New Forest South - Photo Biker 1

Photography and motorcycling are a perfect combination for me. I love telling stories through photos, saying a little about a person, place or culture and to do that I need to be inspired in some way to do my best work. This is where riding motorcycles comes in. It's not about the bikes or what's new on the market, it's about how they make me feel.

On a bike you're part of the environment. You can feel little changes in temperature, smell crops and roadside plants and see so much more. In the car I'm merely passing through it to get from one place to another as quickly as possible and feel separate from the world around me; like a bystander wishing they were part of the happy fun group at a party. For me that's not particularly inspiring.

As photographers we need to be inspired to establish an emotional connection with what's around us, capture some essence of it in our images and pass that onto our viewers.

Photographers are explorers. We explore light, composition, place and possibility. If you find yourself with fewer 'keepers' than you'd like, it's likely you're not in the best frame of mind. I mean, how can you expect to capture something evocative just by taking the camera with you when taking the dog for a quick walk on the same path you've been using for the last five years?

Camera skills, use of light and composition are of course fundamentals of photography. If your relationship with these is uneasy you're unlikely to be entirely fulfilled. These are the foundation upon which you build. To my mind they must be effortless and easy or you are a beginner.

But cameras don't take pictures any more than pots, pans and a $100,000 La Cornue stove oven make gourmet dishes. It's the chef that's important, not what they use to cook. So make sure you go somewhere and do something that excites you and if you're at one with your camera, you'll see a massive improvement in your photography.

Riding a motorcycle is my happy place so let me show you a bit of the New Forest around where I live in the UK, tell you a bit about it, shoot some photos and share my thoughts about light, composition and camera settings. It was a big challenge for me and to be honest, I was right out of my comfort zone - which is always a good place to be because it's where all the best things in life begin.

Sure I've made TV programs and other films for years, but never in this way. It's been a huge learning experience and despite many hours of researching Gopros and how to record good quality audio with them, things didn't go to plan as I'm sure you noticed. Above 20 miles an hour the audio is dreadful and even when stationary,  an annoying background wine comes in and out. 

But hey, we are all learning all the time and there's not such thing as a problem that isn't carrying a gift in its hand for you. Getting it wrong is where we learn the most. As I write this, I don't know how to fix these issues. But they'll be fixed none the less because I LOVED making this video and want to make more like it. Travel further, photograph more and tell more stories along the way.

I hope there's something in my words that strikes a note for you, maybe helps you get back on the field and push your own passion for photography to new levels of excitement. And that you enjoy this short ride around as much as I did because I plan to make more like it.

Best wishes 'till nest time...

PS: If your relationship with your camera, light and composition is less than you'd like it to be I guarantee my Masterclass In Photography will help. There are three versions, you can try a free sample, it's 100% refund guaranteed and has rave reviews on Trustpilot and Google.