how i got here technique
P
hoto P
aul
v
illecou
R
t
CLEAn up
Your SpinS
ruTH GOrDON
A spin is often the first freestyle move you will try. A
regular 360-degree spin is done using a combina-
tion of reverse and forward sweeps. A clean spin is
when you spin 360 degrees using just one paddle
stroke.
For both, your head is your timing device. Leave
it facing upstream until your boat is facing down-
stream. What? Let me explain. By leaving your head
looking upstream, you can ensure that you don’t
slide back into the feature. When your bow is point-
ed downstream, quickly turn your head to look up-
stream over your other shoulder, take your forward
sweep stroke and switch your edge to maintain a
slightly lifted upstream edge. Remember: too much
edge and you’ll carve off the feature; too little and
you’ll flip upstream.
I learned to spin on Baby Face, a tricky to catch
wave on the Ottawa River. At first, I struggled with
keeping my weight out of the backseat. Then I shift-
ed forward slightly and it brought my stern edges
out of the water so instead of carving off the wave, I
was able to stay on and get backwards. Completing
the spin came naturally since I was eager to face
back upstream.
To clean up your spins, focus on aggressive body
rotation. By leading with your body your boat will
naturally want to follow. Initiate the spin by rotating
your body in the direction you’d like to go and plant-
ing a reverse sweep. The sweep unwinds your tor-
so—this is where many people get stuck with their
P
hoto
shoulders squared off to the boat and are unable
R
to keep spinning. To continue spinning without us-
y
an c ing another paddle stroke, you must get your body
R
ea
back ahead of your boat by again rotating your tor-
R
y collection
so in the direction you’re going.
Be selective where you initiate your spin—you
want to be in the middle of the wave face or mov-
ing down the feature; begin in the trough or with too
much lateral momentum and you’ll flush. Most fea-
ryan Creary,
tures we surf have a weak spot that we can use to
36
initiate our tricks. This may be the shoulder or just a
seam through the middle of a hole—wherever there
» proFessional photographer is water flushing through the feature and moving
The toughest thing about being a whitewater photographer is choosing between leaving the boat
downstream. In many cases, the weak spot can pro-
at home to focus on shooting, or paddling with minimal camera gear and taking casual photo-
vide the downstream pull to help initiate your spin or
graphs on the fly. sometimes the river makes the decision for me—like when I was shooting boat-
continue the spin momentum from your initiation.
ers from a helicopter on the huge features of the slave River in the northwest Territories. Other
times, on beautiful, perfect rivers like northern B.C.’s Chilko, I just have to paddle.
I became a photographer by committing to follow my passion. All through my university de-
#
gree in outdoor recreation I knew I wanted to work for myself; I just wasn’t sure what my career
reality
check
3
was going to be. Then I bought an sLR camera. I brought it with me pretty much everywhere I
went—skiing, mountain biking, climbing, whitewater paddling. It all grew from there. I spent a
sponsored boa
T
lot of money on film and read pretty much every book on photography that I could get my hands
unless you’ve signed with T
er
eam
on. Within a year I’d figured out how to take decent photos and started making submissions to
m
expect to spend as much time blogging as
om
magazines. My first photo published in Powder magazine was a cover. That’s when I realized that
blunting, standing at shows as showboating,
I was onto something.
and teaching at paddling schools as
The turning point for my career was quitting my full-time job and eventually giving up part-
time work and committing to photography 100 per cent. As a freelancer, it’s a sink or swim situ-
schooling your buddies. F
ree rides, even
ation—you have to make sure you’re continuously shooting and selling images. There’s no one
free boats, are harder to come by than a
telling you how or what to do, so being very motivated is a key factor. I’ve always viewed it as a p
erception
mr. c
lean (a boat from a time
business, something that I’ll work hard at and grow. —As TOLD TO COnOR MIHELL
when there were sponsored boaters).
2 Rapid summer/fall 2009
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