An Indepth Conversation with Adam Campbell 1-26-05

Have you ever leafed through a magazine or product catalog and found yourself lost in an image? Maybe the image got your attention because it popped off the page with vibrant colors and detail or maybe it simply reminded you of why you’re such an avid ATV enthusiast. Regardless, if the photograph stopped you in your tracks and left you in awe, chances are the image was an ACP photo.

Adam Campbell has been a fixture in the ATV industry since the three wheeler days. Eventually he worked his way up the ranks and into the professional scene. All the while he has spent several years as a Hi-Torque Publishing test rider. It’s obvious he can appreciate and relate to the riders he shoots extremely well. By combining this with his eye for freezing a moment in time that artfully captures the exact meaning of why we all love this sport, he has made quite a name for himself in the ATV industry.

It wasn’t easy to sit him down long enough for a quality interview. We lucked out with our timing and caught him in between his recent photo shoot for the new MX vs. ATV Unleached video game and a new Factory Effex catalog.

From nicknames, funy stories — to helping you with your own picture taking skills, here’s what he had to say…

ATV Scene: OK fill us in on why you are so into photography?
Campbell: Ultimately, I like the challenge it offers me. No two days are alike. I learn something new every time I go out and shoot.

ATV Scene: Is this your full time job?
Campbell: It has become full time in the last three years or so.

ATV Scene: Tell us more about your past. You got your start as a test rider. Is that correct? And just how does one get to be a test rider for a magazine anyway?
Campbell: That’s right. After getting hurt in one of the 1992 Mickey Thompson events, Steve Casper of Dirt Wheels Magazine recruited me to test for him. To be honest it was basically a little bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time.

ATV Scene: Why do they call you “Puddin’”?
Campbell: Oh boy. After a long day at the races, I was getting some extra shut-eye. My mechanic at the time came into my room to wake me up, pinched my cheek and said the notorious “Wake up, Puddin’, time to go racin’.” He thought it was a riot and later engraved it into the side of my motor. I never heard the end of it after that. I am growing up a little, and now have a new nickname in the industry, “A-Dog-Dash-1”.

ATV Scene: So how did you get that nickname?
Campbell: Fellow photojournalists and editors around the office just started calling each other rapper names for some unknown reason. And that one stuck.

ATV Scene: Have you completely made the jump from film to digital yet?
Campbell: Most definitely. It’s amazing how much latitude you have with digital over film in that it really expands your tools to excel as a photographer. It saves a ton of money on film and it’s instant gratification. I love digital photography!

ATV Scene: Do you think film photography is going to die out?
Campbell: I think there will always be a place for it, but unfortunately the benefits of digital outweigh those of film. I think a lot of people are skeptical in the quality of digital cameras but technology is advancing so fast. The fact that I can send a photo anywhere in the world within minutes and meet ANY deadline — how can film compete with that?

ATV Scene: You seem to be a connoisseur of professional photography. Is that true?
Campbell: Absolutely. The camera is a tool to capture your personal vision. One of the coolest things about looking at professionally created photographs for me is that I can see all the elements that might be going on in the photographer’s mind at that split second.

ATV Scene: The digital photography industry is booming just as much as our ATV industry. And that means a lot of our readers either just got new digital cameras or chances are they’re in the market to purchase one soon. How can you help these people take better pictures?
Campbell: There is no right or wrong way to take a picture. Who’s to criticize your “vision” of a subject? However, digital technology allows people to learn what their cameras can do for them. Settings are recorded to help them explain what they captured and why.

ATV Scene: What’s a good entry level camera for someone wanting to get decent shots of their favorite rider?
Campbell: It depends. There’s a lot of cameras out there. They should probably go with a good prosumer SLR (Single Lens Reflex) like the Canon Digital Rebel or Nikon D-70. If that’s not in the budget they should be sure to get at least a 4 megapixels point and shoot. If they go this route they should try to stick with a major brand name. They need to be aware of the limitations however. Point and shoots are getting better and better, but there is still things to look out for like shutter lag. And always look for a good quality optical zoom lens not a digital zoom.

ATV Scene: Many people can relate to your comment on shutter lag. If they already have a camera that has an annoying shutter lag, how do you recommend they avoid this problem and still get the shot they want?
Campbell: You can get excellent shots with point and shoot cameras, even ones with horrible shutter lag. There are ways to shoot around shutter lag. They should pre focus on the area that they want to capture the shot in. Then they need to keep their finger pressed half way on the shutter until the camera beeps or alerts that it’s ready to shoot. Then push the rest of the way to fire the shot when the rider comes into frame. This takes some practice but it can be done. Shoot away, it’s digital! There’s no cost to making mistakes, so my best advise is to keep practicing, change setting and get to know what your camera can and cannot do.

