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I'm a fervent advocate of the

Rejected

Posted : March 8th 2011

Despite the fact I haven’t shot a single frame of film in a couple of years now (for work at least), I still get the occasional reminder of the old days in the form of a Bike Magazine return; these are shots that have been held for possible publication, and either got scanned and used, or more likely, returned as being no longer considered.  One of the main downsides to film was obviously that only one copy of each image ever exists, so these were never sent to other magazines and now probably won’t ever see the glossy pages of print.  Such is the game.

Rather than let these slides languish in a dusty file somewhere in my office, I figured I’d scan ‘em, put a little caption on ‘em, and cry one last hurrah for those who failed to make the grade.

 

I'm a fervent advocate of the "pack it in, pack it out" philosophy, but this discarded chain could almost pass as a snake in the long grass. This was my first and only "real" print I did for Bike Mag, back when I had a proper darkroom setup.

Searching for a different way of shooting the Fruita Fat Tire Festival Clunker Crit, I used a 6x6 Bronica medium format camera, black and white film and had it processed to have a warm sepia tone.

Back in 2006, when I first moved to Canada, I found myself living in Edmonton, AB. While not exactly the epicentre of mountain biking, I still managed to find a house that backed onto some pretty great trails and deserted jump spots.

Who doesn't love trees?

The Sunshine Coast doesn't always live up to its name, and in 2007 the Rat Race was cold, wet and very muddy. Perfect conditions for shooting grainy, x-ray damaged film.

 

These two shots were taken in 2006 as I waited for my ride to the Colorado Sleepless in the Saddle 24hr race, which I was shooting for the organisers. Nat Ross' garage was impressively clutter free!

This shot came from the end of probably the wettest ride of my life. I went out with the intention of shooting on Eagle mountain, BC, but the torrential rain persuaded me to leave the gear in the car.

Despite partying the night before, Ryan and I got up super early to snag these shots at Silver Star, even hiking our way up before the lifts had opened.

2006 saw my first trip to Crankworx, and being fresh off the boat I have to admit it was a little intimidating. Funny to think it took me just four years to go from newbie to official photographer for the comp.

These next few shots are, you guessed it, all from back in the UK. Whenever I'm there, I try to sneak a ride in on the home turf of Singletrack magazine - Calderdale. The area boasts a pretty unique landscape - deep valleys for lots of descents (and climbing!), roots, rock, steps and cobbles.

This is a rare bike-related shot of my wife, then girlfriend, Laura. We realised pretty soon on that I'm not ideal husband material when I'm working, so these days she stays far away.

 

The Sunshine Coast is one of my favourite places in the world, for obvious reasons.

 

 

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 12:13 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.

9 Responses to “Rejected”

  1. Jim Panzer says:
    March 16, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    The third shot up from the bottom is just awesome, it just makes me want to ride, I can practically feel those cobble stones under my tires, great stuff! Can I ask where that was taken?

    Take it easy!
    Jim

  2. Dan says:
    March 17, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Thanks, Jim! It’s in the UK, land of the cobbled road, somewhere around Hebden Bridge as I recall.

  3. ATV Racer says:
    March 29, 2011 at 9:05 am

    Dude, these are amazing! Where is the Sunshine Coast? I’ve got to get there someday.

  4. Cam Cope says:
    June 22, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    Hey Dan,

    Nice article, let those babies see some daylight again!

    Cheers,

    Cam.

  5. Dan says:
    July 5, 2011 at 12:42 am

    The Sunshine Coast is just a short ferry ride away from the Vancouver mainland, and is well worth the trip!

  6. Dustan says:
    August 4, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Great post Dan, It is crazy to look through this and remember where and when they were printed. Also, the Coast shots bring back a ton of memories.

    Great post and some killer, classic shots.

  7. Kate says:
    September 21, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Despite the digital revolution, I will always have a big soft spot for film. I love the grittiness of xray damaged shots; it takes the feelings of drear and damp to a new level.

  8. Cris B says:
    December 20, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    Some lovely shoots mate. Just been chatting with a friend of mine who is starting to break through as a photographer on the BMX scene. Doesn’t seem that long since you left Manchester…

  9. Dyan Lee says:
    February 4, 2012 at 9:27 am

    I knew immediately when I saw the first photographer, that it looked like a snake in tall grass, which is my fear when shooting mountain biking in the west. Liked the photo, very amusing, different.

    Also, liked many of the lines and frames in these rejected images. The sunshine coast photo is pretty good, too.

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