dropping in above the San Juan islands
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Photo info
- Album
- 2009
- Category
- All Mountain/Enduro
- Date Posted
- Aug 31, 2009 at 17:05Aug 31, 2009
- Location
-
Bellingham, Washington, United States
- Trail
- Rock Monster
- Riders
- Joel Spackman
Photo details
136 Comments
- 45 3
talhaslam
(Aug 31, 2009 at 17:25)
WOAH
- 11 0
thanks! yeah, landing is on the rock, it's pretty narrow as well. we made the line in about 5 minutes, even though I've been wanting to build it, ride it, & shoot it for a year
- 174 34
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- 1 7
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- 23 1
A lot of people wont fully appreciate pics like this.... the camera makes things like this look a lot smaller and less steep than they look in reality!
I guarantee there's a lot of people looking at that thinking they might hit it.... put them on that rock in real life, and they will crap themselves!
- 1 4
I don't know about that sir, if fellow riders are looking at this picture, they're definitely wondering where the hell the landing is. Since its not in frame, the size of the drop is definitely increased.
- 3 0
Idk, good pic but the rider looks kinda blurry only at the edges while the rest of the pic is sharp O.o Seems like if you have the time and equipment to set up flashes, build the whole line, etc., you'd have time to set your camera to a good shutter speed. (How could it not be anyway? most of the pic is bright, and the guy claims it was at noon...) No hard feelings, just think that it should be sharper...which works on 2 levels there.
- 2 0
Holy fock. That pic is everything that it should be. Makes me want to ride, build, and rip. Huge props, Brad. I think one of the reasons you are getting so many props and not just in this pic is that you represent what it all means. Riding, building, finding that line. You are searching for this shit anyways, and luckily for all of us you now take your camera along. Great, great stuff. I would just assume look at your pics than read half the crap in the mags these days. You and your crew represent what it's all about for me. Great stuff. Keep it coming. please. You make me want to keep getting after it. THANKS!
- 5 3
Who the f*ck is this FreerideChase douche bag; I mean seriously!!!!! do you have to F-ING critique everything to the nineth degree???? How about instead of "CRITIQUING" other persons photos, You go out and RIDE!!!!! your bike or take some pics. From the comments and impressions you made here, I would surely kick you square in the tool bag if I had the chance. You come off as being an "egotesticle" know it all!!!! Thats my 2 cents
- 1 0
Nice shot Brad! makes me miss that area a lot! For the couple of whiners...I've been up there and can say that Brad, Joel, and several others have built some of the craziest and most flowy trails I've ever seen/ridden and put more trail work in on one weekend than most of you have probably thought about doing in your life. These guys are the ones who are pushing the sport in ways you can't even start to know about...I'm sure if you think you're up for it Brad and Joel could arrange for a demo on how to ride a bike or operate a camera, just be ready to do some work to get up to the trails, walk down a lot of stuff you won't be able to ride, and apologize when you realize that you aren't riding anything worth taking a photo of and that you aren't the best and have a lot to learn. There's more to riding than Whistler and shuttling. Thanks for keeping it real w.w.
- 3 3
Sick pod, but it looks like its been Photoshopped in. There are a few things that argue that, but everything can be modified. The light coming off the rocks is not the same kind of light being reflected off the rider.
- 2 0
it's called the use of external flash, there are two on the ground in this shot. they are used to make the rider 'pop'. DH race photos in the woods are the best example.
- 1 0
Eric summed it up last week so have a look: www.pinkbike.com/news/eric-palmer-interview-part-2-2009.html
- 1 1
Looks really cool. I guess I'll have to start using my Flashguns and not be so lazy ! The results are really mad !
- 3 12
I am familiar with the use of Wireless Flash devices, but if u look hard at the picture, his left leg is very very dark over say like his helmet. true the flash could be in the tree's but I doubt that. What comes across fake, is the light balance from the external flash light exposure on the front of the bike, but that light exposure is not reaching to his leg even for how bright the day is. You can see the reflection of the external flash being reflected off the oils on his left leg, but see how little light is physically changing how dark his leg is. With Photoshop I could replicate such reflections. Shadows do come into play, but not that dark. Especially if the shot was AS200, if it was 400, only because its early evening/late afternoon.
- 2 8
hell, I already acknowleged that the pic is awesome, i just have to critique the shot as a fellow sports photographer.
- 7 2
seriously, do I really have to do this? It's an incredibly simple set up. Mid-day 12:00pm, sun is at about the 11:00 position relative to the photo, and backlit a bit, hence the lighting on the rocks and the shadow of the rear tire on the rock. It was a very contrasty scene with lots of bright highlight and deep shadow, and my main concern was being able to expose for the islands in the background since that is the brightest part of the landscape. Normally I would just use a 2-stop ND Grad filter for this but with the rider on the horizon line that was out of the question (would have divided the rider into two exposures). With the ambient light exposed at -2/3 stop, the exposure was pretty good overall, but I wanted to fill the dark shadows on the rider as well as on the rock since the scene is backlit. I put two flashes on the ground pointing up, and they are just out of the frame on top of some logs. One flash is slightly left and feathered up to bring some light on his face inside the helmet, the other is slightly right to add fill to the shadow side of the rock and his bike.
- 5 2
My camera only sync's at 1/250, so even at full power two speedlite flashes cannot overcome the ambient lighting at ISO 200 and f/8 unless they were about 3 feet away from the subject. I could have shot at ISO 100 and f/5.6, or ISO 400 and f/11, and gotten the exact same exposure, no change to ambient or flash light, only a change to the depth of field. Thus, the flash only acts as fill since it cannot overcome the ambient. The fact that there is alot of light on his helmet and not his leg has nothing to do with the flach, it's about the position of the main light- the sun. Myself and the rider in the photo spent 2 years building the trail and every single time we had to climb our bikes for two hours to get to the top, and every time we passed this rock and I saw this image in my mind. I hauled up 30 lbs of gear on my back, spent an hour sculpting the line, setup the shot, Joel & I each hit it one time, then we rode down one of the gnarliest & most amazing trails in the state. There was another guy there riding with us who helped with the shoot and watched the whole thing. I am not cutting and pasting anything together, this is a RAW file converted to JPG with very minimal adjustment, originally created with alot of sweat, knowledge, and perseverence, so if you can't just appreciate it for what it is, this is a waste of time for all of us.
- 3 2
Dude you got some balls to be talking smack to Mr. Walton. This man is a brilliant behind the camera. He is single handedly responsible for some of the best photographs of the sport this year....PERIOD.
You mentioned that you are just giving criticism because you are a "fellow sports photographer". Well my man, before you go around criticizing ohters work, you need to provide an example of your amazing photograph skills. You profile has absolutely NO pictures loaded, especially ones that you shot. And secondly,... you need to get off this mans d*ck. The only comments you have made on this site are regarding his photos.
Just my .2 cents Mr. photo-guy...
You mentioned that you are just giving criticism because you are a "fellow sports photographer". Well my man, before you go around criticizing ohters work, you need to provide an example of your amazing photograph skills. You profile has absolutely NO pictures loaded, especially ones that you shot. And secondly,... you need to get off this mans d*ck. The only comments you have made on this site are regarding his photos.
Just my .2 cents Mr. photo-guy...
- 1 2
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- 1 0
photoshopped. his back tire doesnt even look like its touching hte rock. but still a great picture.
- 3 3
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