Need some ideas for a biker shoot

KBM1016 · May 17, 2011

I am begging my father to take down his stupid p&s/highly blurry profile picture of himself on his biker website heroesride.com. He and all the other guys have some silly profile picture that doesn't make them look like bikers at all....just a bunch of old dudes with a harley!

Anyway, my question for you guys is, do you have any ideas on how to set up a shoot to make them look badass? I normally just do kids and sports so awesome biker shoots are totally opposite of my cute.

Any suggestions on lighting/set-up/location ideas are welcome

-KC

kdeerhake · May 17, 2011

I'm probably not the person you want to hear from since I'm such a beginner, but I have friends that ride and I have wanted to get them as a group and do a night panning shot either just on the road without too many distractions or in an empty industrial complex. I just love panning shots and think it's perfect to give the "bad-ass" biker look.

Josh66 · May 17, 2011

Maybe sit in the back of a truck while they follow you?

c.cloudwalker · May 17, 2011

You want to make them look like bad ass but not like bikers???????????

What exactly do you want them to look like? Like that stupid movie with a bunch of wannabe badasses like Travolta? Sorry, I can't help you. No matter how fake this person is :lmao:

Trever1t · May 17, 2011

Wild Hogs

I ride a bike, I belong to a club...the last thing motorcycle enthusiasts need is to look scary, crap, we need some good PR man, Bikers are good people too

KBM1016 · May 18, 2011

c.cloudwalker said:
You want to make them look like bad ass but not like bikers???????????

What exactly do you want them to look like? Like that stupid movie with a bunch of wannabe badasses like Travolta? Sorry, I can't help you. No matter how fake this person is :lmao:

Um, at what point in my question did I state I didn't want them to look like bikers? They are all Vet's and retired Firemen/Cops and I feel like their pictures should portray that. Not just some club that a bunch of old guys go to on the weekends to swap war stories. If you look at their pictures it's just a shot of them outside cheesing for a camera.

Thanks for the other ideas! I like the back of a truck idea, I am going to have to find a way to do it.....I live right outside of DC and our roads are a mad house 24/7! Gonna have to take a trip to the country

gsgary · May 18, 2011

Get them to stip naked and cover their helmet with their helmet

2WheelPhoto · May 18, 2011

suggestion is to get rid of the hardly-ablesons as a start (jokingly said of course)

GeneralBenson · May 18, 2011

gsgary said:
Get them to stip naked and cover their helmet with their helmet

Winning!

MSnowy · May 18, 2011

See if you can get them while they're out on one of their rides. Find a slow corner and use your sports shooting experience. I took these of some riding buddies out on one our trips. Not bad ass bikers just serious riders.

Trever1t · May 18, 2011

^ me likey!

c.cloudwalker · May 19, 2011

KBM1016 said:
...it's just a shot of them outside cheesing for a camera.

Just messing with your head because there is nothing wrong with this ^^^^^. They are a bunch of old dudes with bikes. So what?

Trever1t said:
Wild Hogs

I ride a bike, I belong to a club...the last thing motorcycle enthusiasts need is to look scary, crap, we need some good PR man, Bikers are good people too

As a biker myself, I have to agree that I am good people, lol.

However, looking scary can be a good thing depending on what you ride for. I'm not much of a club person because I just like to ride and I can do that much better by myself. Riding with 20-30 other bikes with their exhausts set to make as much noise as possible is not my idea of fun riding...

But the one and only club I belonged to, looking scary was part of the job. We rode with side arms strapped to our leathers and/or shotguns in holders strapped to the bikes because we wanted to look like mean motherfookers. I rode with a chapter of BACA. Bikers Against Child Abuse - About BACA

Once upon a time, because a friend of mine was a neighbor of his, I got to ride with Sonny Barger. That mother's club freaked me out. More so than the French Foreign Legion when I went on a mission with them :lmao:

whitegixer · May 22, 2012

I know this is an old thread (judging by the last post thread), but I found it after seeking a similar  want for a bike shoot. In the UK, the majority of bikers are street and sport bike riders, there is a definite divide between Harley riders and the plastic faired weekend warriors, but a lot of this is due to our unpredictable weather. <img src="http://thephotoforum.com/forum/images/smilies/lol.gif" alt="" title="LOL" smilieid="25" class="inlineimg" border="0">

c.cloudwalker said:
You want to make them look like bad ass but not like bikers??????????? 
 
What exactly do you want them to look like? Like that stupid movie with a
bunch of wannabe badasses like Travolta? Sorry, I can't help you. No
matter how fake this person is <img src="http://thephotoforum.com/forum/images/smilies/laugh2.gif" alt="" title="lmao" class="inlineimg" border="0">

I think what the requirement here is for, is to illustrate that they are motorcycle lover/enthusiasts without giving the impression they are a patch club MC. That's how I read that anyway <img src="http://thephotoforum.com/forum/images/smilies/sexywink.gif" alt="" title="sexy wink" smilieid="126" class="inlineimg" border="0">

Trever1t said:
Wild Hogs 
 
I ride a bike, I belong to a club...the last thing motorcycle enthusiasts need is to look scary, crap, we need some good PR man, Bikers are good people too <img src="http://thephotoforum.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="biggrin" smilieid="106" class="inlineimg" border="0">

There is a fine line between looking intimidating in a cool way vs looking like a bike rider who is just out to get the cops backs up. Trever is right. We have bikers over here who are like that - don't help themselves but to flaunt the law and 'take the P!55', whilst bikers like me try and keep within the confines of the law where possible even if it does mean slightly bending them within reason. One point in question over in the UK is the 'dark visor' issue. Our laws are pretty strict on visor laws being a certain tint, but as long as you aren't seen to be riding in a rash and irresponsible manner, 'most' police will turn a blind eye. The penalty over here for this is non-endorsement and an on-the-spot fine of around £60 (around $95). There are then the exceptions who will as Trever quite rightly says, give the majority a bad name by standing and arguing with the police when they do get pulled over. This obviously has the result in a lot of cases of winding up the police so they throw the book at the rider and go over his/her bike with a fine tooth comb highlighting any illegalities and they do have the power to impound the bike there and then if it is deemed 'unfit for road use' - loud cans, small number plate etc. To to summarise, I reckon if you can create a shoot of a biker in a setting or with an image that looks 'Badass' but not 'Bad rotten' - job done. A bit like the difference of having The Terminator as your dad as opposed to the biker gang from the film 'Every Which But Loose'. That said, I'd still have a Harley if I could afford one, and def if I lived in a warmer climate. Coincidentally, if there are any bikers from Europe, the US, or anywhere in the world, I run a biker website Bike Thing Index page that welcomes members of all skill levels and backgrounds, regardless of ride, sex, colour. It would be good to get some more members from overseas on board. Shiny side up guys

gsgary · May 22, 2012

MSnowy said:
See if you can get them while they're out on one of their rides. Find a slow corner and use your sports shooting experience. I took these of some riding buddies out on one our trips. Not bad ass bikers just serious riders.

Every corner is slow on a Harley/ Massey Ferguson