BMX Freestyle

Last week, on the way home from riding with the Gov'nah during Bike to Work Day I noticed someone riding a bike in a rather different way. He was all alone in a parking lot spinning and flipping the bike and himself all over the place.

As soon as I saw the spectacle, I knew I had to photograph him. So I introduced myself, shoved my card in his hand and told him that I wanted to take pictures of him riding his bike. He emailed me in quick fashion and this is the result.

Now, I have seen BMX Freestyle riding before. However, this was a chance for me to get it on film. Well, get it on screen.


As with most shoots, this one presented its own set of challenges. Mainly, the whole moving target thing (this guys moves around A LOT) was what gave me the biggest challenge. I wanted to work with off-camera lighting (in addition to the excellent late-day sun) for this subject.


Off-camera lighting is generally stationary, so it makes it hard to hit a moving target. Once I got my timing dialed in with his moves we were off and running, or riding. Eventually, we worked on specific moves in specific areas so that I could get the lighting and composition close to what I was envisioning.



With a very cooperative and skilled subject, my job started getting easier and we got some great shots. We are both looking forward to doing this again. While this was not a bad spot to shoot, finding other settings for the next shoot are at the top of the list.