Keri Herman for University of Denver Magazine

Photographers contantly chat with one another about doing personal work to fill the void left by most of the stuff that pays the bills. When I got the call about this assignment I had a feeling I was going to be able to kill two birds with the single preverbial stone. It had everything I'm looking for in a personal assignment, a talented athlete, great location, action and portraits all wrapped up into one.

I often laugh to myself after I get off the phone with Greg or Chelsey from the magazine because they always ask if I'm interested in doing it. Did they really think I was going to turn this one down?

Keri had never ridden a rail or gone off a jump when she came to DU and now she regularly collects X-Games medals. If she keeps it up, she's bound for the 2014 Olympics. Read her story online.

After what seemed like six weeks of logistics, I headed up to Breckenridge where she trains with a trunk full of gear and an assistant in tow. I rarely leave the house at 3am for a shoot but we were chasing a mountian sunrise. Unfortunately, the sunrise part didn't happen.

On to plan B.

If things weren't already complicated, my battery for the dynalights struggled in the cold, my pocket wizards didn't like the huge mounds of ice/snow between me and the lights and the crazy wind that Breckenridge is known for made Keri have to work ten times as hard to pull her tricks off. Thankfully hardwire and a gas generator saved us from having to move to plan C.

Keri was determined to ride all 100+ feet of the quad kink rail and took lap after lap via snowmobile to get it, and the photo right. She didn't want to fake it and as someone who stives to get things right in-camera, I have a lot of respect for her.

After we wrapped up the mountain shoot and created a makeshift studio at Teal Art Gallery, we went to lunch with Keri and her friends. Trust me, that doesn't happen often. I'm around professional athletes all the time and Keri is about as down to earth as they come.

The stories we heard during lunch were definitely worth the price of admission. It must be nice to trot the globe and ski for a living but who am I to complain? I push a button for a living.

The feature was originally slated for the cover but it got bumped, understandably, when DU landed one of three Presidential debates. I'm hoping I get the call to cover that one as well.