Behind the lens of our BOLD
Campaign Shoot in New Zealand

Can you walk us through the start of the shoot day, where did you all meet, and what was the vibe like?

The day started well before dawn. The locations we were shooting were about a 75 minute drive from Christchurch, which meant hitting the road at 6am for a 7:15 rendezvous in Methven. We had some breakfast, took some photos in the cafe, and made a plan for the day.

What gear did you pack knowing you’d be shooting in the high country outside Christchurch?

I run a pretty lean kit as it is, typically leveraging zoom lenses to do most of the heavy lifting so I’m not constantly swapping primes. For this shoot, I packed my 16-35mm wide-angle lens to capture the scope and scale of the landscape, a 24-105mm which stayed on my camera for the majority of the day - great for those photos shot from the back of the truck, and my 70-200mm telephoto lens. I had a specific vision of capturing the athletes in the foreground and using the compression a telephoto lens provides to bring the hills right in on top of them.

I always bring my Ricoh GRIII with me on these jobs as well. Coupled with a powerful flash, it’s the ultimate point and shoot camera, and it’s much less obtrusive than a full frame camera, so I often find myself able to capture those brief, candid moments with it more easily than I would with my large Sony body.

How did you scout or choose the specific locations for the shoot?

Like most shoots, the scouting started on Google Maps, dragging the cursor around on Streetview to key in on any notable roads or landmarks. Once we had settled on the general location of Lake Coleridge, Cam and I drove out in that direction the week before and validated what we had seen on Google Maps, taking a few reference photos and dropping pins on the map where we knew we wanted to compose a specific frame.

What kind of transport did you use to get around?

We were fortunate to be able to pin down a buddy’s truck, which was essential for capturing those shots of the riders in motion. Having the ability to shoot straight on and from the side of the bed opened up a ton of angles that shooting from a stationary position just doesn’t allow.

How many locations did you shoot at over the day, and how did you decide when to move on?

Really, we only shot 3 primary locations. First, the town of Methven itself and the cafe for the pre-ride cozy winter shots, then we drove out to the Rakaia Gorge where we shot the bulk of the winter looks. From there, we drove out to Lake Coleridge Road, parked a truck, and followed the athletes up and down the valley, shooting throughout.

Coverage of the gear was the primary factor that drove our decision to move to the next location. With much of the valley looking quite similar, it was important to make sure we were able to break up the shoot visually, and provide some “mini-locations” within the larger scope of the day to bring some distinction to each of the looks we covered.

Was there a “moment” when you knew you’d found the perfect spot or light?

Late morning, the sun started to burn through the clouds, lighting up the mountains across the valley and giving us the crisp blue skies we were after. I was pretty stoked to see that. From that point on, the shoot really started to flow and the images came together well.

What was the first scene or image you captured that really clicked and set the tone for the rest of the shoot?

Shooting the riders spinning back and forth across the Rakaia Bridge was the moment in the day where I was able to put together the Google Maps and pre-ride scouting into a frame that came together just as I imagined it. Really validating.

Did you have to change plans or adjust creatively based on conditions or time?

The biggest factor influencing our decision-making on shoot day was temperature. Temps hovered around 0 to 3 degrees C for most of the day. Combine shooting summer kit with a cold wind and air speed once the athletes were in motion, and that made for some very chilly cyclists. I would have liked to capture more of those candid, “in-between” moments that only happen naturally when people are filling up bottles or taking down some food, but it was more important to get them back in their winter jackets or into a riding vehicle to warm up for a few minutes between shots on the bike.

Any random or funny moments from the shoot that made the experience special?

I got zapped pretty hard by an electrified fence. I jumped into an empty cow pasture to get a shot of the athletes as they were rolling by.

I climbed over the fence without issue, but when I was jumping back over to get to the truck I got a solid shock across my butt and thighs from sitting on the wrong wire. If the 3 coffees at the Methven cafe didn’t wake me up earlier, that certainly did.