Out of a project comes a friend

I went out to candidly shoot mountain bikers at Galbraith, and ended up meeting a new biking friend who was not only easy to get along with, but happy to help me practice my motion shots.

I enjoyed getting to expand my skills in the realm of motion photography. Just as most in our class felt,, I was uncomfortable effectively communicating motion, and I'm glad we forced to practice. I certainly learned a lot in just a few full-day sessions.

I've been wanting to start capturing mountain biking action shots, and this week it all came together, wtih healing from an injury, weather, equipment, people and timing.

This was great for me. It is precisely something I’ve wanted to improve on in pursuing my goal of working as a photographer for an outdoor publication. But it wasn’t easy, and was plain frustrating at first. I went out on Friday afternoon; nothing I took was interesting. Tried again on Saturday night, thinking the late night scene would inspire, and while the work had more substance, I still wasn’t getting anything tack sharp.

Finally Tuesday the weather and my drive to get the project done came together and it was time to go for a photo ride. A usually packed place any sunny day of the week, there was hardly anyone in the parking lot. I was discouraged, but pushed on. Everyone must have showed up behind me, because I did get a handful of descending bikers come by my camp out spots, and I managed to snag so many shots from the same people that I liked better, that I wished I could have submitted instead.