Red Bull Canada
For as long as I’ve been shooting bikes, I’ve been shooting bikes with Darren. Going way back to the mid to late 90’s when I was shooting with a borrowed Olympus point and shoot at a set of dirt jumps tucked in behind a local golf course. While ‘normal’ folks were across a small irrigation ditch working on their handicaps, we were on the other side, near the tracks, stacking shovel loads of dirt into jumps and curating our own hook and slice of paradise.
Over the years the scale has changed a little. From borrowed cameras to flagship models, from hand shoveled dirt jumps to the some of the best Slopestyle courses in the world; machine built by an entire team. But in 2020 while much of the world was focused on managing a pandemic Darren and I got back to our roots, and spent some time stacking shots on a handbuilt trail right here in our own backyard.
Darren and Vancouver Island based filmmaker Rupert Walker were setting out to film a short film about the extent of Darrens trail network near his house. Trails that over the last 25 years have been built largely by Darren himself.
The movie centred around Darrens trail work and the incredible scenery of our local rainforests. The dedication, the countless hours, the often thankless sacrifices behind trail work. It was really the perfect project to be able to work on, and because we shot through the month of May we wound up getting some pretty perfect conditions.
As is the case anytime Darren and I work together it’s a fairly even mixture of high stress and high fun.
Watching your pal of nearly 30 years barrel down a trail towards a 20’ drop or crazy jump can be nerve wracking, especially when you’re watching it through a viewfinder holding your breath, waiting to snap a pic at the perfectly timed moment, but it’s always lots of laughs and sighs of relief as the day unfolds injury free.