ATV Scene: Speaking of shooting away. How many pictures do you take? How do you adjust them? And where are they right now?
Campbell: I’m in the millions by now. Like I said, I’m constantly learning. I take a lot of pictures that’s for sure. I use Photoshop CS to tweak my shots with a Mac G4 laptop, but I try not to keep a lot of images on the computer. There are too many potential future problems there. I store my images on an external 250 gig hard drive and I back up the same photos in another place on individual DVDs

ATV Scene: Is there any plans to archive your shots on your web site so people can look at them?
Campbell: As of right now my web site is mainly an online portfolio for clients to get a feel for who I am and see some of my work. I have no plans to archive all my shots on the site. There are photo examples there however. Check them out at adamcampbellphotography.com. And of course I have an ATV area there as well.

ATV Scene: What publications can readers see your work in?
Campbell: Most of my stuff is for commercial use, but I mainly shoot for ATV Rider, Dirt Rider, Sport Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser Mag and Nitro Magazine. I’ve contributed photos for the GNC Event Programs as well. I recently shot all the photos used in the new MX vs. ATV Unleached video game. I also shoot several motorcycle and ATV aftermarket industry catalogs.

ATV Scene:Tell us more about how you got involved with Hi-Torque Publishing?
Campbell: At the time I was working in the movie business, doing special effects. The hours were long and so were the hiatuses. I always loved shooting pictures, so when Steve Casper noticed my eye for a great photo, he suggested I buy a cheap camera and start shooting with them. From that point on, it put my two loves together to launch my career.

ATV Scene: You’ve recently landed a job with Primedia Publication’s ATV Rider. Tell us how that came about and what your involvement with them entails.
Campbell: Hi-Torque gave me some amazing tools to enhance my knowledge of the publication business, not to mention the most amazing opportunity a guy could dream of. After tens of thousands of rolls of film, I felt it was time to move on. My friends Billy Bartels and John Howell (aka “Doogie”) were both working at ATV Rider and I thought we could all make an amazing team. It has been a fantastic partnership, but unfortunately a short one. Both Billy and John are moving on to another magazine.

ATV Scene: What do you mostly shoot with?
Campbell: I’m a Canon guy. The equipment I have is state-of-the-art. For a camera body, I choose the EOS 1DS (11.2 Megapixels) and recently purchased the new 17 megapixel Canon EOS 1DS Mark II. Right now, at about $8000 for just the body, it’s the best money can buy. I use everything from a 15mm fisheye to a 300mm F2.8 lens. I’m always armed with my Mac G4 and four 512 MB Lexar Professional compact flash cards.

ATV Scene: In a rough estimate, how much is all your equipment worth?
Campbell: My recent inventory report set me over $60K! I started out with a $500 camera and I thought I was big-pimpin. I NEVER thought I’d spend this kind of money. I realize now you can’t skimp if you want high-quality images.

ATV Scene: Are you married? Any kids?
Campbell: Yes, I just recently got married to my longtime girlfriend, Dayna. With our bull mastiff Jet, we’re one big happy family. No kids yet, but one could argue that good friend, Allen Knowles of CT Racing might count as one kid.

ATV Scene: Do you have any words of wisdom for an upcoming motorsport’s photog?
Campbell: You can never shoot too many photos, especially when learning. Shoot as much as you can, learn as much as you can, and remember, you’re the artist. After you understand exposures, there is no right or wrong way to shoot a photo. There are many great books out there: one of my favorites is Pricing Photography by Heron & MacTavish which teaches you basic business practices. I also recommend reading as many photographic magazines as possible. I sure do, and I still learn a lot from them.

ATV Scene: You’ve shot a lot of photos over the years from ATV intros, race events, studio shots to models. What do you enjoy shooting the most and why?
Campbell: Lately I’ve really enjoyed studio photography, mostly because I have such control over every element of the photo. Light, color, depth of field, product position – they all play HUGE roles, though it all does comes down to basic photography principles.

ATV Scene: Do you have a favorite road trip that comes to mind?
Campbell: Not a specific one. The first thing that came to mind when you said that was the time Kory Ellis and John Pellan crashed in my room after driving from Cannondale in Bedford, PA to Macon, GA non stop. Kory never said a word. He just crashed face first on the bed and never moved from that position for about 8 hours. So on my left I hear Kory snoring all night, meanwhile, on my right, I hear the keypads on Pellan’s lap top clicking away for what seemed like eternity. Every once in a while he would mumble something about a bad Internet connection, and I would laugh to myself. I know it’s not a big deal story, but it’s the little things like this that you remember. I’ve made some dear friends in this sport. It’s cool to hang out, give each other a hard time, tell each other lies and enjoy all the behind the scenes stuff together. I love how genuine the people are in ATV racing.

