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Behind the Fall Line (cont.)

Jimmy Chin's Photos of Snowboarding Everest
(Jimmy Chin)
Direct sunlight on Everest's lower reaches provides a white canvas for Stephen Koch's yawning silhouette. Descending off the right side of the mountain are the Hornbien Couloir and, lower, the Japanese Couloir, Koch's intended route. "Every morning like clockwork we would get up and check conditions on the mountain. A big part of getting acclimatized is getting to know the mountain—getting intimate with it. You've got to know how the mountain reacts to different types of weather."

To shoot the silhouette, Chin placed Koch out of the light and metered for the light that was shining on the Mountain. Using a 200-millimeter lens, he compressed the scene so that Koch's outline seems like part of the mountain.

Jimmy Chin's Photos of Snowboarding Everest
(Jimmy Chin)
Everest strikes a pose as storms clear a window for the afternoon light. Chin shot an entire roll of Fuji Velvia 50 in order to get this one just right. "I shot it in a lot of ranges. I shot it really wide and really tight, vertical and horizontal. It's hard to know what will look best. When the lighting is good like that, you can't be afraid to burn film."

Chin also used a tripod which allowed him to make the most of the slow 50-speed film. Velvia offers great color saturation for landscapes, but often requires a slow shutter speed to get enough light onto the film.

Jimmy Chin's Photos of Snowboarding Everest
(Jimmy Chin)
A cloud formation hovers over Everest signaling high winds at the summit. Chin and Koch were at Camp I and had just climbed out of their tent. "It's one of the indicators you use to predict weather. You know the weather is going to either get better, worse or stay the same."

Once he left base camp, Chin restricted himself to one camera and one lens in order to keep the weight down. In this case, the weapon of choice was a Nikon F100 with a 24-120 millimeter lens. "It's funny, I hate that lens, but I have to say I've shot more published photos with that lens than any other by many multiples. The lens isn't that clear, but as long as you stay in the mid range, it works fine."


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