Summer came to a close in Hood River with the 2nd Annual Ion Photo Award – a unique event combining windsports, water, an ion logo, and photography. Ion, a new neoprene and wetsuit company focused on quality materials and craftsmanship, put on the event as part of their US brand launch. The rules of the event were simple: Teams of 5, plus a photographer, had from sunrise to sunset on one day to create a photo montage for a slide show that night. The photos had to include multiple water sports and all participants, all represented with ION logos. Winners were decided by applause of the slide show at the Awards Party. However, this event on this day presented a challenge for photographers and their athletes in obtaining winning images: NO WIND. Nonetheless, teams got creative.

Realizing the need for some propelling due to the lack of wind, photographer Jon Malmberg's team went para-kiting. Using his boat, Jon assisted launching a kiteboarder behind a ski boat and then releasing the rider high in the air – leaving the rider to float high, with kite and board, above everyone on the water.

Photographer Lance Koudele and team opted to ditch the glassy waters of the Columbia to shoot on more reliable concrete at the skate park. Photographer Jim Semlor completely ditched the Gorge for reliable wind and waves at the Oregon Coast.

Despite the lack of wind, teams and photographers finished the day with creativity taking over as the overwhelmingly award-deciding factor.

The Awards Party drew a packed house at the Copper Salmon Pub, with ION Team riders Jaime Herraiz and Sky Solbach spreading ION swag love all around. As the slide show kicked off, photographers and their teams made introductions to their day of shooting. After two rounds of slide show viewing and audience applause-metering, the top 3 teams fought for an applause-off. The Applause-O-Meter gave the highest decible rating to the 6-person team of photographer Richard Hallman, for his rich, emotion-capturing images throughout the day.