I just got back from an amazing couple of days shooting KTM Canada‘s 2011 team images. A friend recommended me for the assignment and I was able to shuffle around an existing client to make it happen. I shot with KTM Canada riders Kaven Benoit and Kyle Keast a few weeks ago and was looking forward to working with the rest of the team. This has been one of the worst, most unpredictable springs on record, weather -wise, and it was touch and go until the last minute. I had been working with KTM Canada’s team manager, Andy White, to plan out the shoot but it wasn’t looking as though two consecutive sunny days were in the cards for us. While organizing the logistics of the job, Andy told me that they also needed some headshots and from there we were able to plan out a few days that made sense for both parties. Still unsure about the weather but under the gun, we rolled the dice!

I had to stop in at Vistek before leaving town to rent up a few Freelight S-Heads and to buy two rolls of black seamless for the shoot. One never knows how a make-shift, location studio will work out so I tend to over-prepare. Is there such a thing? It’s challenging to try to be ready for every situation that can be asked of you but I am by nature solution oriented and do whatever I can to accommodate a client. I had a hard time getting reliable information regarding mixing A and S-heads with my Ranger packs but everything in the specs indicated it “should” work. I chose A-heads when I purchased my kits for their fast, action freezing, flash duration but S-Heads would be fine for studio work. The only question was, would they work together? I just sold my Alien Bees in favor of a more mobile, battery-powered studio solution and am still getting everything dialed with these Rangers. Normally I would have made a point of getting a few test shoots under my belt but the unpredictable weather and timeline were working against me on this one. I am confident in my abilities and knew I could make any situation work but with a new client like this, I prefer to be 100% prepared. I was late getting out of the city but made decent time and rolled into Montreal during the early evening on Wednesday. I managed to bang off a few test shots and prepare a bit more for the next day – as well as I could without being on-site.

I made my way to KTM’s offices on Thursday morning and was met by Catherine Desrochers. She was very helpful and we quickly found a suitable location for my make-shift studio. I was asked to shoot the riders against a black background to conform with their current material. I like this look as well but it can be tricky to pull off depending on what the ambient light is like at the location. Typically to do this, you need a bit of breathing room to assure that your key and fill lights don’t reach the background. As you can see in the images below, it was pretty tight quarters. I even had to have two of my tripod’s legs on a table to get back as far as I could. You need to cancel out the ambient light by overpowering it with your strobes but that can quickly lead to light bouncing all over the place – the white walls were acting as giant reflectors. I hadn’t had the opportunity to test any of Elinchrom‘s light modifiers until the day of the shoot so I wasn’t sure now much control, spill and bounce I would have. I new I would need to potentially illuminate a subject from head to toe so I went with a Rotalux Softbox Recta 90x110cm and used the Varistar brollys for fill and rim light. When I had my Bees, I often encountered posh Profoto and Elinchorm photogs look down their nose at them but can honestly say that these are no better or worse. I prefer the mounting system for the simple reason that you can lock it in place but the overall construction is equal. A light is a light and just like camera and computer brands, it’s not what the marketing hype says that matters, it’s what you do with them. They are all just tools. I scrambled like a madman to get set up and get some test shots under my belt but, as it turns out, there was no need to hurry as it would be another 8hrs before everyone arrived. Michael, Kaven, Jeremy, Kyle and eventually Robby rolled in for the shoot. Once we got going, everyone worked hard and we were getting down to business in no time. Here are a couple of shots of my setup. I always strive to have more of this behind the scenes stuff but I am focused on the task at hand this always takes a back seat to delivering what my customers want. I shot tethered so that I could share creative with the client and ensure I had the shot. I also shot using Nikon’s Live View mode which meant I had complete control of the camera from my laptop. I could see a real-time image and make exposure and focus changes with a click of the mouse. I never had to touch my camera until setup changes were required. Catherine knew what she was after and was very helpful with creative.

The Rangers worked very well and produced a nice quality of light. Even tough I am used to having control over four individual lights I was able to work with the asymmetrical distribution of the packs with ease. The background rendered black even with the warehouse lights on and focus wasn’t an issue until I got up into the higher F-Stops later in the evening. Once we got the headshots out of the way, we got some cool shots of the riders on their bikes. I really like how these turned out.

During the planning stages of the shoot, Andy had sent me some images of their warehouse as possible locations. They have a great teaching area that I thought looked very “factory” and could be a cool location for some environmental portraits. They looked very corporate and had the added accent of KTM’s trademark orange to tie it all in. I love this sort of stuff and the riders definitely dug it as well. I did a few ad and lifestyle shots there. It was a long day and my creative juices were drained but I had a blast working with everyone and am pleased with the final product. I was really impressed with how everyone pulled together and, if this shoot was any indication, I’m sure they will have a very successful season together. The riders obviously like and respect Andy. After working with him, I can see why.

The next morning we met at KTM again and got loaded for a day of poster photography at the track. The sky was overcast and there was a threat of rain for later in the day – the story of the spring so far. We fought through traffic and made our way to SRA, a track Andy knew. It was a seriously impressive track with primo looking dirt. Unfortunately, photography-wise it wasn’t ideal. It was right beside the highway and was divided by massive hydro towers. The overcast skies made it so that I was unrestricted with regards to the direction of the light but the other two eyesores limited me severely. I knew I could make it work but also knew I couldn’t do everything I would have liked to. One of the things I wanted to do was a cool team shot with all the riders in their new kits sitting on their killer rides. I originally wanted to do this at sunset with an amazing sky behind them but knew this was my one chance to get them on immaculate bikes. The guys were itching to ride and I knew it wouldn’t happen if we waited until the end of the day. I overpowered daylight and added a bit of an epic mood to the shot.

The remainder of the day was dedicated to getting individual rider posters. I’m not going to lie, It was challenging. I really only had two big bowls to work from and there wasn’t much wiggle room. I wanted clean backgrounds to frame killer action. The light was way too flat to shoot with on its own so I once again had to rely on my trusty Rangers. I used both packs in the B channel with high-performance sport reflectors. They really helped focus the light yet still remained fairly soft. I got nailed by roost a few times and my gear got hammered but I knew that was the exact spot I had to be in to get the shot so that’s how it was going to be. Everyone brought their A game for the shots. No complaints, great attitudes all ’round. Awesome group of people at KTM, riders and staff alike.

To see the rest of the images keep checking KTM’s website and Facebook page. You can also get your very own signed poster at the races this summer so be sure to stop by the KTM trailer!