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Cwmcarn Mountain Biking

I’m a big fan of mountain biking. When I’m not working, mountain biking is perhaps the thing I spend most time on so it seems only normal to occasionally take the camera with me and get some snaps every now and then. Over the weekend, a bit of camping and mountain biking with friends was on the cards and the camera came along too.

Sometimes taking the camera can be cumbersome. It’s not the camera itself that’s the problem; it’s all the other stuff that comes with it – filters, different lenses, spare batteries, lens hoods, spare cards… You get the idea. So, with my enormous Lowepro ProTactic 450 bag on my back, we set out on a 4 hour ride.

After about an hour, we stopped for a bit of a breather and a chat. With Jelly Babies in hand, I managed to get a couple of shots of an interesting valley. We were heading around it, upwards towards the top of the local moorland. The valley interestingly carved its way across the landscape towards a woodland, which was where I thought we were heading. In fact, we ended up on the other side of it, in a bigger forest.

After exploring the mountain bike trails a little, I managed to find a place I was happy with the lighting and composition. It seemed to capture enough energy of the riders that passed me whilst I was setting up.

Shooting friends on a day when you know there’s limited time can be difficult. The perfectionist in me wants to request them to go back and ride through again and again until I’ve got the shot I’m happy with. The reality is that it’s not possible. In the end, they rode down the trail twice and let me snap away.

With limited time, and a small number of overall shots, I’m more than happy with the results. Of course, I’d very much like to have had the time to try some different locations and compositions, but that’s something for another day – one with much more time.

Want me to capture a sporting event for you? Contact me.

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