[ Adventure + Endurance ]

The new luismoreira.ca

2009-08-18T17:52:00.004-04:00

This last week has been quite a busy one. I've been jumping between creating an adventure racing photo book and putting the finishing touches on my new website. Well the book's been published and now the website has gone live! Here's a crop of what you'll see on the opening page,

Adventure Racing Photo Book

2009-08-18T17:08:00.011-04:00

After working on the 2009 Untamed New England Adventure Race in mid July, I put a collection of images together into a photo book that racers, race staff and sponsors can purchase and keep as a reminder of this fantastic event. It was a great experience considering it was my first published book. Even my picky tendencies didn't put a damper on the project. The Blurb software made the process fairly straight forward and they offer to sell the book in their bookstore without the need to put any cash up front.

The cover looks like this,

You can find it
here.

Who needs 2008...

2009-01-26T13:22:00.009-05:00

It looks like I skipped it altogether!

Well, I haven't exactly been sitting around. I've been working closely with Breathe Magazine in hopes of helping it to evolve into what I believe it can become. Working on a magazine is much like working on your own photography business and then again it's nothing like it. One can take the high road, the heavily beaten path, the creative angle or the mundane and usual content route. Everyone has their own method and opinion but it all comes down to the long term vision and direction of those who put it together. There's always plenty of hope when starting a new project and the necessary tasks involved are fairly straight forward. The challenge is to stay faithful to that vision and to use it to shape your progress and navigate your daily challenges.

Yeah, I know, it sounds like the usual novice, aspirational crap but I believe it.

... and believing in it might be all that matters.

A Unique Adventure Sports Weekend

2007-09-24T11:53:00.001-04:00

Two weekends ago I traveled to Blue Mountain, near Collingwood Ontario, to photograph a new adventure sports event sponsored by Keen and run by a veteran Canadian adventure racing company. The event is called the Keen Adventure Sports Games and it featured a number of separate adventure sports disciplines that occurred over two days. Competitors could compete in individual events or all of them but only those who participated in the "Adventure Challenge" category qualified for the grand prize. The Keen AS Games uses disciplines adopted from adventure racing i.e. biking, hiking, and paddling only they are run separately. Adventure racing photography can be challenging due to the non-stop nature of the event but fortunately this attribute provides you a few more opportunities to capture your intended shot. This competition, however, allowed less time for error. I only had the luxury of two to four hours not two to four days to plan and shoot. In this situation one must identify good shooting locations from the course map and travel to them quickly. The rest is up to your instincts and vision.

This event looks very promising and will hopefully be an annual competition. Breathe Magazine has a write up on its website if you're interested in reading a bit more about this unique event. You can view it here.

Breathe Magazine

2007-08-21T10:36:00.001-04:00

The Rock and Ice Ultra marathon is long from over but the published race articles are starting to show up on magazine stands. Breathe Magazines June issue features the race on its cover and their article provides the reader a detailed account of the conditions the racers endured. The cover shot on the left shows Daniel Probst (on a warmer day) on an ice road outside of Yellowknife. Other articles can be seen in Trail Runner's September issue, West Magazine, and Men's Fitness UK. The race was a great challenge from a photographers point of view and in terms of photography it was very rewarding. The 2008 Rock and Ice Ultra Marathon is scheduled for March 22nd - 27th.

A gallery of my race photographs can be seen here.

Rock and Ice Ultra Marathon

2007-03-13T11:22:00.000-04:00

Ever heard of the Marathon des Sables? If you haven't, it's a long distance stage marathon which is held annually in the Sahara desert. Competitors challenge themselves by running marathon distances daily for 6 days in this unforgiving environment. It's one of only a few ultra events held around the world.

Now that you've got some background on this genre of sport, lets rearrange some of the Marathon des Sables details to get the newest Canadian ultra marathon incarnation. As you can clearly guess the Rock and Ice Ultra will be the polar opposite of the Marathon des Sables in terms of temperature. We're talking close to -30 degrees versus 40 degrees Celsius but both events share the distinction of being held in a desert environment. The Rock and Ice Ultra will start in Yellowknife , N.W.T. and the course will traverse kilometres of cold tundra and numerous frozen lakes. Competitors will be further challenged by having to ski or snowshoe while pulling all their gear and supplies in a pulk. The top finishers in each category will earn cold, hard Canadian Ekati diamonds for their pain and perseverance.

