I have been mountain biking at Highland Mountain in New Hampshire since 2006 or so. Early on, I was a novice mountain biker and especially, complete debutant at downhill. I rode lousy bikes and was a very poor rider - my nickname at the time was crashed because that is generally what I did! I used to carry a camera and film and takes shots of the other riders, mainly because I was unable to do the larger jumps and stunts. Now, many years and crashes later, I have had a few difficult years due to cumulative body damage, to the point where I almost quit the sport. Instead, I took some time off a few years ago, I have been pursuing physical therapy weekly for over four years, and I have just taken it EASY. Highland has gone from three or four cars in the parking lot to overflowing parking lots and lift lines easily 45 minutes on weekends. Not great for a lot of laps…..on our last weekend of the season for 2020 I decided to take two of my new toys to Highland - my Fuji X-T4 and a shoulder harness mount - Cotton Carrier Skout. It was a test, to learn how to shoot sports (it was not a great success photography wise) and of the carrier. The Skout is AMAZING. Every jump you see my friend doing - I did with my camera in the harness. It does not budge. For those who know, the only jumps that are problematic are the Hellion jump lines - you compress forwards too much and the camera body touch the handle bars - probably says something about my lousy takeoffs! The shooting was less successful, as I have never use the auto focus in sports mode (APS-C). I left the camera in automatic ISO, shutter speed, everything….which I think was a mistake. As well, the lens I chose is large, slow and not my favorite - the XF18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS. It is not the sharpest lens, and I think leaving the camera to pick the shutter and ISO was a HUGE mistake, I need have a redo. Plus I was shooting in burst mode, probably WAY too fast (10 frames per second). Color and light in the woods is very challenging on top of shooting without tripod and just after doing the run yourself in full face helmet and pads. But it was fun and gives me a distraction from the slow pace of weekends at the crowded hill, and my slightly more mellow approach to the sport….Steve R is the rider here on his Intense M16 aluminum - yes, the last guy without carbon frame……
Image of the Cotton Carrier Skout from their website - click through to go to Cotton Carrier.
