How cool is it to know Sterling Lorence was checking out your mountian bike
photo? Fairly high on the dial I would have to say. Sterl got
caught in a powder incident at Whistler this weekend which delayed things
some but it was certainly worth the wait.
One note about the prize. While I was getting a little sun in Mexico
and Stuart was handling things I made an error and told him that this week's
prize was a Sequence pack. That was a lie. The Sequence is one
of the prizes for a March finalist and this week's winner scores a Drafter
pack. You'll also be eligible for that Sequence though so hang in there.
I haven't made my decision about who wins the BroCard
and Tee this week
so you'll have to hold on for that.
Cam McRae
Over to you Sterl...
This week's winner receives a Nomad hydration pack from
Dakine.
Hey shooters/rippers! Props to every one of you for chargin' hard on the
bikes and to all the photogs tryin' hard to 'get the shot'. I’m in
your boat, mountain biking is not an easy sport to shoot, but when you 'see'
all come together...so rad.
I looked through the entire gallery 4 times. Really like to get a sense
of what's in there for shots and then really let the images that move me,
shine on. This week this image from Mason Mashon, of Mark Matthews in Whistler
B.C. is the week three money shot. It combined the most elements of a great
image to win. First off from just the first viewing, it stoked you out, regardless
of technical merit. Makes you wanna be there. Nice’n sunny balmy 'extended
play' evening riding session in the whistler bike park rip park pin side
track. This is one of the few places you can shoot in the trails of the whistler
bike park that gets nice light, not blocked in a tunnel of forest.
This image has solid composition. The rider is moving across the image form
the right which tells the story. His scale is good in the image. The balance
of the sun's location, the distant mountains, the trail, and the rider, all
fit well into this shot. Very little wasted space. Good use of evening back
lighting to play up the drama, shadows and highlights, and to help make that
dust trail flare off the lip of the jump. Further, laying shadows down
on the trail here is a bonus in that top lighting would have made all those
gravely boulder rocks shine like neon and make for a 'loud' trail. Style
points are solid; the rider has casual flowy style and crackin' his table
pretty good. I might have waited a bit later.... but, not enough of an issue.
I also have to throw in my ten cents here and comment about shootin' tables...in
my opinion, I like to see the riders face in table shots, like in this image.
So many images out there have the riders head lost in the wheel/tire/spokes.
The shooter just needs to move a bit to help reveal the pilot. Bonus
points for daring to keep the sun in the shot and for waiting till the final
minute of her there. Nice one! One other observation- these
are low res images that I get to see so I can't quite judge for ultimate
sharpness, etc but if you shot this shot on film through an expensive
clean lens you would get a much nicer sun/rays and less or no purple/blue
flare across the shot.... film still rules when goin' backlit eh.
This week's winner whet's your appetite for Whistler.
Photo~ Mason Mashon. Rider ~ Mark Matthews
Good shot of JS slotted deep in a berm. I have viewed many race shots in
the gallery and wanted to keep this one as a winner. Again, an image with
lots of +'s. race shots need to scream intensity and speed and there is no
better way than to get tight. Why do you think you see so many 300+mm lenses
when you go to a race event? Often the course is un-attractive, the light
is usually sub-par, and the action is told through the rider. So, get tight! It
takes a brave shooter to crop within the boundaries of the rider and his
bike, and as soon as you do, your attention goes right into the details of
the athlete. This can be dangerous to do due to the difficulty in how shallow
your depth of focus is and how quickly a racing athlete will the pass through
your framing. It’s like 'bang' and they are gone, race over. Done. When
this tight, the desired focus is the rider’s eyes. Not the front tire,
or his shoulder, or crank arm. We look to the eyes. Here the composition
is a great compliment in that JS is leaning toward the front of the shot
and 'has somewhere to go' and also that the focus leads you forward into
the direction he is going and his eyes. Also like the slight movement
in areas on the bike except for his face/helmet area. Good race
shot. Technically sound. Yeayus.
First and second place no less.
Photo~ Mason Mashon. Rider ~ JS Therrien
I’m a sucker for epic singletrack shots. This one represents for me
this week. I like the meandering singletrack that wanders from one side of
the shot to the other and to the top. The rider has some speed in his/her
actions but I would like to see more style in the turn. Our sport looks slow
99% of the time, shooters need to be yelling to the riders to 'pin it' into
that corner 'rail-it-out' like JS is in the previous shot... also, power
lines hurt, I would have shot tighter and framed out the entire top of the
shot. Don’t always need blue sky in there... in the end, I look
at this shot and say, "where is that, I wanna shred that trail this
summer"
Second runner up is last week's winner.. Photo~ Brad Walton.
Rider ~ Spencer
I couldn't leave this one out. Bleeds stoke for riding, progression, and
a hunger for technical challenge. Especially given for the lack of pure riding
landscape. This shot has good composition and it speaks of a moment in time
for our sport. Nice daring use of the sign for a booter. Landing ain't
goin' to be pretty. give'r eh.
Second runner up. Photo~ Jadyn Welch. Rider ~ Dexter
Cool bid at telling more of a story but two key things jumped out at me...fun
being the editor, rare for me. The close crop image in the right is
large in scale vs. the rider and therefore draws the attention away too much
for me. Also, key error in my opinion that the rider is 'missing’ the
trail. Get on there, and rail harder. Show us why you need a full face and
goggles...?
Honourable mention. Photo~ Josef Mrazek Rider ~ Martin
.BH
Cool race shot, epic dark light and race tape trailing off in the distance.
Gives great depth and contrast. But.... rider too static for racing. Gotta
get a Stevie smith to come charging through this section absolutely blasting
it apart...
Honourable mention. Photo~ James Smith. Rider ~ Ben Morgan
One last rant from the crusty old shooter...
Looks like this was shot with a cell phone...but cool composition and top
lighting. But my rant here is with the walking of the bikes. Maybe a mechanical?
Doubt it. Kids these days gotta step it up and ride up. Fromme is not steep.
If you can't ride it up, get less travel. When is the last time you
saw Wade Simmons or Shandro head up there to shred trails with a nice
walk up Fromme? Those guys tear up there on there 40 pounders and would be
barking like dogs behind you if they saw you slacking like this.
Or, maybe they were waiting for there buddy who is tryin' to be a photographer
and wearing too heavy a pack?
Giver harder groms
Sterling Lorence
No props from Sterl for walking up Fromme.
Spout on about Sterl's choices or walking like a grom on our forum
here.
Have a look at the week
four gallery and select your own winner.
