Come holiday with me

This is something I’ve never done before, and even in the past said I wasn’t going to do, but this was just too good an opportunity to miss – this year I’m running a “photo clinic”, a four day trip that will focus on mountain bike photography – how to do it, how to get better at it and how to make the most of what you have already.

You can see the details of the trip here.

For the last couple of years running, starting with a trip I did with the guys at NSMB.com, I’ve travelled to Whitehorse, Yukon, to spend time with the guys at Boréale Biking, and it’s quickly become one of the highlights of the year for me.  Nowhere else I’ve ridden quite manages to top the incredible combination they offer – world-class singletrack, very, very long days of warm sunshine, gourmet food and fantastic beer – not to mention some of the best hospitality you could ever hope for.

With all that in mind, it was a no-brainer for me to run the first of hopefully many trips like this.  As far as what’s on offer in the course, having a small group size of six people means the experience can really be tailored to what each person wants to learn, but the main topics I’ll be covering will give everyone interested in bike photography a good grounding in all aspects of what’s involved:

• Proper exposure and composition
• Capturing the ‘soul’ of the sport
• Making your images more engaging
• Lens choices
• Packing and riding with gear
• Basic image adjustment and processing
• Insight into the business aspect of the job
• Advancing lighting / remote flash

Here’s what Boréale have to say about the package:

Professional mountain bike photographer Dan Barham (senior photographer for BIKE magazine and Singletrack UK) has joined forces with Team Boréale to do a special sport photography retreat! Have you ever taken a picture of a rider mastering a super steep descent, only to have the photo depict a non-challenging, flat terrain? Dan is here to help!

Over the course of 3 days/4 nights, Dan will lead us through the world of digital mountain bike photography and show how to capture and process that ‘worthy of a frame’ action shot. Each day will be the perfect blend of riding bikes on our endless Yukon singletrack and taking advantage of our midnight sun while learning proper technique for shooting and processing action photos.

Accommodation is in the form of luxury yurts, with proper beds, running water, hot showers and some of the best gourmet food available.  If anyone needs any more info on the package, the location or the riding feel free to give me a shout – I’d be more than happy to answer any questions on what’s shaping up to be a fantastic trip!

You can see the article we put together, “Riding Yukon Style”, on NSMB.com in three parts, which accurately describes the incredible Boreale experience in detail:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Here’s just a small selection of the images from my 2010 trip:

Tags: awesome fun times, boreale biking, education, holiday, mountain biking, Photo Clinic, photography, Singletrack, vacation, whitehorse

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Professional Mountain Bike Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.