Montana, Big Sky, and a Photographer's Dream Job

This past summer I was hired by Reebok to capture stills and produce 3 videos for their Fitness Vacation advertising campaign. There were a few reasons I was hired for the job:

1. I have a great relationship with Reebok and they trust my work and professionalism. The woman that hired me specifically for this job knew about my personal projects in Rwanda, so she trusted I could handle almost any element thrown at me. 

2. I'm pretty fit, especially for endurance sports and the job required that I tag along an actual fitness vacation, as a 1 man crew, without holding anyone back. This means I had to keep up with some of the fittest people in the country such as running coach Nate Helming, fitness expert Jacqueline Kasen, and blogger Natasha Linton. The trip was great timing since I had just completed my first marathon in Boston with a grueling outdoor training regimen through 3 blizzards.

3. I shoot both stills and video on a regular basis together. For this trip I would have to spend 7 days well above elevation I was use to, sometimes hiking more that 12 miles and running 5 with camera in hand. 

Equipment choices: For half the trip I shot everything with a 5D MKiii but I cracked the beautiful Canon 24-70 f2.8 L ii in half while shooting time lapses over old faithful and it got stuck to the body so I shot the second half of the trip with my backup 7D mkII and other Canon lenses. A backup is always a must even when traveling light and thank god the 7D shoots decent video as well, hell even better slow motion than the 5D. The best piece of equipment was probably the Black Rapid RRS-1BB Sport Shoulder Sling Strap which I was able to literally run with. I also used the light weight Benro A2883FS4 Aero4 Travel Angel Video Tripod Kit. As you can see, I wanted to be mobile, light and quick. Overall that kit was a success even with a little damage. 

Here is one of the 30s video pieces: 

and a few of the photos...

Here in Big Sky we hiked Beehive Basin. Most of the group stopped at the basin for lunch but a few others who wanted a big challenge took on the steeper alpine hike to tackle Beehive Basin Buttresse. I tagged along and took some of my favorite stills of the project up there. 

The group participated in a high interval workout by this waterfall in Big Sky. They had to run up and down these slick steps, wet from the waterfall vapor, which made for some tricky footing. But compared to their workout, my job seemed easy. 

We traveled throughout Yellowstone hiking, running and taking in the amazing park from high above the tree line. Most of these photos were used on Reebok's social pages. 

Of course we stumbled upon some amazing wildlife along the way. 

If you are interested in more details on production process and tech used I would be more than happy to answer any questions in the comments!