My First Year In Photography by jakedavisphoto

Seeing as this has been the first year I've actually taken photography seriously I thought I'd put together a quick overview of 2010 and how I think it went. I've never blogged properly before so bare with me, but I've been looking around and have a fair idea of how it should go..

It all started off when I had my superzoom nicked from my bag one day when I was out riding and I managed to get a Canon 1000D on insurance. This is still my main camera and I'm extremely pleased with how well it's done me. Just goes to show that you don't need a super amazing camera to take decent photographs!

I started taking riding photos properly at around February and the shot above is probably one of the only ones I think any should see. It just about sums up my photographic knowledge, which was very little. I bought one of those screw on fish eye adapters thinking it would be 'cool' but it turned out to be a load of rubbish and I've never used it since!

In February and March I also made my first trips to Sevenoaks to ride the Step-Up, but it was a bit beyond my riding abilities at the time so I took photos all day! That place is truly great for photos and has helped me improve my photography a lot. The shots above shows how much I relied on Photoshop to make my pictures look good and is now something I've overcome and use as little of as possible.

April. It was around this time, I think, that my photography really changed and I improved greatly. Not really sure why, but from here onwards my photographs seem to continue to improve, whereas before this point all my photos were of the same, fairly average standard.

This shot was also from April, just a lucky flash steal. From this shot I decided it was time to start saving for a flash and triggers as they would help add depth to my photographs and help my work to progress further.

These are my two favourite shots from May. Nearly missed this day for some reason, glad I didn't though! Was my first time getting to photograph a professional rider and it was a great experience. Daryl really threw down that day.

Now to July, as nothing really happened in June. July was when I got my first shot in an advert. The shot used was one of the shots of Daryl from May. July really was a turning point for me and getting the photograph used in an advert really spurred me on to continue trying to improve the quality of my work.

I also got my new flash and triggers in June and here is the first shot I took with them! A good friend of mine also designed me a new watermark that I actually really liked and am still using now.

In July I also photographed my first Downhill Race at Porc, Mr Blings Race Series. It was also my first time of using my flash properly and was really pleased with how the shots from that day came out.

I also gave panning a go that day and, for a first try, I think it was pretty successful..

The second race of July that I shot at was the 661 Mini downhill at Porc. This was the first time I tried to sell photos and surprisingly I sold a couple!

Concentration Face.

That same weekend was the NPS 4X, again at Porc. The atmosphere at this race was great, along with the weather!

I really enjoyed photographing 4X and I think in 2011 I'm going to try to get to more of the NPS races.

Final shot that I'll show you from that weekend!

In August I went up to London to photograph the Ride Street Jam at Southbank.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised with how the pictures came out. I thought most of them were going to come out underexposed or blurry, as Southbank is pretty dark.

August was the 3rd round of Mr Blings Downhill Series and the track was great. I managed to find some decent spots for photos and also managed to sell a few shots afterwards!

At the beginning of September I went to Sevenoaks again as I hadn't been in a while. Jamie had just got back from a trip to Whistler and was really throwing down.

I also met Ryan Nangle that day. A great up and coming rider, one to look out for in 2011!

September was also when I went to my first Dirt Wars. Having been to Chicksands before I knew to good places to shoot from and got some shots I was really pleased with!

Ryan getting upside down and sideways.

There's always one that crashes. Unfortunately I missed the shot of the actual crash!

A couple of weekends later was the final round of Dirt Wars at Porc. This was the only shot I kinda liked from that day. I was pretty disappointed that none of the shots from that day came out, but that might just be me being super critical on myself!

In October my camera broke, so had to use my mums old Canon D30. Produced better results than I expected. Mr Blings Race Series was the only biking related event that I shot in October and this shot of Harry Molloy is my favourite from the day

Not much happened in November and all I shot was Mr Blings Downhill again. I had my own camera back for this race and it felt a bit weird going back to a tiny consumer body! It was at this point I started saving for a 7D for 2011

December brought cold and snow, but that didn't deter the riders from Mr Blings energetic Downhill Series! The track was extremely muddy and slick, but that didn't stop anyone. Even spectators turned up!

Along with the snow came snow biking..

..and some underground street riding!

Robs first hop bars for about a month!

So there we have it, my first year in photography! Those pictures just go to show how much I've improved since the beginning of the year.
Hope that that wasn't too long and boring!
Thanks for reading,

Jake

Author Info:

jakedavisphoto

Member since May 23, 2009
3 articles

9 Comments

turtlewax (Jan 6, 2011 at 4:13)

Wow what a year! your work is brilliant. what lenses have you used? if you dont mind me asking

jakedavisphoto (Jan 6, 2011 at 9:08)

Thanks! I started the year with a kit, 18-55. Then my mum gave me her old 28-135 and 20-35 and in about September I got a 50 1.8 which hasn't left my camera since! Cheers!

jakedavisphoto (Dec 30, 2010 at 9:55)

Just realised, I forgot to say thanks to all of those that have helped me and encouraged me along the way!

jamieledson (Dec 30, 2010 at 10:16)

yeah jake! rad photos and cool blog! love this photo man, so clean! www.pinkbike.com/photo/6012553

jakedavisphoto (Dec 30, 2010 at 10:28)

Thanks Jamie!
I wasn't actually sure of that photo to begin with, so thanks

max-gower (Dec 30, 2010 at 9:41)

sick

lukethorpe (Dec 30, 2010 at 12:06)

Great pics and write up! Did you use the 1000D for all the shots?

jakedavisphoto (Dec 30, 2010 at 12:40)

Thanks! All apart from the October shot, which was a D30. A surprisingly good camera for the price, can't wait to upgrade though!

bobaliciousYEH (Dec 30, 2010 at 10:02)

ahaha......sweeet