 Learn how to take great bike shots with Seb Rogers and Bikemagic (Pic © Seb Rogers)
The tutor
Seb Rogers shoots (and occasionally writes about) bikes for a living. You'll find his work most months in Mountain Biking UK and What Mountain Bike magazines - he's notched up over 80 cover shots over the years. His pictures have also been published as far afield as Russia, the United States and South Africa. He's been riding mountain bikes since 1990, ever since discovering that they're a perfect excuse not to do any real work. He has a degree in social anthropology and a grade C in 'O' level art, but no formal photographic qualifications. Lives at the foot of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, UK, about 10 minutes' ride from singletrack nirvana.
The Quantocks
Somerset's Quantock Hills are a great place to ride - miles and miles of trails, lots of variety, big skies and some truly splendid singletrack. All of which attributes make them a top spot for pictures, too. The Quantocks are a regular destination not just for Seb's photoshoots but for Bikemagic's bike tests too - there'll be no time wasted looking for locations, we know all the best spots. And to make sure that you get the maximum time snapping, Bikemagic editor Mike Davis will be on hand to ride that corner "just one more time".
Top MTB photographer Seb Rogers has already shared some of his tricks of the trade with us, but we know that plenty of you want more. Well, now's your chance - Seb will be running one of his well-regarded photo weekends in association with Bikemagic on 5-7 October 2007 (that's Friday to Sunday).
The venue will be the spectacular Quantock Hills in Somerset, with the two-and-a-half day format allowing plenty of time for riding and shooting. Seb will cover a range of techniques to help you get the very best out of your camera and elevate your riding shots to a new level. Don't think that you need bagloads of high-end kit, though - if you've got a camera and a desire to take better pictures, that's all you need. Oh, and a bike…
Accommodation for two nights will be in a comfortable B&B nestling at the foot of the Quantocks. There's a useful area that we'll be using to go through each day's photo haul, gently dissecting the good bits and the areas for improvement. The accommodation has two other key benefits. First, there's a very agreeable pub just over the road, and second it's just a short ride to the trails so there should be no need to faff around transferring by road.
Numbers for the weekend are limited to just six places- you're there to learn from Seb, there's only one of him and it's no good spreading him too thinly. By keeping the numbers down you'll get the best of his teaching talents. Here's what aspiring photographer Rik had to say about a previous photo weekend:
"A weekend of riding and photography, a recipe for a great time. Seb's atttitude and fun approach make it very easy and enjoyable to understand, and put into action, the techniques used by the pros. The simplest tips which now seem so obvious make such a difference and are now used every time I use my camera."
Cost for the weekend will be £350, including two nights' B&B accommodation. And there are two very good reasons to get in quickly - first is the aforementioned limited numbers, and second is that you'll get a 10% discount by booking before 30 June.
To secure your place, or for further details, contact Seb on photoweekend@sebrogers.co.uk.
Terms and conditions
Booking only secured with full payment. Cancellations up until 31st August will receive a 50% refund; no refunds will be given for cancellations after this date. Payment covers accommodation and photography tuition from Seb; guiding courtesy of Magicalia.
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Abi Armstrong
