Christopher Wood

My name is Chris Wood and I am a relocated Canadian residing in the beautiful city of San Diego, California. Until recently I have spent my entire life living in the mountainous regions of British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. Growing up I found myself in competitive sports continuously through summer and winter. At the age of 18 I became a professional ski instructor and by the age of 21 I was racing as a professional downhill mountain biker on the Canada Cup circuit. Unfortunately by the end of my second season of racing at the professional level I found myself short on cash and plagued by injury, leaving me with little choice but to leave the racing scene and return to school where I received a Master of Science degree in physical geography. Through this time I had taken up the art of photography. I purchased my first SLR camera (a Pentax K1000) when I was 16 so I could take photos of my friends doing the sports we all loved. That camera was soon upgraded to the Pentax MZ-5, and that was followed by another 10 years of upgrading my Pentax equipment until now. I now shoot exclusively with Pentax * series and Limited glass on K20D and K-7 bodies. For fifteen years I dedicated as much time as I could to photography while still pursuing my sports, but I discovered a changing set of priorities after a life-threatening accident while skiing one day. In the immediate aftermath of the accident I anticipated a speedy recovery, but as the concussion wore off I started to add things up. Over a 9 month period I had received over 80 stitches and broken 8 bones from three separate sports accidents, and I realized that maybe it was time to make a permanent move to the other side of the lens.