The following is a feature from Snowboard Magazine’s Issue 20.1. To see it in print, order a copy here.

Hear ye, we summon thee,

To gaze upon this imagery.

Two bearded apparitions

Set forth upon a mission.

In springtime, they escaped

To frosty peaks of white were shaped.

Once the snowy spell was cast,

Many goblins, they rode fast.

Now ye peer upon the grain

Of these features that were slain.

The tricks revealed herein are daunting

From spirits they were haunting.

Flip the pages, lend thine eye

And look upon these souls fly.

Puns and wizardry aside, there’s something to be said about free-spiritedness and throwing all expectations to the wind. As a photographer, I struggle with this notion. I’m a control freak. A perfectionist. An over-analyzer. But, like all of us, I’ve gained experiences through the years and have developed instincts that I know I can trust. So last March, with Rome Snowboards and Snowboy Productions’ Side Hit Séance on the horizon, I gathered my thoughts of some free-spirited (pun intended) photography ideas, and planned my gear accordingly.

First things first, no digital. Analog only.

Ghosts are analog, everyone knows that.

Secondly, the resulting photographs had to possess a bit of spookiness. So, I chose to shoot much of the three-day summoning in black and white. Silver gelatin emulsions are the best means for capturing ectoplasm. This is why ghost photos are always so grainy, duh. Lastly, because those pesky spirits can be hard to capture, alternative methods come into play, like multiple exposures. If you don’t capture a poltergeist on the first try, maybe three tries will do the trick. Quantity over quality…or is it?