Lesson 1:
Immerse yourself. Getting in tight on the action can really help put the viewer right there, on that windy ridge, railing singletrack with you and your rider. It’s not always an easy shot to get – getting in close means putting yourself in the firing line, or juggling cameras and mud spatter, but it brings a more unique perspective.

This ridge is the start of one of my favourite descents in the world– a full 1300m of singletrack down to the valley floor in Chamonix, France. It’s a pain the ass to reach, even from the lift, involving a 300m rocky, stepped descent through unforgiving boulders (the scene of me breaking my sacrum) and a forty minute hike-a-bike to get to this spot. I rarely go here just to shoot, but if I’m heading out on this ride I’ll usually pack my camera. On this day I fixed a Magic-Arm to my bike to get a fork-eye view of chasing my mate Jez Wilson along the ridge, with the feeling of being ‘right in there’ that goes with it.

Lesson 3:
Plan your shot when you see it, not after. Digital has made life easy, letting us convert to black and white or add effects ‘filters’ when you’re back in the comfort of our homes post shoot. It might ‘rescue’ an Instagram-destined snap but it will never make a bad photo good. Deciding what your photo is all about at the time you take it will improve your photography and help tell that story. Looking at a scene as a B&W lets you simplify it. Now you can focus on the shapes, lines and patterns that can bring a B&W photo to life but are lost by the distraction of colour.
This shot of Jez Wilson and Mike Foster, taken around noon on an autumn day could have worked as a colour, but the power of the reflection and the outline of the peaks would have been lessened. It’s shot during a big day out, involving a full 1700m climb and descent along the Val Feret in Italy. Even as (or perhaps because I’m) a pro photographer I don’t carry a camera on every ride. It means I miss the occasional shot, but it means I still get to enjoy my riding and keep a connection with my life-long passion of mountain biking. But the camera sneaks into my pack when I know I’m heading out on a ride like this.

Lesson 5:
Don’t fear the darkness. Today’s technology and HDR processing means we can throw light into almost every dark nook and cranny and shadow of a photo. But it’s not always a good thing. Solid blacks and dark shadows are useful tools for strong images, letting you add drama to a scene or silhouette the rider for more impact. The result mirrors that of slide film (which oddly enough due to their limited exposure latitudes didn’t represent what our eyes see anyway) but it means more moving about to find the right angle to make best use of the contrasts in lighting.
This shot of James Richards was taken on our second day of a 4 day, self-supported MTB traverse of Gran Canaria, following the GPS track of an Ultra Trail running race. For 4 days we rode through some of the most enchanting landscapes I’ve seen. Day two was a tough, long day of riding and we dropped into the last descent – a technical 5km of singlerack perched above big cliffs – just as it began getting dark. Riding this trail in twilight had its challenges but it let me capture the dramatic scenery in a different light, and give the ride the ‘out there’ feel that it rightly deserved.

Lesson 6:
It’s not just action. Bike riding is (almost) as much about the culture as the riding and it is very much part of the story of our sport. Having a camera along means being able to capture this culture – the pain, the frustration, the rewards, the post ride beers – as with this shot of Jez Wilson collapsed at the top of a steep Peak District climb, while local Nic Kidd savours the moment. We’ve all been there, on both sides of the fence.

Lesson 8:
Manual Focus has its place. I’m going to confess: I have some of the most advanced cameras ever made and I still shoot most of my mountain bike pictures on manual focus. Sometimes, like for this shot of Joe Barnes above Fort William in Scotland, trying to track the subject through these tight trees with autofocus would be near impossible. Instead, as with many shots I take, I pre-focussed on the corner I knew would be the moment of my photo, reframed the shot and switched the autofocus off. Manually focussing can give you confidence in shots like this as well as more control over your compositions by letting you place the subject towards the edge of the frame away from the autofocus points.
This shot of Joe is one of my favourite mountain bike shots I’ve ever taken. The tangled, impenetrable and bleak screen of trees give it an otherworldly feel, that seems apt for riding in Scotland in November. It might lack the glory of big action but it connects with my type of riding, and having a connection lets you better capture the story.

Lesson 9:
Back off to get the big picture. On multi day trips or big rides in the backcountry it’s comforting to keep the group tight, but by backing off and putting distance between you and the riders you can gain a different perspective of what you are doing and where you are riding, It allows different compositions and lets you capture the a bigger picture of riding through remote places that demand resilience.
This shot is from a 2013 pioneering mountain bike traverse of Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor – a vast, high altitude, empty wilderness. Our 3 week trip and 12 day ride was the toughest thing I’ve ever done in 30 years of mountain biking, but it presented a thousand and one unique photo opportunities. Aside from the personal accomplishment of surviving, those are the rewards of being such trips for me. Capturing the team struggling up a long, cold and wet valley after being defeated from crossing the pass by a blizzard the day before was one such unique photo opportunity. Only by backing away could I really do justice to our feeling of fragility in the midst of this powerful landscape.