Image © Red Bull Content Pool/Rutger Pauw
Remember last week’s solar eclipse? That was good, wasn’t it. Unless you were in London of course (we’re not still bitter), but if you lived somewhere without constant cloud cover then we’re told it was pretty nifty.
Many photographers took to the streets with lenses pointed up at the sky to try and capture a glimpse of the historic event. Red Bull biker Danny MacAskill, however, decided to go one better.
Teaming up with photographer Rutger Pauw, MacAskill set out to use the fleeting opportunity of last week’s solar eclipse as a chance to create an unforgettable image of himself on an airborne bike in front of the obscured sun.
Settling on the Isle of Skye, where MacAskill was born, for their location, the pair then set about tackling the logistical challenge of creating the shot.
Image © Red Bull Content Pool/Rutger Pauw
This required use of a very long lens to get both MacAskill and the sun into shot, and a flashgun to ensure that MacAskill wasn’t cast in shadow.
You can read more about the challenges they faced over at the Red Bull blog. Suffice to say, there were a few.
The tribulation did not end there however, as when they released the results of their endeavours, MacAskill and Pauw found many photographers on social media crying ‘fake!’.
In response they released a behind-the-scenes video showing how the shot was pulled off, which you can see here. It’s well worth a watch, and presents a pretty watertight case for the image’s legitimacy.
You can see more from Rutger Pauw at his website, and watch more videos from Danny MacAskill at his.
Image © Red Bull Content Pool/Rutger Pauw
