CLASSIC MOTOCROSS PHOTOS: TWILIGHT OF THE MOTO GODS

LANCEMOOREWOODKX125Look closely at this photo of MXA test rider Lance Moorewood flying a single-radiator 1985 Kawasaki KX125 through the fading sunset. See anything unusual? Photo: David Gerig

Click on image to enlarge for a closer look. What’s unusual? How about the fact that Lance is casting a shadow against the sky? Or that he is perfectly focused as though he was photoshopped into the sunset? What’s the trick? Actually, there is no trick and no photoshop (it hadn’t been invented yet). This sunset effect is achieved by waiting until the sun has set completely. Then, once it is pitch black, Lance powers the KX125 across the blackness and over the jump. In the air he is hit by 1/1000th of a second of light from the flash going off, but the camera lens stays open as the flash’s light dissipates—and while it is open the lens absorbs the red hue of the sun over the distant horizon (the red hue is not visible to the photographer in the darkness, but since the lens is open it captures it over time).

 

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