The Event Horizon…
Months after I had the pleasure of being asked to be the official photographer at the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club’s (VJMC) show at
Uttoxeter Racecourse the dates had finally arrived. July 2nd and 3rd 2011 was going to be a weekend of classic Japanese motorcycles.
Owners, clubs and enthusiasts from across the UK got together at the Staffordshire racecourse to show off their bikes and talk to like-minded people about their passion for what is now the fifth year.
I had also been given a space to have a photography studio where visitors and exhibitors could have the pride and joys photographed in studio conditions, which meant I needed a printer on site, a backdrop and of course my lighting rig.
- My studio space.
I needed to have the backdrop setup ready to go as Saturday was going to be a long busy day. So I travelled up on the Friday afternoon on
the train as all my kit had gone up in a van and a car.
I had spent the best part of 6 hours travelling and changing trains and although the station is right next to the Racecourse, I had to walk
round the houses a bit as there was no direct entry from the station. So I was a bit hot and bothered, not to mention hungry!
I found where I needed to be and set the backdrop up which is a bit of a handful being 3 metres wide, assemble pole lengths and stick through the vinyl roll and set where the stands are going to be and get the holes to line up with the threaded tops of the stands. This took one attempt first time (You can see this here: http://youtu.be/8ulDnSh-sxY) but this time it was five or six, either one of the sections of the support came adrift or I could not get the bolt in the hole….
Now swearing and getting the hump I got it done and had some lunch.
So I then came back and checked everything was setup right and taped the front edges of the backdrop down. Set the Lencarta Safari up with
the softbox and umbrella took a test shot and adjusted the power etc.. Setup the HiTi 510s Dye Sub printer on a table again
tiredness and heat fried my part-time brain cell to a crisp… Got the toner in, then the paper.. Split my jeans wide open.. DOH! Embarrassing and funny at the same time. Finished off what I was doing then changed into a spare pair and carried on sorting bits and pieces…
At this point I needed a bike to test shoot and as John Cooper’s Rocket 3 was nearby, I gingerly asked if they would mind wheeling it into my studio for my test bike shot, I took a few frames then it was wheeled back to it’s proper place. I ran a couple of prints off to check all was well
with the printer and so potential customers could see what they would get if they decided to have their bikes photographed.
John Cooper's BSA Rocket 3 ridden to victory against Giacomo Agostini.
A limited edition print of John Cooper with his bike and prints of the bike on its own are available to order. These will be limited to 150 editions of each as a framed print, canvas, acrylic and metal panels for the wall.
This turned out to be quite popular, but working on your own limits the canvassing for clients and sales hard, but I put up some posters and
all was well in the end..
A fine Kawasaki
Then the hard bit, packing everything away after the show and heading home. So this was my first taste of event photography.
Would I do this again? Yes I would and I would jump at it too.
Special thanks to all involved with the VJMC event at Uttoxeter, your hard work and effort is much appreciated.
Thanks also to System insight for a seemless experience with the dye sub printer.
Important links that may be of interest:
http://www.sounds-and-images.co.uk
