I pride myself on being able to take reasonable photographs of motorcycles in action and it’s taken a lot of time and hard work to get there.
Of course, my work does still pale into insignificance when I compare it to the images produced by so many top photographers around the world.
But I’m comfortable with that. You see, I’m a writer who takes photos, not a photographer who writes (do you understand the distinction? I picked up a camera almost as an after-thought, following many years of just writing about the sport).
Actually, the main weapons in my journalism arsenal are the pen and keyboard.
But, even so, I get a huge amount of satisfaction when I download my images and see the results displayed on my computer. I get some pretty good shots from time to time, even if I do say so myself.
But can you imagine how I felt to be standing among a huge gaggle of the world’s leading photographers at the first turn at the British GP, the Belgian GP or at the Motocross of Nations? I could not swing my elbows without hitting one or another of the sport’s photo legends.
Can you imagine what’s it’s like to be standing among a huge gaggle of the world’s leading photographers at a major international event? You are not able to swing your elbows without hitting one or another of the sport’s legendary camera men and women. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
It was almost as good for me as chatting with Ricky Carmichael, Tony Cairoli, Romain Febvre or Ken Roczen and I’ve done that a few times too.
Anyway, speaking of mixing it with the “royalty” of the motocross photography world, to my left was Simon Cudby and to my right was Joe Bonnello; Ray Archer was next to him and then there was Jonty Edmunds, Max Zanzani, Paul Bliss, Steve Bruhn, Mario Marini, Geoff Meyer, Frank Hoppen, Stefan Geukens, Plons and Alex Hogkinson, to name a few.
I was also once privileged to spend a day tagging along with my old photographer mate Joe Bonnello as we toured Washington DC, snapping away at all sorts of weird and wonderful things and not one of them was motorcycle related. I picked up a few pointers from him and he gave me a fresh way to look at the subject material.
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that we can learn something new every day and, even if you’ll never be as accomplished as your idol, tutor, mentor or guide, any improvements you can make are a good thing and should be cherished.
In saying that, we all have strengths and weaknesses in life.
In years now past, I coached my son and daughters in the ways of writing, taking photographs, riding motorbikes and playing football or tennis (just some of the things that I have a particular interest in) and they each showed a bit of talent with those pursuits over the years.
As a teenager, my son was selected on two consecutive seasons as a Taranaki and then Central Region rep soccer player (one of only 16 in the entire province/region … yes, I was a proud dad).
He won prizemoney in a regional photographic competition and had some of his motocross pictures published in magazines, and in newspapers in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and the Manawatu. He was a regular columnist for Kiwi Rider magazine and starting to get the hang of sentence construction, spelling and grammar (unlike some grown adults I know) and even got to take a game off me in a tennis hit-up (and I used to play A-grade tennis you know).
It won’t be long before he beats me at all the things I hold dear. But that’s okay, I will always be better than him at something and I’m sure he’ll respect that.
To his credit, he didn’t get too downcast at finishing a lowly 96th in a cross-country event on one rare occasion that he raced such a thing. It was his first ride in almost a year (he takes after me in that regard … I need to put aside more time to go riding don’t I?).
Podium time at the Motocross of Nations is just bat-shit crazy. Massive tolerance and Kevlar elbow pads are highly recommended. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
My boy understood that, like me, he was probably never going to be an enduro or motocross champion. But he also realised that he didn’t have to be as good as Bryan Patterson, Craig Coleman, Chris Maindonald, Chris Derwin, Darryll King, Shayne King, Josh Coppins, Cody Cooper, Hamish Harwood, Chris Birch, Courtney Duncan, Daryl Hurley, Josiah Natzke or Brodie Connolly to get a huge kick out of riding dirt bikes.
I watched my son one time battling away all day with the “tail-end Charlies” in this particular cross-country race and yet he still beamed with joy afterwards when he reported that he had finished 96th (out of 117 starters).
He did get annoyed with himself in an inter-club tennis match when he was getting his backside whipped, and he was scowling despondently and kicking at his racquet.
“Hey mate, don’t get down on yourself,” I prodded him, by way of a motivational speech, “just imagine this same guy beside you on a football field or racing the cross-country nationals … you’d kick his butt.” He gave me a satisfied grin.
Yep, we can all be top step of life’s many little podiums when we take time to look at things from a different perspective.
© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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