Photo of the Year 2014: Five Minutes With the Finalists

The 4th annual Pinkbike Photo of the Year contest is underway and we have narrowed it down to the final two. We spent five minutes with Sterling Lorence and Christoph Laue to get a little insight into their photos. If you haven't made your final decision yet, this could help decide who gets your vote.



Here we are again! Congratulations. Must feel good to make it to the final round for the second year in a row.

Thank you! Yes, quite the thrill to watch the image move through the rounds again and end up in the finals again. There were some amazing images in the group this year, and I do feel lucky to have made it through. And thank you to every one of the voting public and the other great photographers out there that make Pinkbike what it is. It certainly is an honor make it into the round of 32 and it's thrilling to move through each round to the finals again. Stoked!


Where were you when you took it and what was the assignment?

Each year I try and get up to Kamloops BC for a few days to visit Matt Hunter and his family and we plot out some ideas together for photos. There was no assignment, it was simply do what we wanted on something that we hadn’t tried before. This kind of pure freedom of creativity always provides good results. I owe a big thank you to Matt Hunter for always being so energetic and talented as we attempt to push boundaries.


Tell us about your photo - are there any interesting details to share?

This photo by far created more of a buzz than any other image that I have shot, simply for the fact that people couldn’t believe Matt’s flat positioning. I had brand managers, owners and riders of huge bike companies all asking me about the validity of the image. Folks that see images constantly were taken aback. To me, it is the ultimate compliment we could receive, to hear that a key artist in our industry thought it was fake. The fact that Matt and I were able to create an image that expressed beyond a person's ability to believe in it, is simply fantastic. My goal as a mountain bike photographer is exactly that…try and floor you all in stoke, as much as possible. In the end, we simply came across a section of trail that might contain the perfect corner. A swerving gully full of banked corners that have the right angles, speed and curve for mountain biking. I have to throw more props to trail builder/shredder Brad Stuart for this one…he makes amazing trails.


Was there a vision in mind with Matt when you were out on the shoot or did you show up and let inspiration take its course?

We were in the Kamloops Bike Ranch when I saw this gully section of corners on one of the trails. This section of trail was made by Brad Stuart, the bike park builder, and he is amazing at choosing great lines for trails. I watched Matt Hunter rail through this corner, and knew right away that we needed to spend a morning here…


How many attempts did it take to nail the shot?

I knew I wanted to apply lighting to this scene, which makes these shoots more time consuming from a setup standpoint than attempts made. With him railing it a few times with no strobes and then us working together to decide our favorite moment in the corner, I would say that Matt rode through this corner 15-20 times to nail this one. We certainly spent more time lugging gear across the ranch and tuning lighting than he spent riding his bike.


For the photography geeks out there can you tell us about the camera, settings and lighting that you used?

I shot this image on my Canon 1D Mark IV with a Canon 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens. 1/640th of a second at f5.6. ISO 50. I have 3 lighting strobes striking Matt.


How does it feel during each voting round?

With the Pinkbike POY it’s an exciting time of the year for photography in mountain biking and it certainly is a nervous excitement. I do try and read some of the comments to get a read on the type of people on this site and what they are moved by in terms of photography. You can learn lots about what moves people. Some of the comments are also cruel and ridiculous and I wish some of the readers could one day see how much effort all these photographers have to put into their art to make these images shine for you.


Which of your competitors shots have stood out for you this year?

Wow, that’s a tough question! Honestly there are so many this year. When I saw the images in round one I was so stoked at the level of imagery in the group. I feel that the way this ranking system works dropped too many great images out in the first round. Some absolute stunning landscape singletrack shots in the mix too. It didn’t surprise me to see Chris Laue’s image make it as far as it has. I could go on for paragraphs talking about the shots…so maybe we can save that for another Pinkbike story down the road.


You won last year, did the kids get that trip to Disneyland? What will be on the cards if you take home the glory this year?

We have saved some of the money to one day take the kids to Disneyland! We are wanting them to grow a bit taller so they can get on more of the rides with me.


Anything else to add?

I feel very lucky to be a photographer in mountain biking and to have a place like Pinkbike to express the images. I have made incredible friends by doing this job and also feel lucky to have a friend like Matt Hunter to be able to collaborate creatively with to make dynamic, original and progressive steps in mountain bike photography. The two of us also realize that having a resource like the Kamloops Bike Ranch to be able to push the boundaries in with is fortunate. So, we have decided that if we were fortunate enough to win this year, we will auction off the sick SRAM equipped Specialized Enduro 27.5 and donate the proceeds to the Kamloops Bike Ranch so that it can continue to be one of the best places in the world to shred a mountain bike.


Go to Voting Page

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Congratulations on making it to the final round! Coming into the competition, how confident were you that you had a finalist level photo on your hands?

Thank you. I hoped to get far in the contest, but I didn't expect to get into the final round as there were so many fantastic other pictures in the competition.


Where were you and what was the assignment that produced this shot?

We were in Châtel, France, to shoot Scott‘s product launch. Nico Vink had just finished building the shark fin at the old mountain style course, so we decided to use this new feature for the team shooting.


Where did the inspiration come from? Was it something you had planned or did it evolve as the shoot was going on?

Both of it. I really like shooting action group photos because it‘s a different challenge to creating a single shot. Timing plays such a huge role, for the riders as well as the photographer. The idea was to show teammates Brendan Fairclough, Nico Vink and Vincent Tupin having fun riding together in one picture. During the session I decided to have the third rider as an unsharp element in the foreground, having the focus on the action of the first rider. I managed to catch a lucky and unique moment with Vinny‘s arm as the frame of Brendan‘s action.


How many attempts did it take to nail this shot?

To be honest, just one. Sometimes it‘s all about timing, and in that case it was just perfect.


For the photography geeks out there can you tell us about the camera, settings and lighting that you used?

The camera I used is a Nikon D4s with the settings at 1/1600s f3.5 ISO 200. The lens is a 24-70mm and the focal length was at 52mm. The picture was taken with the big natural flash - the sun.


How does it feel during each voting round? Which of your competitors shots have stood out for you this year?

The competition took place at a very high level this year, so I find it really hard to pick one or two favorites among those many special photos. I guess I would go for Bruno Long because of the light, Sam Needham because of the light as well and the different riding moment. And of course Sterling‘s photos are always final round candidates. I feel very honored to be in the final round of this strong competition.


Say you take the win, you take the glory, you take the money. What‘s on the cards? Some new camera equipment or an adventure to somewhere new and exciting?

I think my old rusty GT bike has had enough of my heavy photo bag and me and is looking forward to retirement. So a new bike would just come in time. I would use the money to fulfill some equipment dreams, like more efficient and powerful flashes.


Anything else to add?

It‘s an honor to me to compete against Sterling Lorence - he was one of my first role models in bike photography. Of course I want to thank Pinkbike for being such a fantastic platform for our sport. Thanks so much to Scott and the riders, Nico, Brendan and Vinny T to make this shot possible. Last but not least, thanks to everyone who voted for my picture - ride on.


Go to Voting Page

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There you have it, honest closing words from two talented individuals. Now it's time to make that final decision and decide who will be this year's Photo of the Year Champion.

Go to Voting Page

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MENTIONS: @sterlinglorence, @Laue, @SramMedia, @Specialized, @SCOTT-Sports

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