Jon Odams is a regular at many races that I shoot from the Shimano MTB GP series to races like the 4-day Port to Port.  He is always at the pointy end of racing and I thought would make a great subject for a project I was working on.  After contacting Jon we lined up a shoot at a popular mtb trail area on the Northern Beaches that both he and I had never been to before.  Jon rides for Giant Bicycles and Shimano/Pearl Izumi and was an opportune time for the shoot as Jon had just picked up a new ride and had plenty of kit options to choose from mixing up looks on the trail.  

  I didn’t want to waste Jon’s time so I spent the day before rolling around the trails as not far from where I live.  Plenty of features to shoot in this area but again keeping time tight as I wanted shoot some portraits as well with my mobile studio I chose the best in a short loop with a nice mix of trail options. 

  As you can see Jon is pretty skilled on the bike and had no issues with any of the locations I asked him to ride, after a quick check he dropped in multiple times for various angles.  I’m always keen for athletes to give me great images but it’s imperative that we don’t get into “photo adrenaline” excitement and put the athlete at risk.  It’s the athlete that always decides whether the desired jump/feature/move is safe and if so I need to make sure I am on it, ready when they drop in. 

  For these types of shoots when I approach an athlete for my needs I return their time in some images they can use to promote themselves or print.  It’s great way to know an athlete better learning about their family, introduction to the sport and goals for the future.