My girlfriend, Katrina, likes to climb, so I tagged along on 24 October 2021 when she went bouldering at Smuggler's Notch.

I shot about 350 pictures.

The lighting was challenging, with dark overhangs right next to brightly lit rock faces. I had to choose whether to properly expose for the dark undersides of the rocks (to show foot and body placement) or for hands or faces that had come out from the shadows. Many pictures suffered as a result, with some portions bright and washed out, and other portions too dark.

I like pictures that show people's faces and expressions. Sometimes this was impossible, because they were clinging to a rock face and I could only shoot from behind them. Between other climbers hanging around and watching, and the challenging topography of the surrounding rock fall, I did not have much choice about where I could position myself.

When I did manage to find a good spot, I took a lot of pictures of the climbers from that location; it may seem repetitous.

I found myself captivated by the climbers facial expressions. I love taking candids, where the model is not self conscious or putting on a show. Combine that with the focus that climbers have in the moment, and I discovered a lot of compelling faces in the shots that I took. I put them on a separate page.

Maybe my excitement about the faces has to do with coming off of Covid, where indoor climbing requires face masks. The relief of seeing people's faces and expressions may have made those images more precious to me in the current context.

When evaluating my photographs, I look for
- technical quality: focus, exposure, cropping
- does the facial expression show emotion or drama?
- is the skill being executed well, or perhaps unusually?
- is the pose or lighting inherently interesting or artistic?
- are the player's expression, clothing, hair, or sunglasses compelling?


If you want to learn more about my sports photography, check out this page and the pages that follow.

Click here to see 190 climbing shots.
Click here to see 74 face shots.

My Favorites:












All photographs are copyright by Jon Bondy.

If you want larger versions of a particular shot, please get in touch with me (jon at jonbondy dot com).