New blog

This week I launched a new website. That will hold all my new blogging activity for the foreseeable future. Stop by and and stop by often!

www.derekdiluzio.com

James Nachtwey - TED

Help spread the word

KHOL Community Radio

I don't think that there a total of an hour a day that I am not listening to music. I love music, I cannot get enough. Sometimes I listen to Pandora Internet Radio while I am doing edits, while I am riding my cruiser to the Post Office, I listen to my Ipod, and when I'm in my car I listen to KHOL Community Radio. My good friend Brian Modena over at Suss Industries called me up to help him with the website. The idea was to be able to stimulate support visually for KHOL. Stop by and give them some money they have some uber talented DJ's who with out a doubt will get you turned on to some great new music.

Here is what I'm into these days
Amplive - Nudez
In a Big Country - Big Country
Audioslave - Like a Stone
Flight of the Conchords - Gangster Rap Battle

Brian Regan

Was out shooting the moon rise over Jackson last night, and ended up waiting over 2 hours for it to rise over the Gros Ventre's. If you ever need a resource for sunrise and sunset times, this US Navy website is never fail. After the shoot, when I returned home Brian Regan was on Comedy Central. I had his cd years ago and had a great moment with the roommates rediscovering him. His comedy is clean, and he is just an awesome stage presence. Congrats to Brian for getting a slot on Comedy Central. Check him out if you never have.


Official Brian Regan Website

Cutthroat Business - The Denver Post

A few weeks ago, I teamed up with writer Sam Bacon and went out on the Teton River in Idaho to cover a story on fly fishing for the Denver Post. As it turns out, the story ran this past Sunday and featured my photography. Many thanks to Tom Getz and Greg Gilder from New Spool Productions to assist in making this project a success. The article can be found here.

Wyoming Tourism

For the past 7 days I have been on location with Mark Hofmann Productions on a commercial shoot for Wyoming Tourism. We spent the week traveling around north west wyoming putting together shots for an ad campaign that will be launched next spring. While the trip proved to be a valuble experience, I met some great characters along the way including photographer William Huber, stylist Susanne Rubin, scout Kate Wiltshire of Turtle Ranch, digital tech Jason Evans and Art Director Darren Brickel of Barnhart USA. Here are a few shots from the Rustic Pine in Dubois one of the coolest bars I've been to in some time. Pictured above is William, Mark, and Jason.

Tommy Wood for Town Council

Went out on a portrait shoot for local town council runner Tommy Wood. I had a location in mind that would be a perfect spot to show him representing the town. He is truly a refreshing face here, and poised to make some great moves for the community here in Jackson. Take a second and visit his website.

I am currently working on a project for a the Terra Group (Teton Mountain Lodge, Hotel Terra, and The Inn) out at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Be on the look out...

The New Logo

I recently sat down with local artist Ryan Haworth to help me come up with a unique logo. Here is what we came up with. Just wanted to throw this out there. To come: a portrait shoot with local runner for town council Tommy Wood.

Peter Beste - Norwegian Black Metal

Often I listen to NPR on the internet in search of new music. Don't ask me how, but I discovered an Austin based photographer - Peter Beste who as been documenting Norwegian Black Metal. Norwegian Black Metal is basically what we know as metal (Slayer ect.) but the music and performances are taken to the far extreme. I found this project particularly interesting because of the haunting images Peter created on his travels. After seeing his interview on NPR, I immediately bought the book. Take a look at video, some of the images are disturbing but I guarantee you it will be like nothing you've seen before!

NPR interview with Peter Beste

Just hangin' out

The spring off season here in Jackson can be quite boring at times. Access into Grand Teton National Park is typically tough due to high snow levels. It is cold and rainy and anytime you have that combination sometimes it is just miserable playing outside. Our solution has been working out in indoor climbing gyms. As it turns out a good friend has a really neat shed filled with climbing holds, couches and a few Christmas lights for a little character. Here is a shot I made from that shed. Proves that if you just hang out for a while with some friends things aren't that bad.

Update: The Project

In January I went down to Park City for the Slamdance film festival to watch the world premiere of The Project. The trip turned out to be a blast and the movie ended up great. It even won the viewers choice award. Well anyway, they have put up the official website. It can be seen here. Check it out, most all the stills were shot by yours truly.

Bonfire Jump

For the past 2 years, friends of mine have put together a party to summon snow from mother nature. This year, they had Teton Brewery pro rate some beer and built a bonfire over a jump. Plenty of people showed, and also a few good snowboarders and skiers. I shot this party last year, but was rushed and didn't get the results I truly wanted. This year, with the help of a little information from Strobist, I was able to pull off some pretty cool shots. To make these images, I set up 2 off camera strobes diagonal from each other. Kept walking around and shot the skiers and snowboards from different vantage points around the jump. Here is one image, but I will be posting more here under the winter catagory.

Natural Selection Snowboard Comp

Normally, I am assigned to super boring stories for the paper. My typical subjects are people who don't have time for me and have no interest in looking good. So far I have had a few exceptions and my latest assignment was one of the cooler ones. I traveled over Teton Pass to visit artist Ryan Haworth in Victor, Idaho. Ryan is a long time friend of Travis Rice a local professional snowboarder. Travis asked Ryan to design the trophies for his inaugural Natural Selection snowboard competition that will take place at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort next week. Pictured is Ryan painting one of the buffalo skulls that will be used for the trophies. I had a great time working with Ryan and hope to make it back to shoot the final product. More on the comp and related news in the coming week!

