So I'm not sure if I've mentioned that the majority of the photographs I take while on the motorcycle trips are taken while I'm riding. Yes - I'm actually photographing from the back seat of the bike! I strap the camera around my neck and as Yozef drives, I'm snapping away from the back.
It's not an easy feat for sure. When you're a passenger on a bike you can't move around a lot or make sudden moves as it could throw the balance of the bike off which is very dangerous. As a photographer on the back of the bike, there has to be a lot of trust and synchronization between the driver and the passenger. My moves have to be very smooth and minimal while Yozef keeps the bike moving. I also have to keep the camera as still as possible, although with some of the bumps there's just nothing I can do.
Why would I wear my camera while riding? Well, you can't always just whip the bike over every time I see something I wanna snap a picture of. And the amazing things you see while on the road are just too awesome to NOT snap away.
It's been a lot of work. It took me awhile to find the perfect settings to photograph while travelling at highway speeds, but just before this trip I got the absolute perfect settings. I use a 1/2000 shutter speed, f11 aperture and an 800 ISO. Why such a high ISO for outdoor shooting? Because my shutter speed is so high. The only downfall is that because of the high shutter speed and me not wanting to go higher than an 800 ISO that means I have to have nice, bright, sunshiny days in order to shoot. But it's oh so worth it to freeze a frame right there ...
Yozef and I work well together this way which is huge. But ... it's a lot of hours in the seat for me and it makes for long hot days working my butt off to get these pictures, and you know what? I wouldn't change a thing! I can't wait to get home and upload these to iStock and my shops.
We've still got one more week out which will be spent making our way back to Wisconsin. Right now we're spending a few days relaxing just outside of Houston with our dear friends. A MUCH needed break for sure! We plan on leaving the area Tuesday morning (weather permitting) and will hopefully reach Princeton, Wisconsin by September 21st.
It's be alot of miles and a lot of images these last 5 weeks, but I love my job!!!