Category Finalist 2010: Energy

Stéphane Candé

This picture is one of those you never plan. I was in an area close to Lyon, with a bunch of French mountain bike riders, Tony Rocci and Yannick Granieri, shooting on their favorite training trail. It’s an unremarkable place, but they cherish it because the ground is soft sand that can be easily shaped.

After some time shooting with flashes, I was not totally satisfied, apart from a few crazy pictures. The area was a little bit too small for big jumps and more panoramic pictures – and the guys were getting tired. That’s when Tony came and showed me that he could land stylishly on every jump, making a nice spray of sand, and he asked me if I could get it on camera. I said no worries – I always say that – and tried to get a very close up shot with my fisheye.

I tried first to bury the camera in the sand and shoot using a remote, but Tony never landed exactly in the same place, and we were scared he could hit and destroy the camera. So I did the shot myself. After a few attempts with flashes on, I decided it would look better as raw as possible, have no flashes and be in black and white. Lucky we didn’t collide, and still have this picture, which is just overflowing with energy!

PHOTO INFO

Photographer: Stéphane Candé
Athlete: Tony Rocci
Location: Lyon, France

TECHNICAL INFO

Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens: EF15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
ISO: 1600   
F-Stop: f 7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/1000