I took BCEP in 2005. It is an intense 6-week program that teaches skills as well as helps to get you in shape for some basic technical mountaineering. Thanks to BCEP, I met the people i hike, backpack, and climb with. Thanks to BCEP, I have climbed over a dozen peaks in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to BCEP, i have the know-how as well as constant opportunities to go to remote places with my camera.

The photograph on this flyer was taken on Mt. Baker just after sunrise. Most of the danger on Mt. Baker is the risk of falling into a crevasse. This photo is from the steepest section of the Coleman-Deming glacier route - the last pitch before the summit plateau. We were roped up for the entire morning, but this is the only section that we used pickets for protection, which slowed the group down a bit - just enough for taking some pictures.

This photo was chosen for the poster for several reasons. First off, the blue tone of the entire photo matched perfectly with the blue-and-green Mazamas color scheme. The photo is also a clear example of exactly what Mazamas and the BCEP class is all about. The climbers in the photo are using the proper equipment with the proper technique in the proper location - all things that BCEP graduates should learn in the class. A final element critical to using this photo on a poster is the  amount of 'empty' space. The climbers and the curve of the rope are the critical parts of the photo - but they only take up a small fraction of the photo's area. The rest of the image shows off some details of trampled snow, an interesting rocky ridge line, and a smooth sky gradient. All of those elements can be partially obscured without interfering with the overall composition - for example, it's very easy to interpolate what the sky looks like behind the upper left image, and very easy to imagine the pattern of footsteps in the snow behind the black text box.

The photograph was taken using a Nikon D70 with a Tokina 12-24 lens at 1/500, f8. The exposure compensation was -2/3 stop to compensate for the white snow, but was probably unnecessary. With such a wide angle lens, f8 was small enough to have a huge depth of field. The vignetting in the sky actually adds to the composition of this photo since it lightens the ridge and draws attention to the climbers. At the time, i didn't think much of this image, but it turned out to be the perfect photo for this situation.