Art
Behind the lens with adventure photographer Ryan Taylor
For Ryan Taylor, it all began with his own career as an action sports participant, but he gradually shifted from seeking the thrills himself to capturing others doing so on camera.
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37-year-old Minneapolis native Ryan Taylor reveals here the details behind some of his favourite images in his own words.
Introduction
I got into this profession the same way most other action-sports photographers get into it. I participated in a lot of the sports before I started shooting them and, before I knew it, I was becoming a photographer. I've been doing this for about 15 years and am lucky enough to combine my passions for photography and action sports, and make a career out of it.
If I were to pick a dream project, it would definitely be a complicated one. I like high-risk, high-reward situations
Craziest project
It's hard to tell, because there have been a lot of crazy ones, from urban snowmobile edits to BMX shoots in abandoned football stadiums, riding wake skates through cranberries to building wakeboard rails out of ice in the middle of winter. I've participated in a lot of crazy ones.
Dream project
If I were to pick a dream project, it would definitely be a complicated one. I like high-risk, high-reward situations, so it would probably be something to do with water, maybe underwater, probably throwing strobes (a flash that produces a short burst of light) on drones, a lot of moving parts.
I'd definitely had a little stress and anxiety about a guy launching a snowmobile over a six-storey gap
Advice for aspiring photographers
For anyone out there that wants to be a photographer, you just have to stick with it – that's probably the best advice I can give. It's going to be tough, there’s going to be down days, but, if you just stick to it and you're passionate about it, it'll come around.
Five of his favourite images
1. Cranberry wakeskate photo
Ben Horan
© Ryan Taylor
The cranberry wakeskate photo is easily one of my favourites. This photo in a sense is a retake, as we did the project a year or two before, but didn't really have the resources to make it all happen. We were fortunate enough to be given a second chance and, when we went back, we made sure we had the proper tools to ensure I got the shot I wanted.
I had a vision of shooting top down, so we brought a cherry picker to be able to hold ourselves over the cranberries and get that top-down shot. Not only did I get the shot I wanted, but Ben Horan added a little trick in the middle that made it that little bit extra special.
2. Wakeboarding in Chicago
Meagan Ethell
© Ryan Taylor
Chicago and I have a pretty interesting history in that a lot of my career highlights have been tied to that city. What was difficult was this shoot was on Lake Michigan, which can be notoriously bumpy. For wakeboarding, you need really calm water.
So, we had a two-to-three day shoot and were fortunate enough that two out of those three days it was calm enough to wakeboard. The hard part was lining up Meagan Ethell in the right spot and having her time the trick perfectly. When you're dealing with water, things move quickly, so I was swimming around trying to get in the right position. Thankfully, we were able to get this shot.
Related
3. Urban snowmobile jump
Levi LaVallee
© Ryan Taylor
Levi LaVallee doing the alley gap on a snowmobile during his urban video shoot is one of the craziest things I've seen go down. It was really three years in the making, as they needed to have enough snow to be able to ride the snowmobile through downtown St Paul in Minnesota. Every year the shoot kept on getting cancelled due to lack of snow.
Being a Minnesota local, I was able to scout this location several times, so the actual execution of the shot was quite easy for me. Levi had to jump roof-to-roof, though, which isn't an easy task. Getting the shot was a sense of relief, because I'd definitely had a little stress and anxiety about a guy launching a snowmobile over a six-storey gap.
4. Sunset tail grab
JD Webb
© Ryan Taylor
This was pretty special and exciting for me, as it was my first cover photo. What I was pretty excited about was it represented the style of photography that I really enjoy. It's a very technical shot, you don't get a whole lot of chances at things like this. I really love strobe photography and I love challenging myself with it.
It's difficult because you've got a wakeboard moving, you're shooting from another boat and you've got flashes set on two boats and a jet ski. There's a lot of technical things that can go wrong and you only get a short window of time to nail the shot. Luckily, it worked out.
5. A wakeboard rail made of ice
JD Webb
© Ryan Taylor
Once again, it's JD Webb! This photo is something I wanted to take even before I was a photographer. Growing up in Minnesota as a wakeboarder, I always wanted to ride as soon as the ice was off, sometimes even before.
This shoot happened in the middle of winter. A big group of us all cut giant holes out of ice and took the ice to build a wakeboard rail, which we could then use with a winch. It was freezing and difficult to convince the athletes to keep riding in these conditions, but I think everyone knew we were there to grab some unique imagery. This is one of those amazing photos that always sticks out in my mind and was an important moment in my career.
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