A few weeks ago I was asked to setup a showcase series with my favorite wintersports photos for the popular Tacky website. But as they have a strict policy of not showing ski-photos, which I love taking, I decided to upload the whole series of 44 images onto my own website too. I’m a wintersports photographer in a broad sense, I hope this shows a bit of what I love doing so much and why. It’s a story into my work, I hope you enjoy it! Click here for the full gallery!

Simply the best view in the Alpes, high on top at Les 2 Alpes watching over the Mt.Blanc. Privileged! [Les 2 Alpes, France.2007]

There’s no better start to a skitest photoshoot than this! Fresh pow, a deserted skiresort and a mountain with a perfect angle. Even better when it’s snowboardcross coach Frank Germann kicking ass! [Bad hofgastein, Austria.. 2009]

As the Dutch Ski Associations head photographer I also do the skiing. From a photography point of view a very worthwhile job, espcially if you get photos like these from the champ; Alwin de Quartel. [Schladming, Austria. 2009]

The Belgium freestyle champsionships is an insane party week that features some amazing snowboarding. Especially the kickers are always huge and Seppe Smits knows what to do with them. [Les 2 Alpes, France. 2010]

Bad light is no excuse for bad photos. Though it does help when your subject is Richard Molenaar, one of the most stylish skiiers I know, dressed in near-fluor colors. Ans yes, this is very close! [Sölden, Austria. 2011]

The Berghuis sisters have become like sisters to me after all these years of shooting. But Britt somehow managed to avoid getting a decent powder photo taken. Then, suddenly, it all came together: a small stretch of fresh cold powder that needed to be shredded. After a small discussion we both ran to our positions and this was the result. Ten minutes later that whole stretch was completely done for by a zillion tourists. [Les 2 Alpes, France. 2007]

Perhaps one of my all-time favorite ski-photos. It all came down to a matter of good timing and Gebke Compeer understood just that. To me it just shows the ultimate freedom of beeing in the snow. [Bad hofgastein, Austria. 2009]

After a long testweek photoshoot it is fun to fool around a bit with a massive block of icey snow, leftover from the Hannibal show on the Sölden glacier. Rens de Wild knows what to do with it. [Sölden, Austria. 2011]

“Do you know how we call English people?” Asks Vijay, our guide, referring to their secret tour-guide language. “We call them Ulu Kinabatangan, you know U.K.”. “And for Germans we do this”, he says while stroking an imaginary mustache. “The Dutch, however…” and bursts into laughter while pointing to his nose. I immediately understand what he means because half an hour ago I was face to face with one of the most bizarre inhabitants of the Malaysian rainforest: the Proboscis monkey. The animals, with their huge noses and bellies, looked so much like the well nourished Dutch colonialists that they nicknamed them ‘Dutch monkeys “. If you’re somewhere in the Malaysian jungle, and a guide rubs his nose, you know why.

Fisherman at a Kinabatangan river oxbow

Hornbill bird at the Melapi Lodge

Now the chance of watching your guide while in the jungle of the Kinabatangan River, is about nil. Everywhere you look, there’s life that is much more interesting. Every hundred meters or so there is a special bird to admire, from tiny bright blue kingfishers unwilling to pose for the camera to the hornbill with its impressive yellow beak that skims over the treetops. We are five of us in a boat going slowly over the brown waters of the river. Closely we keep an eye on the riverbanks, hoping to see a saltwater crocodile. The tired look of our captain speaks volumes: not every piece of floating wood we enthusiastically mistake for a crocodile is actually one – quite the contrary! We should better look out for monkeys, at least you can hear them before you see them!

Chinese shooting crowd at a Kinabatangan river cruise

The nice thing about Malaysia is you never have to search very far for them. It is funny to see that all boats with tourists stop at the first group they encounter. If you wouldn’t know better, you’d think every camera nowadays comes with a huge telephoto lens. A boat like ours, to the brim with Chinese and equally impressive-looking photographic lenses, is leaning dangerously when the cameras suddenly point the same small piece of jungle. I mumble something silly about “watching monkeys” and suggest we look elsewhere. Plenty of Monkeys to go around here!

“These tracks are just a few days old,” says Vijay a little later after we quietly enjoyed another troop of monkeys. He points to a muddy patch on the side of the river. “Traces of Pygmy elephants, maybe a week old” he says, “I’ve heard they are upstream now”. “If you want help out with paying for gasoline, we can see if we find them, I give it about 50%”.

Despite the long sail, we are not alone and boats appear out of nowhere all over the place. After some waiting one of the guides points to his ear and imitates a trunk with his other hand. He heard something! Everyone is silent immediately and not before long a scene from Jurassic Park breaks loose: all around us we hear trumpeting sounds: intrusive, scary, loud and very aggressive. It’s strictly forbidden to go ashore to approaching the animals, we now understand why. This type of elephant doesn’t trample you but makes a run for you, turns around and delivers a deadly kick. Definitely not an attractive prospect.