I am fortunate enough to be one of the race photographers for this epic event. The race will be held on March 17th - 23rd. Check the race website for updates during the competition and I'll be posting some of my insights here at a later date. Plenty of imagery will also be available on my photography webpage.

New Website, Up and Running

2006-10-11T10:52:00.000-04:00

I started this blog with hopes of eventually linking it to my own website. It's been a long time coming but the first version is now online. I categorize it as such because I will be adding new content and upgrading the site periodically. It's going to be a work in progress. You can follow the link on the right or click here to view it.

On a related but separate issue, Soundslides (a slide show presentation program that incorporates images and audio) and audio slide shows have started to appear on a variety of newspaper websites across the U.S. A write up on this innovative multimedia program has been posted on Rob Galbraiths digital photography website.

I hope to add some of this unique multimedia content to my website and this blog in the near future.

Bell City Chase comes to Toronto

2006-06-26T14:37:00.000-04:00

The Toronto edition of the Bell City Chase occurred this past Saturday. Some 500 teams of two competed in this unique race. It's been compared to "The Amazing Race" which some of you may already be familiar with. Dundas Square in the heart of the city was the headquarters, race start, and finish for this event. Teams raced around downtown Toronto to their choice of 28 checkpoints, although, they only had to complete 10 of them in order to head for the finish. Competitors were treated to tasks like human curling, canoeing, and worm eating.

A small gallery of photographs can be seen on the left here. Check out the official website for more information on this race series.

Rally Update

2006-05-02T18:11:00.001-04:00

Boy was I presumptuous in my last post. I was hoping to update this site with content from this event often. As you can tell it didn't happen. There were many distractions and time restrains during my time in the desert. Many factors including arrival time (we would be out off-roading in modified 4x4's for 12-14 hours per day), lack of internet access, sand storms, and human needs such as hunger, hygiene, and sleep, limited my time and motivation. I am back in Toronto and I'm trying to recover from serious sleep deprivation. Each morning our wake up call would occur at 4am and I would usually get to bed by midnight every night for ten days. The last day of the event and my travel day home was a continuous 44 hour journey with perhaps an hour of interrupted sleep in total. All this combined with my initial jet lag on my trip to the event. Despite all the drama I'm very happy with the images I've captured and I will probably attend again next year. I'll be putting up a final collection of images at the link I provided in my previous message so take a look. Some images will also accompany a future Toronto Star article in the Saturday Star Wheels section. So keep an eye out for that.

The race website is www.rallyeaichadesgazelles.com and my images can be seen at www.sportsshooter.com/lmphoto/gaz06

2006 Rallye Aicha des Gazelles

2006-04-21T18:30:00.000-04:00

For those of you that don't know, I am currently in the Moroccan desert covering an all-female vehicle rally. This is my second year attending the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles and it has definetly been one to remember. It's a challenge just to arrive at the event. Travelling from Canada, there's a 6.5 hour flight followed by a 10 hour drive to the Bivouac (French for desert camp). The times I've quoted do not include any delays and/or waiting time. Anyway, I'll post more of my story in the following days. The internet access will be cut off imminently so I will post a couple of images and call it a night.

This is our antique mercedes taxi and our driver (more about the ride and our driver in my next post)

This is my view when I get up in the morning.

The event photo's can be seen at http://www.sportsshooter.com/lmphoto/gaz06. I'll be updating the gallery and this blog frequently so visit often.

All female Vehicle Rally in Morocco

2006-04-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of shots from the event last year. I'll be attending again and I hope to have more content to post. If I'm able I'll post some updates during the race so stay tuned!! A prerace article was featured in the Wheels section of the Toronto Star last weekend. It's at www.tinyurl.com/g5daw if you're interested. The race is called the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles.

Saharan desert crossing

Some of the locals

Blue Mountain Rock Star Rail Session

2006-03-02T10:50:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot from outside the competition coral during the Rock Star Rail Session. It was held on February 24th at Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, Ontario. The action was pretty hot on the man made ramp and rail. It was set up in the middle of the Blue Mountain Village with the hill in the background. It was pretty electric. More images of the event can be viewed at www.sportsshooter.com/lmphoto/rstar. Check them out