F-Stop Junkie

Believe it or not, that is almost all of them - and that smacked straight into the 250MB gallery limit! I won't post any bad shots, because there's no point. As for people walking around the sections, I don't know if there'd be any interest, and even if there is I didn't take that many. That's maybe something I'll do more of in the future. My plan is to do all the British this year, plus a few club trials and other events like NASS and the World Round of course. We shall see. Chris

Here's the shots I took from the first round of the British Biketrials Championships last sunday at Brimham Rocks. The site allows you to buy the shots as well as look at them, so if you've every fancied a picture for Granny, or even a picture for the bedroom wall, then here's your chance! The quality is top notch, and the files that have been uploaded are suitable for printing even in the largest sizes. This is a bit of an experiment on my part. If people like it, then I'll keep doing it, and make changes based on feedback I get along the way. One thing though, please don't steal these pictures for your own site or whatever. These are intended to be viewed before purchase. If you want something for your own site, then drop me a mail or a PM and I'll sort something out that suitable for the web! I was going to post a couple of samples here, will do that later when I get home... Show me the photos! Thanks Chris

Why post so many when they're so big? Resize, and post a few good ones with a link to a gallery.

Chrome rims - as a rule - give good braking in the dry, but are terrible in the wet. Plus, as soon as you put a grind or tar on the rim, then you'll ruin the effect you were after. So, not good.

These black and white ones are pretty tasty. Not too keen on this one though, as the rider doesn't really have a shape, it's a big black blob... I think I would have zoomed back slightly, and made the rider smaller in the frame, but with more sky. Keep the rider on the left hand third line. The other B&W one works better, one of the few 'arse' shots I've seen that works! Cool, but I think you could have cropped tighter, and caught all the front wheel. There's just too much sky and foreground not doing anything. Could have perhaps worked better landscape than portrait. You could also have done with a reflector or flash to cut through those shadows on his face. Nice shots though, what do you shoot with? Chris ←

Guess who took that... (Y)" I'll dig around. Ad sent me the frame from the vid, but I'll see if I can find the photo. If I haven't scanned it yet, it may take a few days...

Isn't there certain places for trials folk to park at Brimham Rocks? I don't have an entry form - not riding - but will be there anyway...

I have seen a few cameras over the years use floppy discs, writeable CDs and now DVD-Rs. I really don't trust anything that uses a mechanism that moves to write data, at least when that thing could be shaken while it writes. That includes Microdrive for my camera. The bottom line is that a good, hard shake could cause a mis-write. Also I think that these mechanisms tend to be more prone to wear and catastrophic failure. Not to mention how new the DVD-camcorders are, and hence I'd consider them unproven. That's before you even consider picture quality and the like. Stick with MiniDV

Ben, the quality of these prints is amazing. A3 prints I've had done are photographic prints, not like posters done on cheap paper. The only reason I say poster is that these prints go very, very large!

While my camera does have a sports mode, that would have killed the ambient lighting and probably bumped the ISO up and made the noise really bad. I'd rather keep it in manual where I have some control :S) Don't worry, the outdoors events don't suffer from this!

Here's a few of mine for the mix... and finally a little something from my archive...

I think it was some off the peg Mongoose, which Chris then threw his bits on to get something decent to ride.

There are shots and video of Chris's black bike if you look around. Nothing too special just yet though....

Right, I think what I'll do is start a gallery shortly. What I can then do is when I go to a ride/trial/show is post pics up, and people can buy the shots if they like!

BMX you say? Does anyone think the last one looks like Adam Read?

Right, looking at posters, I can only really do them if I get 250+ done at a time. The biggest I can get done is 30" x 20" (76cm x 51cm) which is pretty damn big. It would be about £30 as each one is essentially a one off. A3 for £16, A4 for £6 and even 6" x 4" (the standard photo size from the chemists) for £1.50 a pop. That includes postage and whathaveyou. What I could do is post a gallery after each event, then people can buy shots of themselves or others as they wish. Sound cool?

After a positive response to my Bike Show photos thread a few people have expressed interest in prints, and I've even sold one A3 print already! So my question to the trials world is 1) Would you buy beautiful trials photos? 2) Would you buy shots of yourself? 3) Would you buy photographic prints, or only huge posters for £3? I'm keen to travel around a little during the year, take shots at comps as well as group rides, NASS and the like... So what do people think?

Not a media pass, I actually had a riders band for a number of reasons... Anyway, I was commentating for most of the shows, and took one show off a day to take snaps. You can get good shots from the barrier, but I had a lot more mobility to find a position I liked and get some good angles.

Thanks for all the feedback, really good to hear! Yes, I shoot digital, and those shots don't have any fancy photoshop effects applied to them, just creative use of flash. Digital really worked for me at the Bike Show because it was quite tricky to shoot in there - just ask any of the video guys! - so I could play around and know straight away if it's working. I'm hopefully sorting a gallery out this year, but I have two options. I can either go the custom route and just display images, or I can set up one with a company and be able to sell photos easily, as well as display ones I've taken. My only thought is, would people buy them? So, my question is; would you buy images of trials? And/or images of yourself from events?

I know the blurred look isn't to everyone's taste, and if someone doesn't like them, then fine. I'd rather have some criticism than none, because then I can improve.

Nope, just age old photographic techniques and second curtain flash.

Here they are, no apologies for the blur as it was sodding dark in there! What do you think?

Ok, my first trials bike was a 19" Kona Lavadome with my Robin Coope bashring fitted - so called because some guy called Robin Coope made them, and I had to have it shipped over from Canada because you couldn't buy them here. That was then moved onto this... Then I got the Zero, then my Limo.

I've always worn helmets from when I started riding in, what 88? When I've worked in shops, I've advised people to go to other local shops or even Halfords if I couldn't find them a helmet that fitted them well and was comfortable. Even now, I know I have to try several helmets and different brands before I'll find one that fits. I've had a couple of moments too. The biggest one was the day before an XC race. I was down the park practising my drop ins, hitting the lip at 20mph or so, the floating down. However, on one occasion I pulled up with my feet, but the bars didn't come up. My last memory fades out as I'm looping forward, my bars turning to the right and the ground approaching fast... The next thing I remember is being fed water by some other riders who had ridden past, and stopped to look after me while my mate went to get my Dad. I couldn't focus on anything past about 2ft away, and I just kept asking the same questions over and over. As I'd crashed, I think I'd kept my hands on the bars, and then nutted the ground. My helmet had a 6" crack around my right temple and was promptly thrown in the bin. My front wheel was also folded at 90 degrees too. I'd ended up unconcious after landing on my head. Off to hospital, and I ended up with a pulled shoulder, not a broken collar bone as suspected, and concussion. As a result I've always struggled with any sport which requires good shoulder strength - trials, swimming... - but I'm here to tell the tale. My other brush was trying to push my bike up a bank and I slipped, the bike landed on me. I could feel it resting on my head, but when I pushed it away, I felt a tug on my helmet straps. I undid the buckle, and pushed the bike up which took my helmet with it. Turns out the resevior on my Hope pro lever had wedged itself in one of the vents on my lid, stopping it braining me. It also shows that trials riders should use HS-33s on saftey grounds!

JJ Gregorowicz has a simple chain outline around his arm which looks cool. Aaron Lutze has got BIKETRIALS across his shoulders though in 2" high gothic lettering! That's hardcore...