Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Sandy b er ms are e xc iting, p ar ti c ul ar l y when ove r. feel anything? Are yo u involved? Doe s it have a visua l int erest for yo u in its co mpos itio n, act io n, tonality, any thing? Does it move yo u in any possib le way? If no t, the ph o tographer has failed to attract yo ur interest and co nvey a visual image of what h app en ed at a ce rtai n place at a certain time. Go on t o th e next photograph, and the nex t, and th e next , searc h ing for that cer tain slap -in-the -face qu alit y o f actio n or th at sub tle emot ion that ca n be glimpse d in a man 's ey es at 100 miles per ho ur . Not ice th e di ff erent sty les o f riders. So me riders can do a ll kind s of tric ks an d others don 't, so watch for th e cross-u p specialist o r th e b oun ce-off-the-berm artis t . FIRST IS THE BEST The starting lin e an d first tu rn is always a good place for actio n. If yo u want wre ck s or near-wrecks or shots of massed rid ers t hundering aro u nd in clouds of d ust, thi s is whe re it 's at. If you can get on the outside of the firs t turn an d be looking down the straigh t for the start line yo u will b e in a great po sition for a series of photographs. JUMPS, NATCH jump s are a favori te ph ot ographic sit ua tio n and for good reaso n. The sight of a ride r all cro ssed up and sidewa ys is im pressive. Even more impressive (and muc h hard er to get ) is a sho t o f two o r th ree riders jumping at the sa me tim e. I go t tir ed of jump shots, tho ugh . Impressive as th ey are, the y all start to lo ok th e same. A goo d varia tio n o f th e jump sh ot is a su per-c lose up of a p ortio n o f th e bike o r rider. Figure out about wh ere a rid er 's wh eel will hit when he lan ds an d foc us o n t hat s pot. Pan with him as h e ap pro aches and t ry to fire right as h e hits. Lik e much race photogra phy, thi s is a hit-or -mi ss method but if yo u get lucky yo u can get fram e flex, com presse d shoc ks and tires, a nd an egg-sha ped Akront. Try this on t he rider's face or body . Mayb e yo u ca n immo rta lize a spine temp ora rily sha ped lik e a mountain road. BERMS My favorit e place is th e ou tside of a good sandy berm. Eur eka! In my opinio n it is the essence of motocross. Im agine it: t hree ride rs thundering into the corner, bumping int o eac h other , bikes all cra nke d over, foot pegs dr agging, see-sawing side ways, san d ex ploding from th e rear wheels , front tires • on~ rid ers pushes an ot h er on e Fa ntastic. Sh oot him at a 1/1000 and see what you get. No thing. just a gu y on a bike. Sh oot him at 1/30 an d see w hat you get . Beautiful. Th e b ike is a jolt in g mass of machinery , the spokes have d isappeared b ecau se of th e speed, a nd the backgrou nd is mov ing past at th e spee d of so und. Panning is sim ple. Just put th e subject in the ce nt er of the finder and keep h im in the same spot as if yo u were going to lit erally shoot h im wit h a gun. Press th e re lease slo wly so you won't jolt the came ra ( yo u alwa ys shoot t ha t wa y) and fo llow through lik e Arnold Palm er. With color HIm t he effe ct is eve n b ett er . DESERT T he desert has it s own special set of requirem ent s for that certain picrure. It 's a bear to pho togra ph decently. If you want to get a sho t o f y our pal in a race the cha nc es a re slim unl ess yo u sta nd at a bottleneck. To st and an ywh ere else in th e co urse would invit e a very ex ci ti ng head -on shot , and yo ur last one. Best bet is to han g arou nd the pits and get those face s full of victory and fati gue. O r stand in a spot where th e rid ers have to single file and yo u ca n hi de safely behind a rock, lik e a chasm. T he rest of your photos will pr ob abl y b e vast ex panses with the biker a sp eck in th e middle. Th e fei gne d seriousness o f t hese two young riders is obliterat ed b y th e ki d i n the mid d le. FLAT TRACK Scrambles, half miles, IT, and o th er flat tr ack eve nts ca ll for quick refl e xes. Th e hot set-u p th ese days is feet -up slid es, full-lo ck vari et y. Watch rid ers as they apex turn s, find t heir lin e, a nd focu s o n th e spot where th ey get the mo st out-o f-shape. Pan with th e du d es and sho ot ju st before they pop into foc us. By the time your refle xes take over the rid er sho uld b e spot-o n. T his is a go od time to get two an d t hr ee guys elbowing eac h ot her, shifting each o the r's gears a nd stuff like th at. jumps in flat track s are n' t nearl y as exciting as motocro ss a lthough they see m to loop th e machin es more often. St anding on th e outsides of tur ns is scary but yo u ca n get b ell er face shots and more radic a l-look ing ac tio n there. Half miles and miles are to ugh. T he fellers are mo ving so fast yo u don 't have tim e to d o muc h of anything bu t sh oot an ything th at 's in foc us. First turns are pe achy for h andleb ar -grind ers. A ft er th at , try to get p icture s fro m th e a ngle yo u are n 't likely to see . On e thing ab our most ro u ndy -ro unde r pictu res : they all look alike. So tr y so methi ng di ffer ent. Lik e panning a fasr rider as he lap s a slower rider. Look s neat. THE KIN D FOL KS WHO MAKE IT ALL POSSIBLE CRASH ES, if you must Do n' t forget that it is more than a ra ce. It is a hu ma n event tha t co nta ins ele me nts o f every side of the hu ma n character. It can be high drama , full o f ten sio n and strain, o r it can b e a dismal parade of ho-hum pro por ti on s. It can be a great tragedy or terrifi c co rne d y. Becau se a rac e is a hum an eve nt , tr y and show the human side . Be on the ale rt fo r any th ing, anywhere, any time. Sec that girl friend hugging h er week end warri or ? Ge t it. Or how abo ut tha t rider over th ere kick ing th at glass ta nk to pieces becaus e it qu it o n h im when he was in the lead ? See what I mean ? Possi b ilities everyw h ere. Ernest Hemingwa y sa id that everyone has at least one go od no vel insid e th em, If tha t's so , then surely they h ave at least o ne goo d ph o tograph. Be th ere wh en it h ap pen s. Yes, u s bikers do get on our he ads eve ry no w an d th en. Stand at the first turn at the sta rt o f th e first mora o f the seco nd division of the 250 Novices a nd you ar e guaranteed one. Th e mo st spe ct acul at crashes are th e on es every b od y least expect s a nd a lway s hap pen when you are changing film or, at best , have your ca me ra dangling at bell y level. If you see a boffo get -off and don't have th e th ing ready , just shoot fr om th e hip. If yo u' ve ever gotte n off yo u kn ow how cras hes happ en - fas t. You wo n't have t ime to pu t th e ca me ra to yo ur mu g, adju st the met er, focus , co nipose th e frame, and shoot. If you're fairl y ex perie nce d you can grab the fo cu s ri ng an d pin it in vaguely th e righ t dir ect ion while yo u shoot. With l uck you'll .im mortalize th e sce ne. Th e wo rst that ca n happ en is a wasted frame, a whole th ree cents worth . Alw ay s rem ember th at film is chea p, so wh en in doub t, shoo t and-ask qu esti ons lat er. NEXT WEEK, CONCL USION: POLISHING YO UR ACT , CY CL E NEWS April 18 , 19 72 Page 25

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