How to Photograph Motorcycles – Part 1

Article by Christopher King

How to Photograph Motorcycles – Part 1

If you’ve ever seen Master Photographer Dean Collin’s “Simple Motion Motorcycle Photo Set and Lightning” video, you know that photographing bikes can be anything but simple; if you’re into that sort of thing. It can also be a whole bunch of fun.

Bikers love to show off their rides and riding brings out the crazy kid in all of us. Unlike Dean’s work, taking bike pictures can be easy. All it takes is a little consideration about what type of shots you are trying to get and the desire to practice. If you want to skip this article altogether, go grab a bike and a camera, take a few hundred pictures, changing up the lighting and angles a few times and you’ll inevitably get a few that rock.

This article will be broken up into three sections and delivered over three weeks.

Shooting Your Bike Shooting From Your Bike Shooting Bikes In Motion

Shooting Your Bike

It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer. While that statement is true, good camera equipment can give you more options. DSLR cameras allow you to control how you light your subject more than point and shoot cameras. Interchangeable lenses like wide angles and extreme zoom lenses can give you greater artistic expression. Interesting pictures can be created by any camera though. Even smart phones can deliver fantastic photos. Like the saying goes, “the best camera is the one you have with you.”

LightIt’s all about the light. Pro photographers make pro photographs because they know how to make light work for them. So what can you do? Use what you’ve got. The golden hours are always amazing for photographs. During sunup or sundown the sky can be used for a striking backdrop. Move fast and take lots of exposures. The light will offer a quickly changing pallet of color and become fully bright or dark within thirty minutes. These hours will give less light to illuminate your bike. Use your on camera flash to fill in and highlight. The fill flash will also cause the sky to appear darker and richer. Don’t be afraid to experiment with light. Car headlights have been used to good effect during night shots. If you have to shoot in the direct, mid-day sun, try finding some dappled shade under a tree. The contrast of shade and light can often make a stunning print. The same can be done with multiple artificial light sources in urban areas. Move your bike around a bit. A foot over, here and there, can make all the difference when trying to show off the sleek lines of your machine.

SettingPhotography is about isolation; isolating the subject from anything that is not the subject. Whether it’s your driveway or a mountain top the backdrop of your picture should be a primary consideration. One of the benefits of using a DSLR camera is the ability to control the depth of field. Depth of field allows you to blur out objects in the picture that aren’t the primary focus. Point and shoot cameras sometimes allow some depth of field control by using the portrait setting on the camera(usually represented by an icon of a head). Regardless if your camera can blur out the background, pick your background based on colors and light that will set off your bike without up staging it. If that beautiful rose bush behind your bike makes your composition confusing then move in front of a brick wall or open street. Start with simple and only add things that don’t distract. Get wet. Hose down the pavement before rolling out your bike. It will give the shot a really slick and glossy look.

Frame & FocusYou don’t have to take a picture of the whole bike. In some cases you won’t be able to get the entire bike in your picture and still be able to give the photo any kind of focal point.

Use your feet. Walk around your subject and find multiple points of view that take in to consideration all of the possibilities of composition. Look for guiding lines. If you are on a surface that has edges or cracks use those, when placing the bike, to compliment the major lines of the machine. Consider the angle of your shot. Can you shoot from above? Shoot from all angles. Get down low and shoot up. Wide angle shots from a low position will make the bike look like it is about to leap out of the picture.

Again, just shoot and keep thinking about how you can make adjustments to better the situation. A thoughtful workflow will intuitively bring about great results.

Next time we’ll talk about shooting from your bike. There’s a lot of new technology out there that allows you to take your camera with you and capture your ride without getting in the way of handling your machine.

Until then ride safe and smile. Someone else just might be shooting you!

About the Author

Christopher King is a content provider for http://www.mrcycles.com , Your OEM Motorcycles Parts Source

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