Ridemonkey member and photographer Pat Branch has compiled an amazing set of photographs documenting mountain biking in California. Here is the slide show, Golden State, along with a quick bio!
---
Name: Patrick Branch
Age: 20
Hometown:
I lived in Los Angeles until I was probably 9, so I guess that would be my home town. I've also lived in La Canada, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Los Olivos, and now Goleta.
How you got your start in MTB:
When I was a lot younger (like 8), my parents would drop my brother and I off at the house of a lady that often watched us. Her son, who was probably 24, was really into downhill. Every time I went, I watched his downhill and freeride movies. It made me want to ride more and more. I had been riding a 20" Schwinn, but for Christmas, my parents got me a Gary Fisher Tyro, a rigid mountain bike with 24" wheels. That was the beginning of my 'addiction'. Every day after school, I'd ride up a fire road in the hills above my house just to ride down. I either rode back down the fireroad or down a singletrack trail. I remember going over the bars several times on the fireroad because the dips in the road would fill with sand. The singletrack route down started out smooth and twisty, then finished down a rutted out ridge of sandstone. When I moved to San Luis Obispo, I started riding BMX and then got my first full suspension, a Gary Fisher Level Betty (like a Trek Y frame)! I did my first downhill race on that thing at the Stump Grinder Dirt Club in 2006. It had cracked shock mounts at that point, so I was more than a little skeptical each run and took all the go-around lines.
How you got into photography:
I vaguely remember my grandfather shooting landscapes in San Simeon (near Cambria) when I was very young. When I lived in Los Angeles I remember one time taking my parent's Minolta 35mm SLR up into some local hills. When I got back home, it was covered in dust. I don't think I even knew how to use it beyond pressing the shutter button. I used disposables and digital point and shoots to shoot everything. My favorite thing to shoot was friends riding bikes. In 2006, I bought a Canon Rebel G, a 35mm film SLR from Binary Visions here, on Ridemonkey. That year, I took a basic digital photo class at Santa Barbara City College while still in high school and learned exposure and basic composition. I shot with pretty much only that camera that year and learned a lot. Being in a digital class, I had my film developed and scanned so I could process it digitally in class. Now I primarily use a digital SLR, though I still use that camera and even disposables from time to time.
Your favourite photo of the slideshow:
It's hard to pick one out of around 1500 shots. Probably either the goggle sequence with Soren Young or the cliff rollin sequence with Evan Bissell. The burrowing crash shot was pretty amazing though!
The shot that was the hardest to get:
The hardest shot by far was the first sequence, the goggle shot. I made a bracket to help hold my camera sideways in my helmet. Holding the camera in the right spot inside the helmet and keeping them both still while running down that rough section on Tunnel trail was pretty hard. It took at least 10 attempts. I wasn't completely happy with it by the time I got it and the sun had gone down. But, looking at it after on the computer, I was pretty stoked with it.
Coolest person to work with:
That's hard to say because everyone I've shot with has been really cool. I think I've shot with Santa Barbarian, Mike Johnson the most... he's always been awesome shooting with. He's the one with the amazing crash sequence near the end of the slide show. Thanks to everyone I've shot with for pushing up again to get the shot!
What biking in California means to you:
My favorite thing about California is the diversity. There's so many different kinds of places and types of terrain to ride in a single state.
To see a whole lot more of Pat's work head over to http://pbmedia.us/