Busy…

Borneo, or pygmee elephant [Elephas maximus borneensis]

Matriarch female with juvenile son

Suddenly, a tusk appears out of the thick bush, it’s a young male followed by his mother and five other elephants. The animals barely visible, only their backs stick out above the tall grass. Why they are called Pygmy Elephants is a mystery, the animals are huge and eat at a phenomenal rate. With the grass almost eaten Mom and son are briefly visible, playing with their food. Endless clicking of cameras breaks the silence, followed by many “ohh’s and ahh’s”. And then, just as quickly as it began, it is over. The sun is nearly down and what remains is the long journey back across the river. Our smiling faces speak volumes, this is really something to remember and now I understand why everyone here with such excessive cameras around.

Dusk on the Kinabatangan river

Thank you for reading my blog in such large numbers the last couple of years, recently I past 500.000 pageviews on my site in 4 years and the Flickr photohosting took well over half a million views, in 2009 alone!

So, I´d like to wish everybody all the best for 2010 and please enjoy the holidays.

Rutger Geerling
Fotograferen.net

On the card (front, left to right): Contestant at the first Dutch marathon on natural ice in 12 years (January). My wife and daughter enjoying Spain (March). Panoramic view of the Austrian Alps near the Schwarzsee, Kitzbuhel (June). Idols winner Nikki at the Queensday concert in Amsterdam (April). A diver at the amazing Blue Hola divespot in Korcula, Croatia (September). The amazing island El Hierro and it´s volcanic scenery (Oktober). People dancing great Bacardi Beats at Visita, Rotterdam (March). The most impressive gig of the year: Tomorrowland Belgium (July). Britte van der Pouw ripping some pow in Les 2 Alpes, France (December 2008).

On the card (back): Grey Whale at a whale watching in Tofino, Vancouver Island (Canada).

An interior shoot for Tulp Magazine (December 2009 issue) took me to the high-profile Noordeinde street in Den Haag. The owners of Byron&Jones and Chivasso have an amazing, 33 room, house in the center of the city which they completely redecorate every few years. What a pleasure to photograph!

Click on “full screen” for the high-res slideshow:

Landing on a tiny mountain lake with a floatplane is a fantastic experience wherever you are. But in this weather and in one of the most stunning places on earth: Tofino, Vancouver Island, it was simply and totally unforgettable. More on this trip for ANWB REIZEN Magazine very soon.

Many thanks go out to Tofino Air for making this one hour flight possible.
Filmed with the Canon 5DmkII Video function, so click HD for extra quality.

Some guys have all the luck I guess, quite often I feel like I’m one of them but last week there was no doubt about it whatsoever. After doing a small press-release for the Telegraaf (the largest Dutch newspaper) on heli-diving in Curaçao, which is exclusively organized by a good friend of mine he suddenly asked me if I’d like to do it myself tomorrow?
After less than a nanosecond, a huge smile on my face and a big “Are you kidding me?” things were taken care of and a day later we were setting our gear up on a small industrial platform near the huge oil-harbor of Willemstad. With me were Belgium adventurer Marc Sluszny, underwater photographer Peter Verhoog and Walther Bruckschen, a German Journalist, the lucky bunch so to speak!

As a heli-dive is not completely without danger we had to do a full-gear practice inside the hangar which had a very good airco. Just imagine practicing this sort of thing with full wetsuit and heavy scuba gear in the soaring 35 degree weather of this tropical paradise! Most importantly is the jumping out of the heli: if this isn’t done in perfect sync the heli can easily tilt and that’s something you don’t want 2 meters above the surface of a sea!
The trick is a third person inside the heli that holds both divers hands while they climb outside and hang backward fully. Literally your faith is in this guys hands as he controls the moment to drop, it’s simply out of your hands.

George from Blue Skies Helicopters.

The Amazing view over Willemstad from the chopper.

And what a drop it is! After an intensely beautiful flight under the impressive Julianabrug, along Willemstad and all its bright colors, the low pass over the Pontjesbrug with many people waving and taking photographs (the helicopter is open so they see you in full scuba-gear) it’s time for a sharp right turn over the stunning blue seawater and the approach to the wreck site. Niels Jorissen, the owner of DivecharterCuracao and the organizer of these heli-dives, is already waiting with his 25 feet Tornado RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) so all we have to do is climb out and wait for the right hovering height of the helicopter.

Now that’s a heli-drop!!!

So there we are, hanging outside, arm and legs stretched out fully, one hand over mask and breathing equipment, waiting for the plunge…. Then suddenly we’re falling, we pretty high so we have time to soak it up! above us the heli shoots upwards as it suddenly lost about 200 kilo’s in weight. Then the splash comes, water all around us and the tail of the chopper quickly vanishes from our viewpoint. We’re done, floating about while the heli goes for the next bunch of drop-outs! What an insane feeling and what a way to go diving, knowing one of the nicest wrecks of the Caribbean(the Superior Producer) is waiting for us below…. we ARE truly lucky!

