Industry Insights | Ft. Simon Cudby

In this installment of Industry Insights, we talk to photographer Simon Cudby, who has shot some of the most iconic photos and magazine covers in Supercross and motocross history. 

For the full interview, check out the Vital MX podcast right here. There is a lot more within the audio version below. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida—Vital MX: Let's start by asking where you grew up and when your interest in photography and motorcycles started.

Simon Cudby: That goes way back because I'm getting pretty old. Originally, I'm from England. I was born on the outskirts of London and went to college to study photography. I left England when I was 18 and went to work on a cruise ship in the Caribbean as a photographer. It was the cheesiest job imaginable, but I was on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, which was better than England. I did that for five years and then I moved to California. I met my wife in California and ended up living there. I met this German guy in a camera store in Irvine, California, and he told me he could introduce me to photographers and that I could start assisting them. He helped me connect with local photographers, and I was shooting for a car photographer and a studio photographer shooting products, and I got my feet wet in the commercial side of things. Then, one day I met another guy who had an ad agency and was shooting various mountain bike ads in the 90s. I started shooting for him, which led to a job as an in-house photographer/freelance photographer for G.T. Bicycles. At the time, a distribution company called Riteway was selling AXO BMX stuff. All of a sudden, I started shooting motocross with AXO in '96. It kind of all went from there. So, I found this thing called motocross. I only started riding in '96. I was thirty at the time, and I'm 58 now. I didn't grow up around motorcycles. 

Later, I would go to some Supercross races, and I met Eric Johnson from RacerX. He said, "Send us some of your stuff." I didn't know anyone in the industry then. So, I sent some photos in, and I got a cover shot on RacerX and started shooting more consistently for them. As my G.T. bicycle career was winding down, it started to ramp up in motocross and Supercross. 

Vital MX: Regarding photography in this sport, certain guys seem to instinctively know where to be to 'get the shot.' Is there something you can sense, or is it more luck?

Cudby: I'd like to say it's something you can sense, but it's luck. It's luck, but you're also prepared for what's in front of you. I don't randomly walk around the track and snap photos. You're always kind of manufacturing the shot. It's like, "If I stand here, the guy is going to come out of this turn and go over this little table, and he's going to scrub it. So, that could be a good shot." You're constantly thinking about that. I had a Tomac photo a couple of years ago at Anaheim 1, where he went over the tunnel jump and lost it. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. You don't just shoot random stuff. You have to shoot something interesting. I got one (James) Stewart a couple of years ago. I think he was chasing Ken Roczen, and he's coming through the whoops and crashes. People on Vital were cutting him out and Photoshopping him onto other things in funny situations. That was a situation where I happened to be at the whoops and thought, "This will be a good shot." I saw that James was catching Kenny and thought he would catch him soon, so I decided to wait a couple of laps, and then he had a big one.

Vital MX: How a photographer works at a race has changed over the years, especially since going from film to digital. You used to leave the race, wait for the film to be developed, and then send the photos to whomever you needed to. Now, you guys stay late editing and uploading. It's a difficult and grueling process that I don't know the average fan appreciates.

Cudby: I'm glad someone is paying attention to how hard the photographers work at the races. Pre-2012, there wasn't much social media, and the deadlines we have now were nonexistent. You would process the photos and deliver them for a race report after a race. Before that, I would come home from a race with 25 rolls of film in a Ziplock bag, drop them off at Irvine Photographics for the one-hour developing, and by noon on Monday; they would be ready. As social media started taking off, the deadlines became a grind. You're working from 8:30 am until 1 am the next morning, and you're wide open. Instead of the deadlines being at the end of the day, they are all day because your phone is blowing up. The P.R. person is asking for photos of a rider, or RacerX needs heat race photos instantly.

Vital MX: What's your favorite thing to shoot? The team shoots, races, adventure touring, products, or even something outside moto?

Cudby: I like doing the team shoots. I don't go to all the races anymore. I still feel I have a good reputation with the riders, so I'm doing the KTM, Husky, and GasGas team shoots this year. I'm doing the Honda one as well. I like doing that stuff. It's hard work, and you're constantly juggling throughout the day, thinking about technical stuff such as lighting and camera stuff. Then, you have to find something for the riders to do, like a finish line whip or something. You're setting up strobes and trying to keep the riders motivated throughout the day because there is so much to do. There are headshots, bike shots, and group shots, and then they've been there for four hours before they even get to ride their bikes. I try to keep it light-hearted and fun so that it doesn't seem like such a chore because all they want to do is test and train. Also, the adventure touring stuff is really good. Before I ever shot moto I was into landscapes. I'd go out into the desert, and meshing that with motorcycles is something I like to do. It's more challenging.

Vital MX: Is getting the cover of a magazine as big of a deal as it used to be? There aren't many magazines left, so is it still a highlight to get a cover?

Cudby: Yeah, absolutely. Especially now that I'm not going to all the races, I counted once and had something like 175 covers with RacerX. It's special when I get one now because I'm not going to all the races. It's special and means a lot.

Vital MX: What are a couple of your favorite photos you've taken? They don't have to be moto-related.

Cudby: I have a photo from Southwick where I was standing right behind the start line. I don't know if you're allowed to do that anymore, but I was standing right behind Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart. It may have been 2007, and they were getting ready to go. They dropped the gate and took off, and you could see the start straight going up the hill and away from them. You just knew they wanted to beat each other so badly. There's that photo, and speaking of cover photos, I did a RacerX shoot with Ken Roczen at the Honda test track in California. It wasn't crystal blue skies. It was kind of stormy and cloudy. I set up some strobes and had to think about stuff to technically balance the lighting with the dramatic clouds in the background. When I saw that photo I thought, "That works really well." It was pretty cool.