ATV Scene: For many years you have followed ATV racing closely. What’s the best thing that has ever happened to ATV racing?
Campbell: I’d have to say the factories getting involved in the sport is huge – not only for the factory rides they are providing for the top racers, but for all the high-performance machines they have introduced.

ATV Scene: What’s your favorite Allen Knowles story?
Campbell: Probably when we went to the GNCC opener in Florida a few years ago. CT Racing’s Allen Knowles (I call him Crazy Al) rented a white trash convertible Camero. Elka invited us to a dinner by the hotel pool. All the sudden Al’s gone and the place is overwhelmed by a loud burnout. Crazy Al decided to go for a ride in the white trash rental. He smoked the tires so bad I thought they were going to blow. Then he does a Dukes of Hazard reverse spin while the tires were lit up. It smoked out the whole hotel and woke everyone up. I come running to make sure he hasn’t hit any parked cars. He looks at me and says, “I’m in no condition to drive this thing but we’re going for a ride – you should probably drive.” Dummy me agrees and off we go. After ten 50 mph emergency brake slides, I’m positive we’re going to jail. Someone had to call the police from the hotel and it’s only a matter of time until the spot the white Camero with dents and rubber all over it. We ended up blowing the motor up. It had to be towed back the the rental company. Luckily the cops never found us. There’s many more Crazy Al stories I could tell but that would take up this whole interview and then some.

ATV Scene: Just curious, who do you think will win the GNC MX, TT and GNCC pro titles this year?
Campbell: Oh man, don’t put me on the spot. At this point in the game, it could be anyone’s title, but I’d have to say Factory Suzuki rider Doug Gust is still teaching the young guys how it’s done. Guys like Kory Ellis, John Natalie, Jeremiah Jones and Tim Farr are all putting in impressive rides each week and it will no doubt be a battle to the end. I’m really looking forward to this year. In the GNCCs I would say Bill Ballance and William Yokely will be right there. It should be an exciting GNCC season too.

ATV Scene: Can you pull some strings to get Kory Ellis in more magazines? (Joking) He’s only been on the cover a few dozen times.
Campbell: Kory and I have been shooting together for the last five years. He’s a great test rider. He knows how I shoot and I know how he rides. When those factors are combined, it helps to create a beautiful image. I’ve got a lot of outstanding photos of Kory because of this. I really enjoy working with him.

ATV Scene: You were shooting Jon Guetter’s back flip. What was that like?
Campbell: On my way up to the shoot, ATV Rider editor Billy Bartels and I were prepared to shoot either a) a death or b) history. Thankfully it was the latter. My heart was probably racing faster than his was. Although it’s my job to cover an event, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea that I could possibly be shooting someone getting seriously injured. Luckily, Jon pulled it off on the 4th run beautifully and made ATV history. I was happy to capture the historic moment in ATV freestyle history.

ATV Scene: You’re pretty knowledgeable in the history of ATV racing. Want to have a friendly competition some day? Maybe make some sort of wager and see who’s got more useless ATV trivia knowledge in their head?
Campbell: I’ve been a huge fan of the sport for many years so bring it on! Let’s see who’s the king of useless ATV knowledge. Let’s do it.

ATV Scene: OK we’ll put it on the to do list, be prepared for a loss though. Back to the interview, where do you see your career in the next five years?
Campbell: I’ll always be involved in the motorsports industry. It’s my true love, but I would like to venture into shooting cars and other fields outside the industry. Thanks to the gang at Primedia, I’m already shooting for some other exciting magazines and loving it.

ATV Scene: Have you done any work with the OEMs?
Campbell: Yes, I’ve done win ads for Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki. Pretty big stuff. It’s a personal goal I’ve always had and am very thankful to have achieved.

ATV Scene: Any other tips before we call this thing complete?
Campbell: Definitely, set goals for yourself, and remember to keep setting new ones. As you get close to achieving one, remember to shoot high again. If you work hard at something, you can achieve anything.

ATV Scene: Any parting words?
Campbell: I’d like to give a special thanks to John Pellan from ATV Scene.com for giving me this opportunity to share with the enthusiasts in the sport my passion and love for the sport of ATVs. I am so lucky to be doing what I have loved all my life for a living. The people in this sport make going to work every day the best part of my job and I consider those people some of my best friends and my extended family.

Tags:

Comments

comments