David Lang: Portfolio

David Lang's photography has always stood out to me.  With a combination of unique angles and great color correcting skills, Lang certainly has his own individual style in the BMX photography game.  Lang was recently added to the crew of bloggers over on the BMX/culture website Defgrip, so I figured it was the right time to ask Lang some questions about his work and photography in general.

On top of all of your other websites and blogs, you recently joined up with the crew over at Defgrip.  How stoked are you on that?
Super psyched. I get nervous about making posts on that site because it's so legit. Much thanks to Harrison and the crew for having me on there!!

How did you initially get started with photography?
I'd been making videos for a while, but just before a family holiday to Thailand when I was about 15, we bought a Nikon Coolpix 3700 point and shoot for the trip and I was immediately hooked.

The main chunk of your work that I've seen has consisted of action photography as well as event photography for Red Bull.  What do you primarily shoot? 
Event photography pays bills. This year it's been a lot of music shows, but you never know what you're going to get with Red Bull. Right now I'm on a plane to Toronto to shoot Red Bull Street Style, a freestyle soccer competition, and after that New York to shoot Red Bull BC One - a breakdancing competition. I've never really shot either things before.

That being said, what type of photography do you prefer to shoot?
I love shooting things that are already happening, like events or biking. I get jittery when I have to 'create' a situation (like with fashion photography or portraiture) but it's definitely something I'm trying to make myself get better at. At the end of the day I'll shoot pretty much anything, maybe one day even food, journalism, or architecture photography. I get bored quickly, so variety is awesome.

You seem to take advantage of natural light more than artificial lighting when shooting action, which gives your work a unique style in comparison to other BMX photograhers.  What is your reasoning behind this?
I got so sick of dealing with flashes this year. They are a pain in the ass to carry around and set up. I used to be adamant about shooting absolutely everything with remote flashes, but now that digital cameras have gotten so good in low light (Nikon D700) I've swung to the opposite side and try to use artificial light as little as possible. I feel like remote flashes are overused in action sport photography, it seems like people use them just for the sake of it. There's a nice line from the movie world - "Just because your lights are in the van doesn't mean you have to use them." I say this now though but I'll probably get obsessed with lights again in the future.

In the same vein, you also stray away from the "stock" BMX photography angles.  Is this something you do consciously, or is it natural for you?
It definitely started out as a conscious thing then turned into what I guess is my style. I find that fisheyes lie about a situation and don't properly communicate the scale of things. If you shoot a set of stairs from across the street say with a 50mm lens, there is a certain truth to the size of everything in the picture. All the proportions are more correct than if one would have shot the picture from low down with a fisheye. Apart from that, I really enjoy including visual cues and cultural references in a picture. It's really cool how a rider finds new and creative ways to interact with a spot and I really try to make the rider a part of the environment rather than the only interesting thing in it.

I've read that your post-processing skills are extremely sharp.  How much time do you spend post-processing?
A lot. Post processing is admittedly a large and essential part of my work, I've enjoyed it ever since I started with photography. My wrist is dying from using the mouse though, I have to get a tablet or some kind of alternative soon.

I recently read on Defgrip that you are an art history major.  Why choose art history over something like photography?
Growing up I thought I was going to be an engineer like my Dad. When I graduated from high school, fine arts school seemed like a totally alien and illogical thing to do, but at the same time I found arts and culture more satisfying than science. So I ended up taking a million different arts & humanities courses at the University of British Columbia until finally stumbling across art history which I've been enjoying so far. I have mixed feelings about the thought of photography school... The process of discovery is such an enjoyable and essential part of photography, I probably wouldn't enjoy being told how to learn.

In regards to BMX, Who are your favorite people to shoot with?
Travis Collier is rad! That and getting to shoot riders like Chris Doyle and Cory Bohan at the Red Bull Elevations was a pleasure.

Travis Collier

Are there any BMX photos you're particularly proud of?
The photo of Brian Foster doing the 3 table over the massive last jump at the third Elevation. It was stressful trying to get all those elements to work together in a competition environment like that. I basically sacrificed shooting half the competition for it so if it hadn't worked out I would've been screwed. Thankfully Foster has insane boost.

Brian Foster, 360 Table at Red Bull Elevation

Are there any plans for the future you can divulge?
A new portfolio website is in the works which I'm stoked on because my very talented friend Andy Chung is designing it. I guess a little secret about the new site is a new URL... davidlang.me ! That and another thing is I love camera bags but think there can be better ones than the options out there. I'm just in the idea stages of that but it's all I'll say. If anyone wants to work with me on that, holla!

Where can we see more of your work?
www.davidlangphoto.com, www.davidlangphoto.com/blog , We Mine Deeper Tumblr , and We Mine Deeper Wordpress. But I've been pretty terrible about updating them since we've been saving material for the new site. There's also flickr, facebook, Red Bull Photofiles, and twitter.

Any last words, shout outs, or thanks?
I'm a huge fan of Steven Hamilton. Here's a quote from from his Ride UK interview - "Yeah, I feel burnt out sometimes – like on a regular basis actually. It’s part of my lifestyle. I light myself on fire and burn out when there’s no more fuel to feed the fire. It’s better than fading to black. Every night – white, black, white, black, white, black. I burn out then rejuvenate to my true estate, my truest state, burn it down and do it again."