Well said!

 everyone give ian negative props! woooo even though he provides us with amazing pods.

 Great photo Man!

 why is that pod. but the colours are nice

 why is that pod. nice angle of his ass. i dislike that.

 Wait he's on a bike. That's silly

 @ D1rtJumper&RideBikes956- Because its a sick Shot!? untill you can go out and take a halfway decent photo of someone riding, dont be criticizing other peoples work...

 The fish eye makes it look really awesome.

 wohoo

 its okay i like the colours but the angle not so much there are much better pictures such as this http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5398209/ ------------- in my opinion that deserves POD

 Great Shot, but not POD worthy

 sick shot!

 @sweeneyrider that photo is shite - you can barely see the rider and it looks like it's been photoshopped by a n00b.

 this is insane , props to the camera guy for sure! thats insane

 I agree with scottmillphotography on this one guys, i love the image and im glad that this is POD and i do agree that you shouldn't criticize other people photography, GREAT SHOT, PROPS TO RIDER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, great angle, sweet pic

well said scottmillphotgraphy

 Thank you good sir!

 shame a bit of his wheel is cut out

 The pictures color and contrast look great, but in my opinion not POD, sorry

 well i think its a very nice shot.. i would never get a shot like this one..
cool POD!!

 Nice angle. I like.

 ya... not diggin this angle

 I like it.

 whats with all the shitty pods

 man I know.. PB has gotta start finding PODs that are actually pod worthy or else they're gonna loose a lot of people who appreciate PBs PODs and then not go on PB as much anymore.

 what are u talking about? this picture is sick , do u have anything better? didnt think so.

 Actually what's happening is we're featuring much better quality photos that appeal to a much broader range of people, and we're gaining rather than losing viewers because of it. Just because you don't personally like a photo doesn't mean that it isn't worthy of POD and doesn't appeal to a lot of people. There will always be different shots featuring different types of riding that become POD, and they are mostly all great shots. If you're only interested in dirt jump or freeride photos then the All Mountain or more XC type shots probably won't appeal to you, but it also works the other way. There are a lot of Pinkbike viewers that are more interested in beautiful All Mountain or Epic XC shots than they are in hucking shots, and those users are just as important to the site as the dirt jump photo lovers.

Pinkbike has a lot of users from all over the world, and they like different things. Dirt Jumping, Street Riding, XC, Epic All Mountain riding, Downhill, Freeride, Racing, 4X and even BMX. All of these are things that could be subject for POD, and we try to mix it up to appeal to everyone. The only thing that we try to keep consistent is the quality of the images. That means you'll see less poor quality images of people doing crazy stuff, and more images that are just great overall, even it's not what you personally like. There may still be a few poorer quality images that sneak through here and there for whatever reason we see fit, but that will be the exception not the rule.

 damn dude , well said

 Well its about time PB finally spoke up................ anyone else getting tired of all the weenies crying about how uninspiring these PODs are or that they can take better pictures.............. not every ride is going to be epic and if you can take a better pictures then why aren't they PODs everyday? Every picture I've seen inspires or reminds me why I ride regardless of how crazy the trick or the style of the ride. It's about riding a bike.

 i think you should take pics of what ever you want. and im one of those people calling pods trash, because i personally dont believe its about the quality of the pic, but whats going on in the pic. if i see a really sick clean shot of somone turning, i will not be impressed. it just means you took your time and hundreds of takes to get a pic of someone turning. if i see someone doin a frontflip off a 30 foot drop or someone dropping 60 feet on a hardtail, im gonna be more impressed.

now, if your a photographer its different. dont try to do all these professional looking angles shots. just get great pics of great things happening. you dont need lights and shadows to make a good pic, you just have to capture the right moment.

i think pinkbike has recently become 100% about photography. if somone uploaded a pic of the jaw drop being done now, it would have 10 faves...now if someone got a picture of a guy in amazing gear and an expensive bike going down a grassy hill.....that will get about 1000. am i the only one who sees a problem with that?

 the only problem is you , with out photography , how the hell are we gunna even have pods? we cant , so give them some respect , its not ALL about the rider , its about scenery , colors , lights , and other good shit man , like obviously theres gotta be a rider , but he/she doesnt have to be doing a f*ckin double back flip or somethign , have some respect for the photography as well , cuz with out it , we can never see riders in action , dont like this pod , go take some pics of ur own and look at them , or wait till tomorrow for a new one

 i do respect the phtography, i dont respect how everyhting is about photopraphy now. just my opinion

 its not tho man , just cuz the last few have been sick photography shots , doesnt mean they all have been about it. theres variety. take a look back a few man

 I like the really technically beautiful photos a lot more than simple shots of guys doing huge drops/jumps. Once you've seen a guy drop off a cliff in Utah once, it all pretty much looks the same. To be honest some of the most rewarding parts of a ride to me are clearing a corner a bit better than I did last time and finding something really cool to see. I look at photos for aesthetic gratification, I can look at my own shitty pictures if I want to see someone jumping something.

