Inspiring. One simple word to describe the events last night. Everyone I asked about past years told me the same thing, and now I am preaching it. The Pro Photographer Showdown went down last night at the Telus Convention Centre in Whistler Village as part of the Telus Ski & Snowboard Festival. 5 of the industry's best showed us how well they can capture the little light waves bouncing off everything around us in a little box. In each 9 minute slideshow, we saw the passion of the photographer's work, as a story about the experience of skiing and mountain biking. The showdown was for $10,000 and an Olympus EOS-3 kit, which I've had the fortune of using in the past few days, and I can say it's a pretty great SLR.

The prize for this year's showdown went to Kari Medig, who strayed from the norm of ski shooting and focused on capturing the experience. He was my personal choice to win, and I strive to be able to produce photos like him in the future. The other 4 photographers, Dan Carr, Jancsi Hadik, Blake Jorgenson, and Frode Sandbech also threw out some amazing pieces of work.

Check out the website for more on the photographers.