Behind the lens: Part 2
Now Caleb is a real pro, and has been doing this for years... when you hear that shutter (or is it a sensor?) release, you just know it'll be a great shot. This is a trail Caleb had ridden before, and he'd been thinking about the spots he wanted to shoot.
I was appalled (for him) at the size and weight of the pack he was carrying with his camera gear, as well as all the overnight stuff he was hauling - I was glad to see he wasn't carrying flashes too... besides the extra weight, those artificially lit shots just seem so forced and unnatural to me.
The results were well worth the effort (in my eyes at least, I can't speak for Caleb), and I reckon he captured the feel of the trip, as well as the beauty of the forest perfectly.
We took turns at trying to look rad for the camera... whilst also trying to look completely natural, and take on board the others' words of 'encouragement'...
The ride took us approximately 7 hours to ride each way, largely due to photo stops and coffee breaks - I won't go into great detail about the trip, as you can read the full story by clicking on the Issuu link below... Paul is so much better with the English than me : ]
I've got a lot of respect for these guys carrying all the extra weight of cameras, lenses, tripods and lighting on trips when generally you're trying to go as light as possible. I've never heard Caleb complain yet, and it certainly didn't appear to hold his riding back at all - you can see some more photo's of him riding logs and taking drops in our catalogue here.
The final photo is probably my all time favourite shot of the racks in action, and was taken on the first day of the Kiwi Brevet in February last year. This involved some pretty awesome one-handed motorcycling by Caleb as he tried to keep up with these guys hurtling along on loose gravel at top speed. Nice.
Click to read the full story from SPOKE #41