The choker race, where competitors drag a 70 pound choker cable over an obstacle course.
I started my career as a newspaper photographer at the old Squamish Times (long since folded) in 1990, then came back 25 years later to be the photographer at the Squamish Chief until the pandemic nixed that. In the time in between, I worked as a photojournalist all over the world, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Squamish and its old timey logging culture. Loggers Days is peak, all roaring chainsaws and country music.
An 11 year competitor, The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
Tree climbers. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
Ladies axe throwing. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
A competitor kicks water in the face of his opponent in the men’s burling, or log rolling. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
The springboard chop. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
A razor sharp hand held cross cut saw. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
Brian Barton in the tree bucking race. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
Open power saw, a dirt bike engine adapted into a chainsaw.. The 69th annual Squamish Loggers Days.
The choker race, where competitors drag a 70 pound choker cable over an obstacle course.
Brian Couture was a long time logger sports organizer who recently passed away. Here his daughter hangs his axe near the main climbing poles. It was a nice moment.
Brian Bartot from the top of the 70′ (apron 25m) spar tree duringk the famous tree act. Bartot’s father developed the tree act in the the 70’s, and Brian’s still doing it today.
The faller’s competition, where professional tree fallers compete to drop a tree onto a beer can target.
Tech Stuff:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve upgraded to a full on Nikon Z9, and this is where it really comes into its own. I shot over 1,000 frames in four hours and hardly any of them missed focus. I remember shooting this last year with my Z6 and in one shot where a competitor ran across the frame and I was panning with him, the focus pip kind of comically lagged behind the runner, like it was trying to keep up and failing. That was when I decided to go back to the pro cameras.
Quick tip with events like this, you always want to try and put the crowd behind the action to make it look like there’s a lot of people there,