All summer long I have been chasing after a number of athletes across a diverse array of sports. I’ve shot climbing, bouldering, base jumping, kayaking, mountain biking and trail running to be specific. Pretty cool, considering my background was making strickly kayaking flicks. For all the die hard kayaking fans out there, rest assured that I have not lost track of kayaking, but it has been refreshing to see some new faces, tools and terrain. From a production standpoint, the multi sport summer has taught me tons and most importantly I have had an absurd amount of fun. The latest shoot was another assignments from National Geographic and allowed me to partner up with Christian Begin and his RED. Mountain biking was the subject and we had an epic couple days in the field.
Air time is something that there is no shortage of in mountain biking.
photo by Nick Sopczak
In the hundreds of things I have learned in the past few years of filming, organizing good talent still sits high on the list. It is the difference between a labored day in the filed where you are constantly trying to make things happen and one which seems to just flawlessly fit together. Christian had lined up three local guys for this shoot. Chad, James and Paul all ride for Dincus and have skills when it comes to two wheels, dirt trails and air time. We were excited to be filming them and they were fired up for the camera. Win win.
The Trio. Chad, Paul, and James.
photo by Nick Sopczak
The first day we shot almost entirely in a big open clear-cut with tons of wooden features, while the second day we tucked into the woods. Both locations were stunning and it is impressive what these guys and other trail builders have constructed just minutes from Squamish. We used a number of different cameras. Christian was shooting his RED and also gunning with my new Canon 5d Mark II, while I worked the EX-1 and the new HD Sony POV. We have rented this new POV unit on a couple shoots now. Pretty cool for what it is.
James and Paul waiting for the word on the cable cam.
photo by Nick Sopczak
One the second day we set up an amazing cable cam which captured riders joining each other from different trails. This showcased how well the boys were riding together and how precise freeride mountain biking can be. These guys have their speed and timing so dialed that they can join each other mid air in the middle of a trail. We worked hard to come up with a way to get the cable cam over this zone and walked away with out best mountain bike shot yet.
Matt and I deep in the rigging of the cable cam.
photo by Nick Sopczak
It’s snowing in the mountain here now, so fall has now turned winter. Hopefully some of the next blog posts include that beautiful white layer of snow!