Headed Out To Red Bull Rampage

[Photo-John]

It's that time again! Every two years the Red Bull Rampage is held in Southern Utah. It's the burliest, mountain bike freeride event on the planet. I'm going to be heading down tonight to cover it for our mountain bike site, Mtbr.com. This is one of my favorite events (maybe my very favorite) to shoot. It's physically and technically demanding and when everything goes well, I come home with some insane photos to share. Here are a few from the 2008 and 2010 Red Bull Rampage comps.

[Photo-John]

Here's the main body of the camera gear I'm taking:

Canon EOS-1D X
Canon EOS 7D
Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L
Canon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS
Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS

I am planning on taking two backpacks. I'll carry one and my lovely assistant (my wife, Jenni) will carry the other. The EOS-1D X is a review camera and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it performs at this event. This is a perfect test for the camera since it's dirty, fast and auto focus and burst rate make a real difference. The 100-400mm lens is a rental and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out, too. Having a good long zoom makes a big difference here as well, since the riders start way up high and then billy goat and chuck their way down toward you. The more zoom you have, the more photos you can shoot for each run without having to change lenses or camera. Ideally, you have two cameras - one with a telephoto lens and one with something shorter. I'm not quite sure what my strategy there is yet.

[Photo-John]

Here are a couple of sequences from the last couple of Rampages. These are of the winning tricks from 2008 and 2010. I'm pretty psyched I got such solid sequences from both years.

[f86sabjf]

wow that looks like a photographers dream. Looking forward to the new shots :thumbsup:

[mattb]

Yeah, hope it's not as windy there as it is here. Looking forward to seeing what you get!

[DurtGurl]

Looking forward to your pics!

[Photo-John]

Looking forward to your pics!

Thanks for the reminder! I came home from the Rampage and the next morning flew to California for a Sony camera press event, which I'm just now starting to catch up on. I'll definitely post some of my Rampage photos this week

[PatBranch]

Nice shots! I like the fourth frame the best where's spotting the land but still facing the lip.

[DurtGurl]

Thanks for the reminder! I came home from the Rampage and the next morning flew to California for a Sony camera press event, which I'm just now starting to catch up on. I'll definitely post some of my Rampage photos this week

Still waiting!!