Roots

Coming to the end of my first year in university, exams looming, I can't help but look forward to summer back up in the lake district. Being a northerner in a predominantly southern and midland city, I get asked a lot where I'm from and what it's like. Many people's first assumptions are that our staple foods are gravy and chips and that we can go for a pint at 9 o'clock in the morning (the latter of which is probably more accurate than I'll admit) but living in the Lake District isn't like living in 'The North', at times it feels like it's own small country.


Don't get me wrong I'm extremely proud to be a Northerner, I like to remind people of it constantly, especially when you can go out your front door and find a scene like this...


So whilst people are telling me they can't wait to go on holiday and get out on Spanish beaches, I can't help but feel a little bit smug about the fact that even when I'm not abroad, I am somewhere I love being.

It was only a couple of years ago that I really got into photography, I have a mate who studies it at college, Kieran Spence, who you should absolutely check out if you haven't heard of him because he's got a really keen eye. We both got into it around the same time, I went with sports photography and he went down the landscapes and portraits road. It's nice having someone to give a second opinion, even now when we barely talk I'm still waiting on a pointer or a comment... (hint hint Kieran.)

I was already a keen biker myself, I had a hardtail that I threw around xc tracks like a rag doll, so it seemed a pretty good sport to start with. I was a pinkbike user by the age of 13 (on a different account GiantLadElliot... I rode a Giant at the time) so I had a fairly good instinct for angles and whatnot, having gawped at PODs for years. I quickly got a feel for the camera, I use a Sony a58 which I would recommend to anybody just starting out, as it fills all my basic needs and delivers some really nice shots when the lighting is good. I started out not really knowing about editing software or adjustment, so a lot of my first shots were pretty raw:


Within a couple of months I'd got some software and started learning about all your basics like aperture, shutter speed and sensitivity. I though my shots were improving and this really pushed me on.


Moving further into 2014, I met Chris and Dan, two riders who were up at the local trails often and decided I could tag along with the camera to see what I could get. We got a few good shots in the first couple of outings so we started heading out more often. Soon we were building our own trails, in areas that I could get good natural lighting, and with bigger features that would push the both of them.


These two now feature in almost every shot I upload on Pinkbike, we have a good laugh when we're out and the two of them are usually more than happy to hit the same section a few times so I can get my shots. They have very different styles of riding (I feel I can say this as I'm the one watching all the time!) Chris is definitely the more rowdy of the two, not afraid to get a bit sideways and always throwing his bars one way or the other whilst in the air.


Dan on the other hand, is a machine. I think it's fairly safe to say he's pretty single minded. Stuck in the 'got to get faster' loop. I think I'm right in saying he's had two race seasons now, and from what I hear he's always improving. (Might be down to his mad instagrams of out of focus coffee...)


Over the past couple of years we've done loads of shoots out around the lake district, getting loads of different locations in. From what looks like a dense rain forest in mid summer...


To the bare woodlands of autumn...


And that brings us up to present! Both of these guys are now sponsored riders with pretty full calendars for the summer (I take no responsibility for this.) Chris's sponsors Delicious Race Wear make some pretty sweet gogg's, go check them out! Dan has earned himself a Knolly sponsorship and a sweet Podium frame... (well jealous.) As for me, I'm soldiering on through university, getting out with the camera and the lads when I'm home, and just generally having a good time. By no means have I reached the pinnacle of my pursuit in photography, who knows, maybe if engineering isn't for me I'll really study into this instead... Always look to get better.

Hopefully we get some more cracking shots over the next couple of months at home, and I can bring you guys on Pinkbike some more shots from my amateur hands! Keep the amateurs strong, there's a lot more of us than there are pro's! Good luck Dan and Chris for your races over summer!