Travis Steward
Simon Cudby is ridiculous. We all know how badass this guy is at taking photos but this photo sequence of Eli Tomac crashing at Anaheim 1 takes the cake.
I’m not talking about how cool the angle is or how sharp and colorful it is. All of these guys on the floor can take badass photos. What sticks out to me is the opportunity here.
Look at where Simon needed to be standing to take this photo. There is no reason for a journalistic photographer to be at this spot on the track at this point during the race.
I’ve been on the floor of a supercross race holding a camera. I’ve covered nationals, amatuer nationals and a million local races. Granted, I was using a video camera but the fundamentals are pretty much the same. The goal is to cover as much of the track as possible or referring to graphic A, get as much red on the track map as possible.
I could be WAY off on my diagram here but I still don’t know why Simon was here at this point in the race. Was he passing through between locations? Did he have a specific shot in mind? I can tell you he did not envision this wild turn of events but damn was he ready for it.
My issue as a videographer has always been the struggle between getting the shot of the events that will be talked about for weeks and trading that for a shot that will create its own buzz. Simon is a professional at creating those opportunities. That is what separates the men from the boys.
– Stew Dog
