Putting foreground elements, such as trees, in front of your lens will often get you mocked by the snowboarders you photograph. “Ohhhhh, look at Andy getting mad artsy with the branches.” Or my favorite, “Art school called and they want their angle back.” Let me set the record straight here: This is not an attempt at getting artsy. If we, the photographers, had any inclination towards art, do you think we’d be standing in freezing temperatures documenting stunts? That branch in the foreground is there to hide the bomb hole or short track that was put into a jump before the current shot was taken. In many ways, we are tricking the viewer into fantasizing about how pro snowboarders land tricks first try, and always into a field of fresh, untracked powder. Artists we are not. Illusionists? Possibly. Chris Grenier, living the dream at Brighton.