In Front of the Lens
I have spent the better part of my life photographing people places and things, with more than 20 years as a professional. However, during all that time I rarely, if ever, get to be the subject. The first time, on my Bike Around America tour, I had the honor of working with my good friend Andrea, of Andrea Johnson Photography. She and I met up in Oregon and did a fun shoot about touring wineries by bike. No offense Dan, but she was prettier.
Now, almost two years later, I got to be a subject for Adventure Photographer Dan Bailey. Dan is a master teacher of photography and needed a subject for a Photoflex flash course he is teaching. We decided to grab the fat tire bikes, my Mukluk and his Fatback, two small backpacks of gear, and head out into the Chugach mountains at sunset for some shooting.
Dan had us ride for about 45 minutes or so, scouting locations and light, before deciding on the appropriate place to shoot. We found this lovely stretch of tree lined single track with the glow of sunset beaming down on us. It was a beautiful spot to be, independent of the actual shoot. With his super light and compact Photoflex gear, it only took Dan a couple of minutes to set up the soft box and light. My role during that time was to shoot some stills with the fabulous little Fuji X10, a camera that is on my must purchase list for UL travel photography. The B&W pictures below are from my little Sony NEX system.
I have to say, after being a model twice, I have great respect for models that do this full time. Dan was patient with me as I rode back and forth along this 50 foot stretch of trail. At the end of each run I would un-clip, flip my bike around and do it all over again. Dan worked steadily, adjusting lights, switching lenses and contorting himself Into some crazy positions on and in the snow. We joked and laughed and just had a fabulous time.
Myself, well I am a natural light photographer, rarely, if ever using flash, so for me this was a great education. Dan on the other hand really knows how to light up the action. Below are some of the pictures I took from a behind the scenes perspective. The bottom color images are from Dan and the actual shoot.
To see the images that Dan captured head on over to danbaileyphoto.com. More of my pictures from last night are up on my Flickr page.
For more on Dan check out his website, www.danbaileyphoto.com and by all means pick up his latest Ebook, Behind the Action (http://danbaileyphoto.com/blog/get-my-brand-new-ebook-behind-the-action/)
