Safely taking great photographs while touring on a motorbike

If you are a photographer as well as a motorbike tourer, please share any words of wisdom you may have.

BHPian tasty911 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Folks, how to safely take great photographs while touring on a motorbike? I want to dip into the collective knowledge of the forum to see if they have some tips and tricks to share. So if you are a photographer as well as a motorbike tourer, please share any words of wisdom you may have.

Here's what BHPian It's Magic had to say in this matter:

The first and most important point to consider is to stop the vehicle safely at the side of the road. Then, you can proceed to take photographs. You may find many people taking photos or recording videos while stopping in the middle of the road or even while driving.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen added to the conversation:

Continues vibration and shocks are a problem for most cameras. Don’t keep your photo gear in the saddle bags of your bike. Especially if you ride an old RE Bullet. Ask me how I know.

I always took my camera gear in a photo gear back pack. Bring cleaning stuff, especially brushes and little bellows to deal with dust. Mirrorless system are relatively light and small compared to full size DSLRs. Ideal for back packs.

Alternatively, Consider getting a good compact camera with a decent zoom that you can just stick in your pocket.

If you are likely to shoot images of the bikes with lots of chrome and shiny paint make sure you have decent polariser filters for your lenses.

Jeroen

Meanwhile here's what BHPian MileCruncher recently shared this with others:

On a motorcycle tour, you can always stop and take out your DSLR/ DSLT and click an amazing scenery or view. But that is a time consuming process.

Mind you, the process is typically this:

1. You notice a beautiful scenery that you want to capture
2. You stop the bike at the corner of the road or a suitable and safe parking location.
3. You take out your camera gear, assemble the lens on the body. Clean lens/ body as required.
4. Take shots
5. Pack the body and the lens again in the camera bag / luggage
6. Restart your journey

So 15 mins break every 5 minutes. At some point you will get tired of the continuous interruptions to riding rhythm and will start skipping these stops. Especially you are 10-12 Hr riding days with 600+ Kms on a target.

What is the solution?

1. Have a pillion who is sitting with an assembled camera and goes clicking on the go or you stop for 30 seconds for the stability and the shots are taken.
2. Have an action camera ( GoPro or 360) mounted on vantage positions and it takes videos. These videos are upto 8K resolution, even if you snip a picture, it is high quality. It may not be DSLR quality but that is the compromise between time saved and quality achieved.

My 2 paisa!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.