 @lingus, i believe it's called photo of the day, if you wanted some dope insane crazy trick maybe you should lobby PB to have a TOD(trick of the day) otherwise realize photos are photography and photography is a art form not just a method of documentation homie.

 Everything is not all about photography, Pinkbike has videos and forums and news and how to features and a whole bunch of other stuff. The POD is all about photography because that's what it is, a photo....

Thanks for all the great comments, and also thanks to everyone that posts constructive criticism, we do listen.

 yeah its all about the photography just think about it ,,, and forget all the time you spend to build your features

 well if that's how you feel about it. A good looking feature makes a good looking photo, an ugly feature makes an ugly photo. They might be both just as fun to ride... Do you build your features to ride or to take pictures of?

 i build my features to ride and to take some pictures off course ,,,, i dont know anybody want to spend 4 months just for the ride ?????

 Talbs, actually that's just a shadow blur from the flash, the shutter speed is 1/320 of a second so there is a crisp lit up image of the bike and rider and then a shadow image behind it for the rest of the exposure...

 Kind of a crappy effect though if it actually is what you're saying it is, Ian. Makes it look a bit fakeish. Does fit the description though as if he was tilting forwards that'd explain how the blur occurs on opposing sides.

 Yeah if it's bright enough it just looks blurry on the edges, if it's darker you get a blurry shadow on the edges. You see it a lot on flashlit sunset jump shots, a dark shadow in the sky on one side of the rider. If the shutter is only 1/30 or so it can be quite noticeable.

 that "shadow trail effect" is one of my fav things about low light flash photography!

 haha do you actually know who Ian Hylands is? One of the guys that makes your heroes look good so you can drool over their crazy skill... & I'd like to point out that what you just said mirrored to the bike side is like seeing a pic of Cam McCaul doing a front flip superman & saying, "all I need is a few grands worth of bike & half a day in a foam pit & I can do that." it is a very ignorant statement you just made, I think you need to educate yourself before you say something that silly again.

 Easy tiger, I have massive respect for Ian Hylands, he is a damn fine photgrapher but I do disagree with whoever it is that makes the decisions regarding what makes POD and what doesn't. My point is that a lot of POD's lately have been POD purely for technical photgraphic reasons and not because they capture an interesting image. Did you see the one of the guys foot on a base ball base?? WTF was that about??

And in all honestly yes, if I had a foam pit in my back yard and didn't have a 9-5 job I probably could pull off a superman frontflip and so could you given enough practice.

I admit tha using the phrase "photgraphy nerds" was harsh and uncalled for and for that I apologise but seriously I think there's a lot more skill in using a crappy camera on a phone to capture an image were timing is crucial than using a expensive SLR.

 Yeah, I did see that & didn't personally think it was all that great, but the idea was cool. That is the exception though, searching for 365 images a year to please as many ppl you can is not an easy task, so I think you need to put things into perspective & realise that if there isn't a shot that you don't like every month it is something special. That & they have to cater for all types of riding & interests, one of those being photography. I think that badly composed, lit & timed shots are a disgrace, but I don't moan when one is a POD, I wait to see what's in store the next day.

Physically probably yes, but the reason those guys are so good is because they have the balls to do it. If you could do that it would be your 9-5 job in the 1st place. That's why they're there & we're here... so many ppl have cameras these days, but not many ppl have the knowledge or patience to become a top photographer. If it was easy Ian Hylands wouldn't be so well known & respected.

You are right & wrong... phone cam all you worry about is composition & timing. It is difficult, but when you have 50 other things to think about on top of that & to know what you're doing & not just go on auto & turn it into a point & shoot is not easy. Basically, my point was your sitting on a chair talking about things people are actually working their asses off like it's nothing. To me that is disrespectful & ignorant... if being good at something was easy there would be no heroes... you understand what I'm trying to say?

 fisheye lens...

 pretty sure if it won POD, it can be...

 Because it's a really good photo!

 I like colours the and the artistic multi cultural approach the english boating shoes and the german socks showing our Canadian friends understand that europe is now a peaceful place where people live. (but I must admit I used to prefer the pods when I used to look at them and think f*** I wish I had the balls to ride that, and then be inspired go out and ride lines half as scary but stuff I never thought I would, But times change pods are about fish eye lens contrast in colours and all that shite, it's getting like an amateur photo club site)

 yeah man and the VOD is getting like all amateur filmmakers and that. pinkbike shut just them all down and f*ck the industries up and comers. wanker.

 Samarius, I like the way you signed off as wanker