How to capture the perfect mountain bike photo, with Mattias Fredriksson

If you want to take better mountain bike photos, don’t start by buying gear—start by calling your friends.

“Pick your friends that are the best riders,” says Mattias Fredriksson, one of mountain biking’s most prolific photographers. “Nobody wants to see a crappy rider in photos. It all comes down to someone who has good style and can get the angles going.”

Fredriksson has been shooting mountain biking, skiing and outdoor adventure for nearly three decades. He’s contributed to more than 100 magazines around the world, with covers on National Geographic, Outside and more. But even now, he says, the photos that stand out begin with the basics: a rider who knows how to move and a feature that tells a story.

Scout the terrain—and shoot it more than once

Once you’ve found a capable rider, Fredriksson says the next step is picking the right spot. And flat trails through the woods don’t usually make the cut.

“I’m always looking for something technical or some sort of feature,” he says. “it needs to be a corner or a jump or a rock. A techie section or something that’s steep. Maybe a special tree or maybe the leaves are turning colour. Some kind of feature that adds character.”

And don’t expect the banger shot on the first try. “To get those shots you see in a magazine or ad, there are usually multiple tries before you get to that point,” he says. “Session the feature. It could feel super awkward for people that just go for the ride like. But sometimes you maybe want to try different framing or maybe the rider will get that little click the second time. Many times when when a good rider goes over a feature many times you can that person do it better each time. And maybe you figure out how to take that picture; sometimes you need to see how it looks before you know how to capture that moment”

Climbing trees, crouching in the dirt, shooting from above—Fredriksson does it all to get the angle that draws a viewer in.

“I like to get high—climb a hill—or go low and shoot through something in the foreground,” he says. “Framing the trail winding through a big landscape can be really powerful, especially if the rider is small in the frame.”

Fredriksson also experiments with different lenses and shutter speeds to create variety and depth. A long lens compresses the background and brings the rider forward. A wide lens immerses you in the terrain. A fast shutter freezes the action, while…