Sports

This was my 1st time taking photos of motocross. It was December 2011 and I had just bought my 1st digital camera earlier that year. I had a Nikon D5100 and a 50 1.8. A friend of mine was the mechanic for this guy. You are looking at Les Smith in the air. I had been there a while at this point and the guys were getting interested in taking different kinds of shots. I had an idea and asked him if he minded if I stood on the takeoff to get a shot. He said something like "not as long as you don't mind being that close". I walked over to the takeoff and crouched down on the left side getting my composition ready. I said "ok Im ready" and he came around fast. I felt the wind as he went by so it had to be super close but I tried my best to get the shot and not move. Of course I shot in burst mode and got this peak whip shot with the big blue sky behind him. I still love this shot a decade later. Minimal post processing but I did want to pull out the gritty dirt and emphasize the dirt cloud that he flung up beside him.