NAME: Daniel Stephen "Dano" Pendygrasse

LOCATION: Whistlerfornia


WHAT IS OUR FAVORITE LOCATION TO SHOOT AND WHY?
The Whistler Backcountry has been for a long time, but now that it is so busy I like going a little deeper into the unexplored parts of BC.


WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GOING TO SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHY TO BE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER?
I think there are good points and bad. For a certain kind of person, school is the best way to learn, I feel like it took me a lot longer than it should have to learn a lot of what I know because teaching yourself isn't really that efficient.

WHAT EQUIPMENT YOU USE FOR THE BATTLE FIELD?
I've alsways been a Nikon guy. The D2X is my go to body.


ANY PARTICULAR RIDER OR LOCATION YOU NEVER SHOT AND WANT TO? WHY?
Nicolas Muller in Alaska. He's one of the few guys I really want to shoot that I haven't yet. It's just a matter of timing I guess. His ability to take progressive riding to scary natural terrain is pretty insane. I'm a big fan of his.

WHAT RIDERS OR LOCATIONS ARE YOUR FAVORITE TO SHOOT? WHY?
I have my favourites, for sure, Devun, Lando, and Shin are on top of the list. The common thread is that they all have a creative and unique way of looking at the mountain. What you never see in the magazines or movies is how certain guys are the real leaders on any given day in the backcountry. You might see some young buck getting a sick shot on a cheese wedge, but the odds are that some other guy found it and built it and young buck was just along for the ride. The veterans keep the scene together, without those guys it would be all park footage.


BEST FIVE DAYS OF YOUR CAREER? WHY?
There have been tons. Some are days when I've witnessed just amazing riding, like shooting Johan in alaska with Mike Hatchett, some have been days with Kearns and Devun getting 9 shots in a day, and others have been riding days where the cameras stay in the truck. Mt. Baker with my brother, Warburton and Craig Kelly will be one of the days I always remember.

DREAM DESTINATIONS?
Kamchatka, more Chamonix, getting Las Lenas perfect again.


TOP THREE PHOTOGRAPHERS EVER? WHY?
It's pretty fluid,  at any given time I am really feeling a number of photogs, but being that I didn't come from a photography background, I never really idolized fashion photographers or art photographers. I was passingly aware of Ansel Adams I guess. I was inspired by Bud Fawcett and Trevor Graves. When I discovered Galen Rowell I think it had an impact on me too.

HEROES?
People who manage to stay positive. It ain't easy. I like people who figure out how to live a successful, creative life.


HOW MANY DAYS PER YEAR YOU SPEND ON THE ROAD?
 It depends on the season and you go through phases. As few as 40 or 50 and as many as 150. Maybe more.

FUTURE PLANS?
I plan to continue to push myself as a snowboard photographer. As you get more experience, it becomes less about making a trillion photos per season (although it is important to take a lot of photos) and more about making really memorable images. I want to take more of those shots that people stop me at the Trade Show and say "man, I grew up with that shot on my wall". I like contributing to the visual history of our sport.
 I've also been teaching myself underwater photography and would like to buy all the equipment to do that.
 
HOW ARE THINGS WITH FUTURE MAG?
I've never worked so hard on something in my life. We had a really shaky start, came into the market right after another mag started, lost Fran who was the reason I moved to California in the first place, and then chose a disaster of a designer for the first three issues. I got a lot of grey hair over that. Despite all that, we managed to do really well on the news stand and develop a really loyal readership. After we got Chris Vestal in to redesign, things just started going off. Our subscriptions doubled our projections and the news stand sales continue to climb. We're a solid number two right now and that is pretty amazing after only 9 issues. I'm really proud of what we've done and feel lucky that we are still young enough that we can continue to make changes as we need, to to be the best.

HOW MANY DAYS YOU STILL ENJOY POWDER WITH OUT THE CAMERA?
 Man, way less than I need to. Before the mag, I would get most of my Pow days in before Christmas and it would set me up for the season. Now we don't even finish production till after Christmas so all the early season is gone. I would say I still get maybe 10 or 15 days without the camera. Probaly 5 or 6 of those are pow. I used to get 20 to 30 though. I probably sideslip more powder looking for angles than most people ride in a year. Tragic.


WHAT SNOWBOARD AND BINDINGS DO YOU RIDE? WHY?
 I ride a Forum Roost because I love it. My friend Alex Warburton desings for Forum and I think that for the kind of riding I do, a tapered board is really good. I also ride a burton t6 because of Nico.I also have  lib tech boobie girl board that I won In the Baker Banked slalom. It's everything I don't like in a snowboard, but for some reason I really like it. It's the complete opposite of the t6. I ride Alex's Forum bindings too.


WHAT IS THE MEANING OF SELLING OUT?
If you wake up in the morning saying to yourself "oh man, I can't believe I did that" then you sold the show. It doesn't even have to be about money, it's about throwing away your values .

BEST SNOWBOARD SITE? WHY?
Well www.futuresnowboarding.com of course. It's full of awesomeness. Forums to shoot the shit, regular updates from the field, sick shots, product reviews, next year there will even be fully customizable weather. It's epic.


WHAT MUSIC ROCKS YOUR IPOD?
My taste in music is really broad. I was an angry little punk rock kid and I still have a lot of that going on. Bad Brains, Fear, Minor Threat and so on. I like the british shit too. SLF, Subhumans UK, all that. When I started playing guitar I started to listen to a lot of indie rock. I guess it's easier for me to translate to accoustic guitar. The weakerthans, the mountain goats, built to spill, and so on. I like to listen to big sonic chill on 94.9 when I'm going to sleep in San Diego and some of that music has made it into my playlist Flunk, The Album Leaf, Massive Attack. I like cute girl singer songwriters, Neko Case, Cat Power. I like the Refused. I like hip hop from before 97. I like soul music from the late 60's and early 70's. I like live shows. ths Silversun Pickups show at the Belly up was the last great show I saw. I like Band of Horses. I have a lot of DJ friends and friends with really good taste in music so I'm always finding new great music. Original is good. Derivative is not.


THANKS