Without notice, the ominous skies unleashed hail and wind gusts of 40mph. Everyone on the beach scrambled to gather their belongings scattered across the sand - rafts, tents, sunshades, anything and everything. It was our sixth day of shooting in the Utah desert, and once again we’d taken a mid-day swim break at Lake Powell to escape the 100+ degree heat. With our gear safely in the truck, there was only one remaining goal on Jack Graham’s mind, it was now or never, he had to wash his bike.
Suppressed by gusting wind and mayhem everywhere, indistinct laughter resonated behind the truck. Quickly grabbing my camera, I sprinted to shore with barely enough time to fire a couple frames - wearing a helmet tediously carved from watermelon, Jack peddled hard in the deep sand, escorted by the helpful pushing hand of Blake Sommer. Abruptly striking the water, the bike quickly ejected Jack and the watermelon into a front flip. Finally his bike was clean, however, the mission wasn’t yet complete.
Organizing our thoughts on the drive back to camp, we internally questioned how we would muster the strength to rally again. The entire week had been filled with precise, yet free-flowing decisions, putting us in positions of opportunity at sunrise and sunset. The mission was simple; shoot freeride mountain biking in the desert, pursuing unique imagery that has enticingly lingered in my imagination the last two years. Weeks of researching and scouting legal areas to ride, had brought us to this moment, exhausted and content, yet hungry and focused for one last shot. There’s a reason I asked Blake and Jack to join me on this adventure. Besides their amazing riding abilities, they are incredibly mild-mannered and motivated, which makes for a great team dynamic. They were simply committed to the process, step by step.
Earlier that day, our alarm clocks shattered the 5am silence as we departed our tents, seduced only by the mere thought of caffeine peeling open our sleepy eyelids. Besides drinking relentless amounts of water and eating healthy dinners each night around midnight after shooting, the only thing keeping us connected to reality was the motivation to create the best imagery until we were once again sleeping in our beds at home. Within Blake’s Toyota, we jostled down a dirt road before sunrise attempting only to keep the coffee in our mugs. It was no different than any other day, hike, wait for the light, ride, and once more…hike again. Sinking ankle-deep at times within the boiling black shale, Blake and Jack slowly hiked to the top of their respective lines, shouldering their unforgiving downhill bikes as I scrambled the surrounding hillsides looking for the perfect angle, sometimes shooting from over a 1/4 mile distance. The heat was relentless, and to make things more challenging, we were also battling gnats, guarding ourselves with long-sleeves and buffs at all times. Thankfully, we were able to escape mid-day, refreshing ourselves at the lake - without it, our trip would have been a different story.
Returning to camp that evening we quickly changed gears, chiseling layers of dirt from our shoe insoles, and throwing on our dirty clothes. After a great week, I was half tempted right there to pack’er up and spend our last night around the campfire. However, after shooting this particular steep line earlier in the week, I knew how special it could be. There was no pressure, just an opportunity to celebrate an amazing trip together, regardless of the outcome. Without question, they grabbed their bikes and hiked to the top of the line while I set up the wireless flashes. After a few attempts, we watched the moon set once again, and finally finished shooting at 3:30am. Crawling into my tent, it was still pushing 70 degrees, however sleeping on the tent floor without a sleeping bag, sweaty, was no issue at this point, we would sleep just fine tonight. :)
I have never experienced a more productive week, and I couldn’t be more excited to share the complete image gallery below. Thank you for taking the time to read, and please share with your friends!
Stay productive, and stay positive :)
