When legend like Ronnie Renner is in your lens, you know that photos will not be usual or ordinary, but our photoshooting with a buggy in the sand dunes was over all my expectations and it turned out to be a great adventure, which is why this project is on top of my list of favourites. Ronnie Renner is a freestyle motocross legend, a guy who has 11 X-Games medals, numerous Red Bull X-Fighters podiums and several world records under his belt. I was thinking about photoshooting with Renner for some time, and since he usually freerides his buggy in the sand dunes, and I have never had a chance to take photos of those vehicles, there was a good reason to put my idea into reality.
We were both in Mexico for Red Bull X-Fighters when I suggested him idea, and he was thrilled about it, so he organized everything real fast. We met in Baker (California) and head at Dumont dunes, which is more than a 100 km away from Las Vegas, and it is one of his favourite places.
I traveled a lot and I’ve seen fenomenal environments but when we arrived at Dumont, the surrounding was simply spectacular. We made camp, built a fire and prepared meals which was truly fun thing to do. And we couldn’t wait the morning so we went for a photoshoot that evening, and it turns out to be a good idea, because we manage to catch sunset and to make amazing photos under the stars. Waking up in a desert is unique experience, all those colors in the morning are fascinating.
In 6 AM we continued with our photoshoot. My greatest impression were jumps in the buggy and the way that Ronnie Renner drives with such dedication and precision. For a really short period of time (maybe 24 hours) I managed to make a unique photos, that are never done before, thanks to Ronnie who make sure that every shot is perfect. In fact, he was taking photos with his GoPro all the time with me, I have never met a rider and driver who has such enthusiasm for photos like me.
One of the biggest challenge was protection of my photo equipment from the sand. If you are not careful enough, after photoshoot like this one you can just throw away all your equipment. Since I didn’t brought tripod for night session, it was a bit challenging finding the place to put my camera still for a long exposure photos.
In the end, all I have to say is that if you ever have a chance to drive with Ronnie Renner in a buggy, don’t miss it.