Giant Pros

I recently had the opportunity to work at Fox Racing on their 2012 Mountain Bike Catalog. During the process, we found that we were still missing a few key action shots that could show off their new pads/armor, along with some apparel. Fox has a sponsorship agreement with Giant bikes and it worked out that 2 of their top factory downhill team riders were available to shoot. With my background in photography, I put in an accepted bid and geared up for the shoot. Shooting mountain biking is no easy task and getting my gear to spots on the trails is always a challenge. As you can imagine, carrying around a full load of DSLR equipment, along with water and other essential items can really weigh you down. I feel like a pack mule chasing elite athletes with crazy VO2 max.

The riders were Duncan Riffle from Santa Barbara and Andrew "Needles" Needling from South Africa. After a few handshakes, I started to hike down one of the trails to scope out some areas along with the Team Manager of Fox and the main Senior Graphic Designer on the project. We chose to shoot in Laguna Beach for convenience with time and scenery. Since it was more about product, the background wasn't as important, although it couldn't hurt.

After setting up some shots with my camera along with some strobes I had set up, I started clicking away. These guys are young and fit with skills to back it up. It's amazing to see their comfort level and bike handling that just plain humbled me. These guys ride fast and look at things much different than the rest of us. They are also acutely aware of their gear and bike set up. They just carry so much speed and have such a smooth flow to their riding that is on a completely different level. I was also stoked to see their professionalism shine through and they never complained or had any attitude. It really was a joy to work with them. It's been a while since I've shot with downhill pros, and I can say I miss it. Oh, and these shots were just some of the ones we didn't use and are pretty raw without the retouching that is usually done with photos destined for use in advertising and marketing. An awesome shoot and some new friends made.