Our friend Todd Williams likes snowy trails, raging surf, dirt roads, gutsy rodeos, interesting characters and out-of-the-way places. It shows in his passionate and vivid imagery.

His childhood in Minnesota influenced his love for photography and the outdoor world. And his decision to move to New York City to pursue his professional career gave him the opportunities to expand his talents.

Todd’s crisp and inviting photography has inspired his clients—like Polaris Industries, Nike, Scott USA, Smith Optics, and HMK USA—to request his talents season after season.

Read our profile of editorial and commercial photographer Todd Williams.

Our thanks go out to John Paul Caponigro for sharing his expertise on the Art of Traveling during his webinar today. For any of you who missed this educational and inspirational event, we’ll provide a brief recap below. You can experience the complete webinar in a few days on our web site. Visit our Ask the Pro page for information on this, past and upcoming webinars.

John Paul discussed how he prepares for making the most of a photography adventure, both physically and mentally. He touched on a crucial first step: the art of packing. He focused on choosing the right camera bag to make the journey easier. Two of his favorite Lowepro bags are the Pro Roller x100 (wheels are a good thing!) and CompuDay Photo 150.

He also shared his secrets on the creative components of traveling: research, goal setting, storytelling and journaling. Each of these components is core to the adventures he takes and workshops he leads in some of the most beautiful and remote places on the planet. You’ll want to see the sites he searches, apps he uses and books he looks to for guidance.

An internationally renowned fine artist, John Paul is based in Cushing, Maine. Learn more about his imagery, workshops, newsletter and upcoming trips by visiting his web site.

Robert Beck catches an epic snowboarding moment

Winter X Games POV from Robert Beck

This just in!

Two more over-the-top and cool images from sports photographer Robert Beck.

You can see that Aspen is the place to be this weekend for the pinnacle in winter action sports and athletic artistry. Thanks so much for taking time to share this with us, Robert.

Robert Beck sent us these fabulous images straight from Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado where he is covering the 16th annual Winter X Games. More than 200 of the world’s best athletes in skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling take part in this four-day competition.

Check out these photos: a shot from the men’s slopestyle elimination, plus one of Robert with his gear—that’s a Pro Runner 450 AW backpack in the foreground) one of his Lowepro go-to bags).

Robert’s impressions of covering this event? He shares them here.

“All work and no play! The X Games are all about long days. We start at 9am and get home at 11pm. We got about ten inches of snow Thursday night and it’s a beautiful morning today. The games are almost a sensory overload—there’s always something going on. Shooting guys hucking mega ramps on skis? Shooting guys doing flips on snow mobiles?
Yes. So much action. So little time!”

We’re offering up one Photo Sport Sling 100 AW this week. That’s right, our cool outdoor bag that’s perfect for adventure types. How do you throw your hat into the ring (to be the possible winner)? Post a comment below telling us why you’d like to have this beauty.

You have until midnight PST, Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 to participate. (As always, void where prohibited.) We’ll announce the winner here and on our Facebook page the following week. Good luck!

Derrick Story is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

We are excited to share a Loweprofessional Video profile with legendary photographer Greg Gorman. He generously shared insights with us, talked about his iconic l.a. Eyeworks book and invited us to one of his popular Mendocino workshops. You can view it here or on the mylowepro section of our web site (go to the Video button and then to Loweprofessionals section). Enjoy!

It’s safe to say that we are more than a little excited (make it ecstatic!) to share an incredible football image with you today.

(C) Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

It’s courtesy of our Loweprofessional friend, Sports Illustrated staff photographer and all-around great guy Robert Beck.

Robert covered the playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints last Saturday, January 14.

He captured this stunning shot of the 49er Vernon Davis making the game-winning “grab” at the goal line during the last nine seconds. And he landed the cover of the January 23 issue of the magazine.

This Sunday, January 22 (3:30 pm PST) is the NFC Championship game and Robert will be on the sidelines in Candlestick Park again.

(C) Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

He even told us to share this with you: “I’ll be there waving to any Lowepro-wearing fans.” That’s a cool promise.

Check out Robert’s cover shot in Sports Illustrated and see more of his thrilling, jaw-dropping and intimate sports images on his web site.

Thank you for being so generous, Robert. And Go Niners (with respect to all New York Giants fans that are Lowepro fans, too.)!