The origins of the Battle Royal photo goes back to 2001. I first took the photo (above) of Jason Forde during the Southbank years, when we consistanly frequented the spot. The photo was taken down the road in an underpass by Waterloo with a Canon A1 film SLR, Flash sych1/60th, an off shoe flash, no light meter. Fuji Sensia slide film.

We were always moderately pleased with the photo at the time, but I always knew it could be better, sharper for one of many reasons...

Fast forward 12 years, and now we're suddenly in the future with Digital slrs. I picked up some cheap slave flashes from a friend of mine (cheers George). My dream set- up had finally arrived. 

The first photo I wanted to shoot with this new slave flash / digital set-up was Jay at the underpass.

Perhaps not a wise decision considering the compiclated factors- fixed distance from the wall, a deteriorated bumpy floor, broken / dimmer wall lights than before, limited knowlege of the new equipment, and Jay's rear wheel puncture. This time round one of my 'new' mistakes was forgetting the lens hood, which resulted in natural lens flares- an arguably favourable element to the photo.

A central aligmnet and a Didone style typeface is used in conjunction with the 1 wheel motion logo to achieve an elegant, modern and simple look. 

Other variants that night, included different t-shirt, flash angles and moving about 5 metres...  Jay- Crackpacker 

George Marshall stongly advised I shouldn't use a tripod as a flash stand, when 2 kids on mountain bikes who had taken an interest in our shoot (gear) decide to ride pass for the 4th time. I suddenly realise why I shouldn't use my upside down bike with a flash attached to a peg as a flash stand either.... Jay Halfpacker