The front deck of the Superior Producer.

Belgium adventurer Marc Sluszny enters the hold of the ship.

German travel writer/photogrpaher collegue Walther Bruckschen.

Underwater photographer collegue Peter Verhoog.

With many, many thanks to:
Niels from DiveCharterCuracao who organizes these heli-drops, unique in the world.
George from Blue Skies for making his heli available to us.
Chilo from Chilo.tv for editing the movieclip.

Full gallery on the heli-dive here.
More images from the Dive Festival Curaçao 2009 here.

Anyway, since a photo says more than a thousand words, and I’m to lazy to write down a full report I thought a photostory might be in order. Please enjoy! The full story is featured in this months Snowboard Magazine.

Silvretta Nova

First shot of the day, not a bad way to start out in the overtracked Silvretta Nova region. Bit of scary-ass hiking from Bas Elhorst was all it took.

A bit of black and white freshness, Bas Elhorst again.

A long easy hike, a few relaxing turns and finally: a nasty hike out of the bow. Anne-Fleur Eiff and Martine Veldhoen don’t mind at all. This was perhaps the last bit of untracked snow for miles around. Not any more!

Silvretta Nova actually has quite a good park for Euro standards. The wallride is particularly nice at the end of the day. Bas rocks to fakie.

St.Anton am Arlberg

The drive from Silvretta to Arlberg is a supernice, and not too long, one. Especially when the mountain pass is open (it hadn’t snowed for a while, remember!) you can enjoy some crazy views.

It’s extra fun by the way when the Volvo dealership lends you the new C30 T5, a small (not very practical with tons of snowgear but who cares) 250 horsepowered piece of metal that will set you back about 40.000 euro’s but manages to do a decent 230km/h on the highway with roofcarriers on it and three people and their bags in it…

Timo Hermeler and his girlfriend Irene Bauer live in this mountain paradise and managed to squeeze out some minute pieces of powder. Perhaps it wasn’t that smart to visit this place in the highest of high season…

Expensive resorts have expensive lifts… this whole thing lifts up the gondolas so you don’t have to take some stairs… whatever, it looks cool though!

Scary rocks don’t scare Timo Hermeler.

I love backlight! Irene Bauer too.

Anne-Fleur Eiff.

Perhaps the smallest lift in Austria? It holds six people… barely.

But the view is worth the cramped ride to the top of the Valluga. Normally a great place to find the last bits of fresh snow…

Some of those last bits…

Tijs Goossens in action on the Valluga.

And so is Timo.

So the day ends.

Mayrhofen
This place needs no introduction bus just as our luck had it: the pro-line was closed for some massive building action for the Ästhetiker Wängl Tängl in two weeks. Bummer!

Fortunately rookie Steef van de Meer doesn’t mind using the massive rail instead.

Ahhh… Mayerhofen park pizza.

Too much stuff and Gin&Tonic. It’s nice being a photographer!

No animals were harmed during the making of this Austrian funtrip, some snowboarders didn’t get away that easy… it’s nice having weird layers underneath powder!

Why won’t it fly?

Taken last week at a new Unox Event (check their brilliant Newyears dive here) the Dutch Kiting Day, which was plagued by torrential rains and typically Holland weather, for fall not high summer! Anyway, I was pleased to see so many kids and parents show up and between the downpoors and it was tons of fun photogrpahing the kids. There can hardly be any better subjects in the world!

The patient dad from heaven.

Ground kite and kid color combo.

Launching kite mayhem.

That’s not gonna work either…

A week late due to the fact I went straight to Wales for a lot of active adventures (more to come soon) but here are the Mysteryland 2008 images. Great party though womewhat difficult to photograph, at least I heard all the other photoguys complaining just as I was. Anyway, it all came out fine and my feet were dead upon finish.

Mysteryland fairytales…

Mysteryland fairytales…

DJ Tiesto & the Q-stage

Mainstage 15 years birthday cake

Popular?

Sad, sad, sad… Saturday was the final whistle for the last major Bacardi event (once started as Batbeats, later went on as B-Live). In an absolutely soaring Paradiso things went wild with a DJ sets orchestrated by Mr. Wix. A packed house saw De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Le Le, Beesmunt Soundsystem, Daniel Haaksman and Scottie B and Wix himself. Un unbelieveable atmosphere, seriously one of the best editions and a great way to end this series after 4 years.

Serious highlights of the evening was the Marchingband Reflection (!) collaboration with de Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, the Le Le set and live artwork and ofcourse Mr. Wix himself with too many original tracks.

Guess that’s it for one of the nicest party series of the past few years. I’ll miss the big events but they will be replaced with smaller ones. Coming soon near you.