Behind the Scenes - Chris the Snapper

Cycle sport isn't just about the stars, and although they are the focus of our attention, we want to celebrate the people who make up the race community. This time we talk to Chris Wallis, a relative newcomer to race photographer, who nonetheless has plenty of insight from his position looking in toward the peloton.

Cote Saint-Roche at Liege-Bastogne-Liege

When did you begin your photography career?
CW - The first real taste was the first time I made it to the alps to see the tour, standing on the Col du Galibier
waiting for the bunch with the rest of crazy crowds and armed only with a tiny little digital camera I took three good shots of Lance and the 'Disco' train dragging the bunch after Vino', I still have that picture framed on my wall at home. The next year I went to Paris Roubaix with my 35mm camera and took some better shots and decided to take a chance and buy a better camera and lens , the year after that I was the other side of the barriers and sitting in the centre of the Roubaix velodrome. That pretty much began my first year shooting properly, I only managed a few races but they were real good ones to go to, Paris Roubaix, Leige-Bastogne Leige and Le Tour and a good start to a portfolio of work.

Do you remember your first event?
CW - If I stick to the first pro-tour race I did then I remember very clearly, it was Paris Roubaix. I was being driven by a friend, we got lost and ended up driving down a farm track and found the race by luck, I had to get pulled out of the way of the bunch while trying to take photos, and also had to run to the velodrome for the finish, quite a lot to pack into one race.

What role do you think photography plays in sport (or life)?
CW - I think it plays a very important role, it makes some many more sports accessible to people, for ones that people might dismiss as boring, a good picture can show the passion of that sports and the competitors and should always prompt a reaction.

Outside of sports it helps to document important moments in time, you always see magazines and papers doing the year in pictures and for good reason a single image has the power to tell an entire story, it may sound trivial but during my time at university I took so many pictures of my friends and I and for everyone we can look at it and go “do you remember that was when….”

There are many snappers out there now with their hi-tech digi cameras, what marks out a profressional from them? (What pressures etc.) What impact do you think the digi camera has made on the profresion?
CW - For some of the old guard who began shooting on film they say the digital era has ruined it, making it easy for anyone to take a picture, but I think the main thing it has done is make it quicker and possibly easier to learn your craft.

I learned the fundamentals from shooting with film i.e. film speed, aperture, shutter speed etc etc , but it’s so much easier to be experimental and creative when you can get instant results and it doesn’t cost time and money in developing film. When it comes to the pressure of getting “the shot”, or at least “a shot” then the digital darkroom can help, you’ll here many people say they can “photoshop it later”, a lot less images get chucked away.

The favorite place I have shot at is the Ghent Velodrome

But as much as this is true, the turnaround time from taking an image to getting it to its destination is so short it means the biggest difference is not the camera but what’s behind it, a good photographer can take a good picture with any camera, so getting it right first time means the chance of getting it to the press first, there isn’t always time to tidy up an image

What is your favorite venue to snap at and why? And your least?
CW - The favorite place I have shot at is the Ghent Velodrome and I am looking forward to going back there again this year, the lighting and the speed makes it a good challenge making the end result more satisfying and the format of the racing means there are so many chances to get some great pictures, as almost all of it is packed with adrenaline and passion.

I think the least is on the basketball venues I have shot at, a local sports hall that is so small that you are left with about 3 places to shoot from, the lack of variety makes it a struggle to get interesting shots and be interesting in taking them. But specific for cycling its less about venue and more about the situation, the shots that are ruined because the lights not right, there is a car parked in the wrong place all the silly things that can happen.

What gets you excited when you go out to take pictures?
CW - The chance to capture the action, being in the right place and time to capture the moment, whether its race winning or race losing , the emotion caught up in it is what sells the picture.

When you are snapping what targets do you set yourself?
CW - I usually work in terms of numbers “I want this many shots today”. For the tour this is was what I had to do, to try and structure the day. Being tied to a car and therefore limited to the stop and shot method I set a list of people I want shots of at the start, and then how many stops I could squeeze in out on course today, where I think some action might take place and I want the finish or a key point in the race.

How do you go about composing a picture?
CW - I look for the angle that is either going to frame the rider or frame the scenery, being a cyclist myself gives me a bias to know what I think will make the rider look good.

If all I have to work with is bland buildings and scenery then I will try and find something different to make the rider look like they are riding the bike not just sitting on it, a corner, a rise or something unusual. It sounds silly but sometimes I just try and go somewhere that other photographers aren’t, it’s always a compliment when someone spots you and tries to copy you.

What camera's and lenses do you use?
CW - I shoot with canon, I currently have a 1d MKIII as my main body, and hopefully a second one before the tour, and a 350d as the backup should the worst happen. For lenses I have a 70-200mm, with a 1.4x converter, a 17-40mm and a 10-20mm wide angle.

What bike do you ride and where do you ride it?
CW - My racing bike is a slightly old but still beautiful Giant CFR with some vector pro’s on. I love riding it around the lanes around west Sussex and Hampshire so many nice quiet roads and when the wind is right you can’t beat a flat out sprint along bognor seafront with a tail wind

Chris Wallis

Do you have a good Tour story etc?
CW - From just two weeks on the tour I have built up a few stories and looking forward to gaining many more this year, but I think ones involving the police always make for the best ones.

It was long day in the alps and the only choice was driving straight to the finish so we set off for the finish. A few tour vehicles regard Tour acreditation as the right to speed even when not on the actual route and on one straight bit of road we were over taken by three cars doing well over 100mph. The weird thing was a few cars coming the other way had flashed us, turns out the gendarmes were waiting with a speed trap at the end of the straight, so we had a little giggle as we saw the same three pulled in and being given tickets.

So being a little more cautious than I had been I sat behind a car going a little slowly when all of a sudden I was waved into a lay by and surround by about 8 armed gendarmes, in my most practiced bit of French I apologised for not speaking French and asked if they spoke English. The stern look changed confused and he called his commander over who looked resigned to not giving me a ticket, told me to slow down and waved me on my way

Out of the shots you have taken what’s your favourite picture and why?
CW - I am torn between two, a shot of Iljo Keisse from Ghent 6 last year riding flat out round the banking because it sums up track cycling and it’s the one part of the sport most people who don’t like would probably watch. Either that or a shot of the bunch riding up the Cote Saint-Roche at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, you can see the whole bunch in all it glory and packed onto this narrow hill there isn’t a gap between them the crowd and the houses lining it.

It maybe a little egotistical but you’ll see both hanging on the wall in my front room.

How many pictures do you have/have you taken?
CW - The pictures in my portfolio number probably less than 20 or 30 but total number is well into the high thousands probably more than 10,000 by now, kept mainly for stock photography, that and I am a hoarder can struggle to throw them away.

Chris Wallis Website - www.wallisphotos.co.uk