Photographer: Rob Dolecki
Brian Foster, Ride 113.
In the years I worked with Rob Dolecki on the mags, he was always a great guy to work with - always professional, always with stunning shots, and he always delivered more than we asked for - a true bloody pro BMX photographer if there ever was one. He’d make the simple look elegant, the complex look easy, and turned everything into art. We loved putting his photos into print. The amount of people who rated Brian Foster’s simple high-speed scrub over a mound as ‘the best trails photo ever’ is testament enough to Dolecki’s work. So I caught up with an ex-colleague to ask him a few questions about shooting trails - he loves it… and, having shot some great photos recently with our man Mark Mulville, we figured it was time: read on, along with Rob’s personal choice of some of his favourite recent trails photos.
Chris Doyle, from Ride #110
BIO: Name: Rob Dolecki Hometown: Originally from Paramus, NJ, now living in Philadelphia, PA Years shooting BMX photos: a little less half as long as I’ve been riding. Where you can see my photos: Dig BMX and Ride UK magazines, Animal ads and posters, some older stuff at www.qualiaphoto.com Nikon or Canon? Canon since I got my first camera (AE-1), but not necessarily forever…
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What are you doing today? What’s the plan? Multiple errands and various ways to procrastinate and not take care of the 38 things on my to-do list today, which includes everything from riding FDR to playing USA Today Sudoku on my computer.
Okay, what are some of the trails spots you’ve shot photos at? Since I’ve been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit, I’ve been able to get around to quite a few places over the years. Most of the NJ spots like my old local spot the Bridge, FTH, Area 51, and Radiation; some Long Island spots like Hooligan’s – though I need to get back out to L.I. to hit up some of the newer trails; Baker’s in Ithaca, NY; Sunday’s old trails in Austin; a few spots in Washington; some California trails like Lonnie’s; Dover, New Hampshire; Hamden, CT; some spots in Massachusetts like Winch trails; Ohio; Casselberry in Florida; Caripicuiba trails in Brazil; Arizona; Verco in Illinois, tons of spots in PA- Section 22, Potozcny’s, and Monroeville in Pittsburgh, Altoona, Buck’s in Erie, Tioga, Posh, Nam, and Catty in Bethlehem area; there’s probably multiple others I’m forgetting…
What are your stand-out favourite trails spots? I’m partial to a Northeast PA trail spot; K-12’s, F-it’s, and Motos – if you ever rode them, you know what I’m talking about. Plus the Bridge, when I still lived in NJ. Wait, this question is in relation to photography? Wooded areas as a background and mounds of dirt pretty much look all the same to me.
And are there any others you really want to take photos at, that you haven’t been to yet? When it comes to trails, I’m usually more interested in actually riding the spot than shooting photos there, so I might be biased in wanting to go more for a riding agenda than photogenic scenery. I’d have to say England – Tony Cardona had some amazing things to say about one place called I think Village Woods? – and France. Outside of that, it seems like some of the best trails in existence are less than an hour and a half drive from home, so I’m kind of spoiled!
Biz, from Ride 115.
For you, how does shooting photos at the trails differ to shooting, say, street, indoor parks, contests, etc? Same shit, different place. I pretty much use the same equipment no matter where I take bike photos. Everything might get a little more dusty or wet at trails, though.
Ideally… film, or digital? I don’t think there’s an ideal choice for me; I like film for the challenge, and digital for the reassurance. I might be a bigger fan of digital if a few factors changed: If camera companies didn’t have such a shoddy marketing ploy at the moment that turned what used to be one top-of-the-line 35mm do-all camera – i.e.,F5 and 1V – into two separate markets, one model gearing toward “sports” with high FPS, and one model gearing toward highest resolution possible and full-frame. When utilizing the best SLR cameras, the only real equipment decisions for shooting prior to the digital age in the 35mm SLR realm was the film – black and white or colour, and what ISO. If digital sensors were farther along – the best medium format backs cost the equivalent of a new car, have a less than stellar ISO range, and to the best of my knowledge, no company has made a legit 6×6 sensor – only just recently are there full-frame 6×4.5 ones on the market. That would be an insane amount of money, or rather, bank loan, to pay for technology that will most likely be obsolete in a few years and have a worse resale value than the US real estate bubble… Ideally, a painting would be best, that’s the real O.G. Luddite way of capturing the moment. Talk about being a purist…
What tips would you give to people wanting to take better trails photos? Maybe build some jumps. That can give you the ultimate appreciation for trails, and earn you a media pass at any spot you go to.
Mike Moura, from Ride #117
What’s your favourite trails photo of all time? There are lots – the PUSH R.I.P article in Ride about ten years ago; particularly a photo of Punjab doing an x-up- I think it was in there. BF’s cover and the Trail Mix article in Dig issue #5. Half of the trail photos in all four issues of Tread magazine that were shot by Hallman. Any of the trail scene articles in BMX Action during the mid and late 80s. The second Clinton trails article in Go around ‘90. There have been so many good photos over the years, I couldn’t list them all without spending days looking through all the old magazines first.
Do you prefer shooting trails in the woods, or out in the open? Generally, I like the woods. Call me a hippy…
What about dirt jumping contests – how do you see those? If it’s one of those big TV comps and it’s nearby, I’d go and watch for an hour, hang out with Elf – who builds the jumps at most of them, and try to get free food at the athlete lounge, but I doubt I’d bring a camera. If it’s like an Elevation comp or something low-key, then it may be a different story. That might be fun to take photos at.
If you were going to, say Catty Woods or Bar End, for a photo shoot for one day with just three riders – who would you pick, and why? I doubt I could narrow it down to three – Aitken, Doyle, Chase H., Yeagle, Nutter, Mulville, Tony Cardona, Geoff Slattery, Cam Wood, Jay-bone, Dave King, Drew J, BF, RC, Moy, and probably about ten other dudes. That would be a fun session. Of course, if I’m actually feeling good on my bike at a fun set of trails, and it’s not some kind of photo trip, I doubt I’d even open my camera bag. It would be more fun to ride with everyone than take photos. I’d love to have a day of endless trains through sections with good friends and people I pretty much never get to ride with because I’m in photo-taking mode every time I see them…
Mark Mulville from Dig 59.
Check out more on Rob’s website, at www.qualiaphoto.com
on 19/09/08
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