Through the sun
When you're a premiere motocross jumper flying through the air seems almost effortless.
When you're a premiere motocross jumper flying through the air seems almost effortless.
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Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Aperture f/32 ISO 100 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 100/1 
California, US
Jul, 2019Views
374
Likes
Awards
Celebrity Award
Contest Finalist in Full Adrenaline Rush Photo Contest
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Genius
Magnificent Capture
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 20 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I was doing a story on this 7 time X Games medalist, Colby Raha. His practice area is this dirt hill area in San Diego County.Time
As the sun was setting, I got into this perfect situation of this superstar to go through the sun on his jumps. The window to catch what I caught was extremely short. Matching the height of his jump with the setting sun was no easy task. Absolutely no time for a tripod, it was get it now or not get it at all! The real trick was to listen to the sound of his bike because I had no visual until he was in the air!Lighting
Dealing with an amazing athlete like Colby was I knew he would be very consistent in how high he was jumping. That allowed me to even have a clue of lining his bike up with the setting sun. The major trick was being totally ready with all my manual settings before the jump but, even harder than that was, presetting the focus and then knowing when to shoot the shot...all in a split second! Shooting into the sun is a blinding experience. You have to really practice hard on tracking fast-moving objects and even more importantly shooting situations involving the sun right down the barrel.Equipment
My favorite camera is still the Canon 5D mark 2. I went with a 58mm prime lens on this shot. It's a special Russian art lens with an F-stop of 1.2. It's extremely light in weight which really helps in maneuvering the camera hand-held around on fast-moving objects.Inspiration
This athlete is at the top of this field. When I first observed him practicing his aerial jumps, I told him I wanted to attempt to get him flying through the sun. I think when you have that vision in your head and you've spoken with your subject about what you want to do, you have a greater chance to actually make the shot happen. For me, I had already shot this shot in my head, now it was time to make it come to life.Editing
My favorite post-processing software is Photoshop. I feel like I have a lot of control to actually accomplish what I had for my vision both for what is in my head and what I shot. Photoshop has the power to blend those two together. It's not a science for me but, a feeling, a highly tuned-in sensibility that you develop over the years. Trust those feelings. Post for me is seeing the finished photo come to life as to what I saw in my head before I shot it with a camera.In my camera bag
Unfortunately for me, my bag is way too heavy. I see too much to be underpowered. I want what I want at that moment in time and if I cannot shoot what I seem I go and shoot something else. Being a long lens guy and a wide-angled guy at the same time is quite the burden. I carry too many lenses around but, every time I don't carry them around I miss out on a shot I really want to get. My bag has two art lenses a 58mm and an 85mm. I also carry a 100mm macro prime, a 75-300mm, a 16-28mm wide-angle and GoPro hero5 black for time-lapses, lots of batteries for my 5D and GoPro. I would not copy me if I were you!Feedback
My advice to anyone wanting to shoot a shot like this. Practice! I shoot every day without fail. When you commit to being a photographer full time, composition should be build-in and something you don't even think about. Practice shooting into the sun, there's nothing easy about it. It takes experience. Practice shooting fast-moving objects. I have a lot of years shooting hi-speed motorcycle road racing, off-road racing, NASCAR, Indy racing, bike racing, marathon races, boat racing, sailboat racing, surfing, water, and snow ski racing, swimming races, and my list keeps going. Knowing how athletes move and how what they are riding moves, makes shots like this one come to life.
