Ripper
I sent you the way of Joey Schusler at the top of this months newsletter. I’m sending you his way again for his film “RJ the Ripper”.
I watched it in this years Banff Film Festival and found myself drawn not to the mountain biking, but to the story. RJ’s story about becoming a pro mountain biker is unlikely, at one point his mom sold his bike for scrap metal to make sure RJ wasn’t waisting his time on biking. Despite it all, he has become one of the best riders in all of Asia.
Beautiful scenery, beautifully shot, and a story I think about often. 10/10 would recommend.
Reads
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
I’d always said if there was ever a celebrity I wanted to meet and get to know, it would have been Mr. Bourdain. It might have been my admiration for his irreverent, I am who I am attitude or the way everything he made could have only been made by him. He was the real deal.
Until recently, I had only read one of his cookbooks and enjoyed his TV shows. It was time to dive deeper.
I listened (I know it’s not reading) to Kitchen Confidential last week. Anthony reads it himself and I found myself looking for excuses to do things where I could wear headphones. I devoured the book in only a few days. It’s that good.
If you know me, you know that I am not a foodie, but this book is about so much more than food. It is a wildly entertaining perspective of one man’s misadventures as a chef.
10/10 would read/listen again.
Buy it Here
or Listen to it for free using a library and and the Libby app
Be stoked and have a great month,
Isaac
