Reciprocity Failure | Loss Through Overexposure |

Fuji X-Pro1 Snaps

Matt — Sun, 26 May 2013 16:47:09 +0000

My Fuji X-Pro1 is sort of like my adult safety blanket, if I walk out of the house without it I feel like something’s missing. Although it’s hard to look cool with my constant “man purse”, that f/2 on my 18mm has some great bokeh that works great up close on smaller objects. Here’s some recent shots with it:

Tuesday Night Races

Matt — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:03:57 +0000

Some photos from the Tuesday night races here in San Diego, with some photos of Leader employees Trina Jacobson and Luke Binder.

Mike Chacon’s UndefeatedXLeader bikes

Matt — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:33:57 +0000

Recently over at Leader Bikes we collaborated clothing label Undefeated to customize a few bikes for Mike before Ride+Style. He brought both by the office next week for a quick shoot and the orange Leader 735 was a no brainer on how to light, but the 3M reflective stickers proved to be a problem on the Hurricane.

The stickers were black which blended into the matte black paint job, but under the right direction of lighting the 3M material kicked off a great reflection.

To light the bike but not have the stickers blend into the matte black on the frame I had to have a light source coming from the same direction I was shooting, a situation that normally calls for a ring light. I didn’t have access to one on this particular day, so I threw up an 86″ PLM behind me hoping it would wrap around and light up the stickers just right.

Red Bull Ride+Style & The 200mm f/2

Matt — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:37:09 +0000

This year for shooting Red Bull’s Ride+Style I was going through what lensrentals.com had to offer in the way of telephotos, and as I was eyeing up a 300mm I noticed a 200mm f/2. An f/stop like that at that focal length sounded enticing, and I didn’t think the course would be that long that I had to have the extra 100mm of a super telephoto, so I pulled the trigger on it and rented it for a week.

I was expecting it to handle like an 85mm f/1.4 except for telephoto, and sure enough it was just that. Often times I found myself wanting to go full throttle all the way to f/2, and paid for it with alot of shots where a person’s face might be in focus, but the front tire of their bike would be soft.

All in all it was a fun lens to mess around with, and allowed me to get a unique aesthetic to the event, something that is always important when one out of three people there has a camera in their hands. I couldn’t see myself ever buying one because of the price they go for, but it’s nice being able to rent these crazy expensive pieces of glass every now and then to see what they’re all about.

Gus Molina Bike Check by David Beard

davebeard — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:32:36 +0000

Here’s a couple snaps of SKYLMT rider Gus Molina from Recfail contributor David Beard.

Stop Motion Track

Matt — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:21:55 +0000

Stop Motion Track from LEADER BIKES on Vimeo.

A shot stop-motion film I made for Leader Bikes.

Leader Visits Ride + Style Artists

Matt — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:33:15 +0000

I recently took a full time position over at Leader Bikes as their director of marketing, and part of what I have been working on has been getting Leader frames in the hands of the artists involved with Red Bull’s upcoming fixed gear competition Ride + Style to be painted.

It’s been great meeting this incredibly talented guys, and seeing their working spaces. I had the chance to visit Risk at his compound where he works, and Tristan Eaton at his downtown studio. Each artist’s space reflected their roots, with Risk’s place looking very much like the South where he’s from, and Tristan’s studio being the top floor of a giant abandoned factory in downtown LA

Alonso Tal For Leader Bikes

Matt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:27:23 +0000

Whenever it’s cloudy out I snap a bunch of photos of the sky, just in case I take a photo later on that might need some crazy looking sky. Here’s Alonso for Leader Bikes.

Gus Molina Tree Ride by Dave Beard

davebeard — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:57:14 +0000

Key Street Spring 2013

Matt — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:14:15 +0000

Here’s a few selects from the Spring 2013 look book I shot for Key Street.