Pinkbike Photo of the year 2013 - Project 52 Week 41

The pinkbike.com photo of the year contest is approaching its deadline for nominations. Being that I had shot very little mountain biking at all this year, I didn't have anything worthy to submit for nomination. It's a tough competition that frequently features pro photographers and images taken on the sets of major mountain biking films in exotic locations across the globe. Still I like the inspiration it gives me to go out and shoot, and learn in the process. I was stoked to hear positive responses from a few buddies of mine about going out to ride and shoot and see what we could come up with. The first ride was with Garrett and Jakub on the North Shore's Cypress Mountain. 5th Horseman was the trail of choice, with its many large rock descents and cool features. I was re-acquainting myself with my wireless flash gear after some time of absence shooting with the equipment. We still grabbed some fun photos even though darkness in the trees forcing high iso upon my aging camera was hurting a bit. I also rode in Squamish with Keith and Adam, down Peanuts Wild Ride and then on to the big senders on Grin n Holler. The riders were nailing it, but I was not, again struggling with darkness under the heavy canopy, and also with finding unique or exciting angles to tell the story from. Finally I went to Whistler with James to ride on one of the last days in the Whistler Bike Park for the 2013 season. We rode most of the day scoping out trails and locations, then late in the day grabbed my pack and came down a few sections, setting up and shooting a couple of cool spots. For a short time, out from the trees under the lifts, the late fall sunlight and yellowish tones looked really cool in the background, and I managed to grab a pretty decent shot of James on the Canadian Open Downhill course. It won't even make it to the finals of the competition, but the point is I got out and shooting and managed to produce a reasonably exciting shot that looks pretty fun and portrays the action well.

James takes off on Canadian Open