Last week we caught up with Paul Paviot via Instagram when we stumbled across some of his incredible work. This week we’re moving away from the dirt and sunshine to the tarmac and epic lighting captured in multi-storey carparks. Introducing Shocked Sockets’ Motorcycle Photographer of the Week, Tobias Reichert.
Tobias was happy for us to feature his work and of course answer some of our questions relating to motorcycle photography and more.
Your work is fantastic, when did you get into photography?
I started with photography in November 2019. I always wanted to buy a camera, because I was fascinated by pictures of landscapes, portraits and sports. Then my wife became pregnant and I thought, now is the best time to buy one to capture moments with our kid. I started to learn the fundamentals of photography and asked some friends if I can take some Pictures of them.Â
Do you photograph motorbikes mostly or specialise in other types of photography?
I have done some workshops, with a photographer in our city and some online courses. This was my start with portrait photography. Now in time of corona, most people didn’t want to take Pictures with me. Therefore I switched to landscape photography for some time.
When did you first take pictures of motorbikes?
After the snow was gone and the sun comes out this year, I was driving to a well known motorcycle route. There I started to photograph the riders. Some of them came back to me and asked if I can send the pictures to them. After I send the pictures to them, more and more People wrote me to get pictures. This was the start of taking pictures of motorcycles. After that, me and a friend took our own motorcycles to a parking lot to grab some photos.
What motorcycle do you own?
I own myself a naked bike. A Suzuki GSR 750 at 2014. With it’s 106 PS it’s perfect for the Black Forest. But also on the race track it has a good performance.
What bike is your favourite?
My favourite bikes are naked and sport bikes. I love the straight lines and the aggressive looks.
If you could photograph any motorbike what would it be?
If I could choose, I would take a bike of Ducati. The Superleggera V4 or the Panigale V4 R would be a dream. I love the Details and this really nice red colour.
What equipment are you using and if you could upgrade, what would you buy?
My first Camera was a Canon Eos 77D. I started with the EF 50mm f/1.8 and the EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6. It was perfect for learning and I took many pretty pictures. After a half year I owned the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM for more flexibility and higher image sharpness. It was my first high priced objective. Again a half year later I owned the new Canon Eos R6, a mirrorless camera, with higher dynamic range, better ISO performance, IBIS and up to 20 pictures per second.Some short time later, I owned the RF 70-200mm f/2.8 for the perfect coverage of my focal length.
What advice would you give to somebody looking to capture the perfect motorcycle pic?
Take your time. The perfect picture isn’t took in a few moments. It took me around an hour to find the perfect light setup at my last shooting. Like always in Photography, understand and play with light. Light makes the picture interesting. You can use the light to show or to hide something specially.
Do you capture any motorcycling events or just do individual photoshoots?
Right now I just do individual photoshoots due to Covid. In future I want to go to events and hopefully I can open up new opportunities. I also hope I could be part of a Raceday at Anneau du Rhin Racetrack in France in April 2021.
If you could capture bike pics anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Anywhere in the world- never thought about that until now. I think I would choose a really nice race track for nice driving action shoots. But you can do nice pictures anywhere in the world, you only have to know how.
You can view more work by Tobias Reichert at www.tobiasreichertpics.de
If you would like to be featured as our Motorcycle Photographer of the Week, contact the team today via info@shockedsockets.co.uk with a link to your portfolio.