Cool pictures of cool humans doing cool things in cool places
August 7, 2013 7:10 AM   Subscribe

Beautiful Extreme Sports Pictures

From The Atlantic's In Focus blog, by Mefi's Own Alan Taylor.
posted by Aizkolari (23 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
I know that this is a form of advertising for Red Bull, and that In Focus is well-known around these parts, but I thought these pictures were too good to pass up as an FPP. There are no prominent Red Bull logos in the shots themselves.
posted by Aizkolari at 7:10 AM on August 7, 2013


Some of the most beautiful sports shots I've ever seen.

But this one, ugh. Abject horror. At least with the BASE jumps there's a parachute. My skin, it crawls.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:15 AM on August 7, 2013


#33 is Helmcken Falls in British Columbia, and the short film behind the photo was a feature in the Banff Film Festival a couple of years ago.

The Banff World Tour is, essentially, a 3 hour showcase of this sort of awesomeness.
posted by bl1nk at 7:31 AM on August 7, 2013




In the Bali picture, I am left wondering why the women in the front of the photo are covered in weird pink... stuff?
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:37 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


They're pink because it's taken during a video shoot for an artsy surf video.
posted by smackfu at 7:54 AM on August 7, 2013


filthy light thief, your "bonus" is a link loop, link loop, link loop...
posted by guy72277 at 8:15 AM on August 7, 2013


Good to know that Geoff Rowley is still skating.
posted by ZipRibbons at 8:20 AM on August 7, 2013


(bonus: how to edit and compile an action sequence)

Yeah, this doesn't work, but the gist of it is tripod + burst mode, then lots of layer masking in photoshop.
posted by smackfu at 8:22 AM on August 7, 2013


15: not cool man, the look of horror on the onlooker, that's cool.
posted by djrock3k at 8:58 AM on August 7, 2013


#22 composite defies the laws of physics- What centripetal force constrains the surfer's path to form a near perfect arc?

He may rotate through 360ยบ but his trajectory would be a parabola a function of forward velocity, and gravity.
posted by marvin at 9:21 AM on August 7, 2013


Great shots. I saw an outdoor installation of the photo show a couple years ago in Minneapolis. It was really nice as it was all of the shots as large backlit prints spanning a historic bridge.

I'll second the note for the Banff Mountain Film Festival - if it comes through your town go and see it as it's really some great stuff. There's been some really innovative shooting going on in outdoor sports films.
posted by misterpatrick at 9:21 AM on August 7, 2013


Friggin' awesome!
posted by ph00dz at 9:24 AM on August 7, 2013


I camped out about fifty yards from the point (Taft's Point) in #19 ten years ago. One of the best nights of my life, despite the giant moth(ra) that kept dive-bombing my face. Three days in Yosemite without a cloud in the sky in June = no tent!

Alas, I did not do any tightrope-walking.
posted by staccato signals of constant information at 9:26 AM on August 7, 2013


(bonus: how to edit and compile an action sequence)

Nokia cell phones can do this now. Expect to see lots of crappy variants on this theme in the near future.
posted by rouftop at 9:48 AM on August 7, 2013


Uh, first photo, is that telephoto lens magic or are they cutting it ridiculously super-close with parachute deployment or do I just not know things?
posted by invitapriore at 9:58 AM on August 7, 2013


I like to imagine the guy in the wave in number five is letting loose with some awesome operatic baritone belting.
posted by invitapriore at 9:59 AM on August 7, 2013


32: Ow, ow, owww...
15: Oh my god OWWWW!
1: That is too @#!%$ing close to the ground.
and
9: NO. Hell no. Great photo, but you couldn't pay me enough to even think about doing that.

Gorgeous photos, all of them.
posted by RedOrGreen at 10:35 AM on August 7, 2013


Thank you for this. We just did a set of trail maintenance days here, it is always a kick to see places I ride regularly featured in these.
posted by lonefrontranger at 10:37 AM on August 7, 2013


RedOrGreen if it makes you feel better #32 is a "Superman" flair. As in, he is intentionally doing this, and looks to be in control at least in the shot, and very likely landed it.
posted by lonefrontranger at 10:40 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Uh, first photo, is that telephoto lens magic or are they cutting it ridiculously super-close with parachute deployment or do I just not know things?

I found this vid of the same place, full of people doing clearly far too risky things.
posted by smackfu at 11:01 AM on August 7, 2013


All of these are gorgeous, especially 23.
posted by abecedarium radiolarium at 8:21 AM on August 8, 2013


Here's a followup post with some of the winners of the contest.
posted by Aizkolari at 6:05 AM on September 3, 2013


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