Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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12 comments
Great kit - does that include a smal can of oil to add to that corner?!!
Would have nade it more likely
I found this crash to be the most ironic given that the corner in question was sponsored by Bostik!
It's a great image, no doubt.
Seriously though, who on earth would want this as a print for their wall? Weird people. Check out coverage shot by the Grubers if you really want to see some amazing scenes.
Depends on what you're shooting. In sport, luck can have everything to do with it. Nobody knew Valentino Rossi was going to kick Marc Marquez off at Sepang. You can't plan for that, just be in the right place at the right time sometimes. If you got that shot, that's the money maker.
Whats equipment got to do with it? Just the tools for the job. It much like cycling; pros ride the best bikes, but winning a bike race isn't 1/3 down to the bike is it?
Also - you say 'luck' - I say careful planning and perseverance.
Photography is about having an imagination and 'seeing' the shot before it happens - then being technically minded to get yourself in position and realise the vision.
1. Equipment: it's no good trying to catch Rossi kicking Marques with a 50mm lens, there's no points having a fill in flash at 1/250 sec when you ant to shoot at 1/1000sec, it's no good having a camera where everything is preset to be in focus when you want to play with depth of field.
2. Luck: Totally agree, minimise luck required with knowledge and preplanning but perseverence is just luck with another name.
3: Totally agree that photography is about having the imagination and skill to know the image you're taking before you take it.
That photo up there has a very large dollop of luck (in the same way as Rossi/Marques) otherwise it would be technically better. In all fairness I've not seen the original to be able to form a beter opinion.
All in all I totally agree with you.
Photography:
1/3 skill
1/3 equipment
1/3 luck
Said someone, once.
Said me as an ex-photographer. I used to get accredited to shoot motorsport (mostly BSB and BTCC) and it was mostly about getting the right spot. The right spot requires trackside access, add decent kit, luck and the magic ingredient of actually knowing something about what you're shooting and you'll get results. People underestimate the bit where you actually plan where you want to be for what sessions and what riders show what style in a particular corner. Chuck in rain and you've got a lot of variables.
So how did he get it seen by those organisations?
Twitter or something I'd imagine.
The photographer was interviewed on ITV and he credited Chris Froome tweeting the image for it getting exposure.
https://twitter.com/chrisfroome/status/881579216680235009/photo/1
He said that he had no choice about his position as it was the last spot before he had to take a motorway junction but he saw that is was wet and there was the possibility of drama.
From memory it was also his first TdF!