For me riding a motorcycle and taking photographs is really about the journey not the destination. I want to experience the vistas that unfold around the next bend in the road; I want to feel and smell the country I’m travelling through; then, hopefully, I’ll be able to convey the essence of those sensory experiences in my photos. I’m constantly struck by the beauty of the highway as it ribbons across the landscape and try to share that vision in my images. When I am riding out in the west I often pull over to the side of the road and photograph the scene that the highway has just revealed to me.
I find that by using the roads I’m travelling as compositional elements I can create very evocative images that show the allure of motorcycling and the grandeur of the terrain. This photo of Devils Tower in Wyoming shows how using the highway as a key element can really direct the viewer’s eye into the frame. Many people, when they are going to see a monument such as Devil’s Tower, let images slip by that would give a better sense of the place in their quest to get to and photograph the land form or feature that they seek.
This shot was enhanced in an older version of Topaz Adjust 3, the current version is version 5, and at that time the presets were pretty heavy handed. The later versions of Topaz Adjust are much more finessed in their effects and do a better job of enhancing photos than the earlier ones. I learned a lot from using those early versions and I am still a huge fan of presets as a way to get inspired by an image and the potential ways that I can process it to express my vision for the final product.