Think snow...

The Project- Update

This past week I went down to Park City, Utah to visit Renart Films and to see the world premier of The Project at the Slamdance Film Festival. To my surprise, the showing was completely sold out and was a complete success. Now, I am not saying this just because I was a part of this film. After the showing there was quite a buzz about it.

For those who are unfamiliar, Slamdance is a film festival based around an anarchist theme. Even cooler, the festival is going green and had many green sponsers. It's pretty cool to see a film festival committed to reducing it's carbon footprint and should be overlooked by no one.

Check out the links and get a quick glimps into the movie. Let me know what you think!

Indian Creek

2 weeks ago I was in Indian Creek, UT. I met up with a few friends at camp '6' for some wholesome climbing fun. I am pretty sure the entire time we didn't leave camp before 11 a.m. which doesn't lend to the greatest light, but hey, if you're tagging along, you take what you can get.

Indian Creek is located in south east UT in the middle of the desert. It is famous for the perfect cracks in the miles upon miles of rock wall, my 'models' were all about getting on tough climbs.

Climbing photography can be a bit of a head trip. First, you have to 'jumar' a fixed rope, clip your bag to the system and shoot away. The scare for me is potentially dropping an expensive lens/camera body. I suppose to get a decent shot you have to take a risk. Luckily, I didn't drop anything this day or the entire trip for that matter.

For this particular shot, I was hanging at about 90 feet shooting down on Leif. Snapped a bunch of frames, then rappelled off the climb. I have a bunch more, and some of my other Indian Creek work can be seen here.

A month later...

Well it's been roughly a month since my last post. As you can guess, I've been quite busy as of late. Two weeks ago I took part in a photography workshop here in Jackson called Photography at the Summit. The workshop was put on by photographers Corey Rich, James Balog, Richard Clarkson, and National Geographic Adventure Magazine photo editor Sabin Meyer. Under their instruction we shot images of climbing, kayaking, camping, running, biking, and outdoor lifestyle. Above is an image I made in the Gros Ventre mountain range looking back on Grand Teton National Park. I used multiple off-camera lights, and gels to create this image.

I'd encourage everyone to investigate the work of the instructors above.

Also, I've just returned from Indian Creek Utah where I shot climbing and mountain bike images more on that next...

Play whats NOT there

One of the greatest jazz musicians Miles Davis once said, "Don't play whats there, play whats not there." This quote was brought to my attention by one of my favorite photographers and friend from Connecticut, Jake Wyman. I think this quote can be applied to photography particularly well. Don't shoot whats there, shoot whats NOT there.

Well, I decided to give it a shot. I shot this image by reversing the direction of my lens. Basically I held my lens backwards up to my camera and shot away. I used flashes shot through umbrellas to create the bright, soft light. It's pretty cool what you can do when you focus on the unknown and try something a little different.

Branching out

As you can see I specialize in Adventure Photography. These images are the type that inspire me and most everyone else to get out, and conserve the environment. The book I recently just finished Let my People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (owner and founder of Patagonia) speaks about the environment, diversity and their interplay with business. He also speaks of diversity within business, where, as a business person, one should constantly branch out and look for new ways of doing things to become sustainable.

Working for a the local paper, I am forced out of my comfort zone of shooting in wild places. I am given a contact number, have to seek the person (or persons) out and shoot photos of them in their work place, or whatever the context of the story entails. Sometimes the people I have to work with suck. They want to get the shoot over with and have no interest in helping to make a great photo. That was not the case this past week.

I was put on the cover story which happens to be a local group of DJ's under 21 that throw parties for kids that are under age. They provide a sober time for kids. They were not throwing a show, so we had to put together something else. We decided to shoot in a playground, showing the grass roots of the program - having fun. We did. They brought their DJ equipment and a bunch of glow sticks. We set up on the playground, and inspired by a few Phish concerts I've been to, I decided to have a friend throw the glow sticks into the air behind the group.

This is a perfect example how one must learn all aspects of a trade, while it is nice to specialize in one genre, all aspects of the trade often come into play. As I see it, a photographer must understand all variables that go into photography. It is important to learn about artificial light, working with models etc., just as it is important to understand how to shoot a great landscape photograph.

I'd encourage all to go out and try something different with what you do for your profession. Take a risk and see what the results are. Patagonia's business model embraces this idea, and they seem to be doing well.

In short, don't be afraid to diversify.

Appalachian State University Football

Yeah, I know this is a photography blog. But how can an alum not mention the ASU upset of Michigan? They are saying this is the biggest upset in college sports history. Yes, bigger than Boise state upsetting Oklahoma last season and George Mason making it to the Final Four in 2006.

Needless to say, I'm excited. Here is a quick clip, if you have not treated yourself to highlights, please do.





Espn's highlights here.





Some photography to come soon...

A little fun

Last week, before my backpacking trip I visited the Scottish festival here in Jackson on assignment for the Planet Jackson Hole (the newspaper I freelance for). The festival was fun, I got the chance to experience the log tossing, bagpipes and traditional Scottish food. Above and beyond the festivities this little girl stood out to me.

During the festival it was raining. Typical Scottish weather. Most people ran under the tent for refuge, but this girl couldn't get enough of her umbrella and the rain. It got me thinking how awesome it is to see people having a great time, no matter what the conditions may be. When was the last time you made an excuse not to do something because of the weather? Perhaps next time, rethink and be prepared. You never know how much fun you might have.