Long Nguyen

Published: 23/06/12

Saturday Snaps with

Who is Long Nguyen?

I am Long Nguyen haha. I am a 24 year old adventure sports photographer based out of Albuquerque, NM (USA). I primarily shoot mountain biking and some motocross when I get a chance. I recently finished college but have been very fortunate to be able to shoot full-time and not have to get a 9-5 job.

Years shooting:

Nine years, seriously for four.

What got you into taking photos?

Mountain biking is the reason I got into photography. Every time I road I always wanted to capture everything that was happening. One day I found my dad's old SLR camera and since then I have never stopped taking photos.

First photography related memory:

I think sometime in 2004 or late 2003 at the Santa Fe Dirt Jumps. I just went through rolls of film taking pictures of everything.

Best photography experience:

Almost every adventure is a great experience. I always try to keep a positive attitude but if I had to choose one it would be my trip to Japan last October. Japanese hospitality is amazing.

Worst photography experience:

Unfortunately I have witnessed a riders fatal crash.

Advice for taking a great photo:

Take a good photo haha joke. You know this is a tough question for me. I personally try not to get too attached to images. I look at what I have and want to take better images. To others they are great images and to me they are average. I think this is how I drive myself to want to produce good/ great work. It’s my fuel.

A tip I have shared is take a step back. Don't start taking photos right away. Just see what's around you because you might see something someone else missed.

Three favourite photographers:

Christian Pondella, Garth Milan, and Harookz. The nicest, raddest people I have had the pleasure to meet and work with.

Photography highlight/achievement:

My achievement is making it work. Being able to take photos and travel the world full-time is a huge privilege.

Why do you take photos?

I do it because I love it. Simple as that. The worst day in the field is still better than a good day in the office.

Top photos:

AT Japan: Andrew Taylor in Fukui Izumi, Japan

October 8, 2011

Marin Bikes brought out Andrew and I for a Japanese mountain bike festival called Jagaround. We chose to build a jump here because of the massive ski jump landing. Setting up for this shot took some time as we waited for the golden light.

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8,1 Alien Bee 1600

Illuminate: Cody Gessel at Evergreen, CO, USA.

August 2, 2011

The inspiration of this idea came when my flashes were not strong enough. So I thought I would try and slow the shutter speed down and pray that my flashes would freeze the rider. This one took awhile to get, as I had to battle other photographer’s flashes since I had the shutter open for half a second.

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 F4

Walk in the Park: Linus Sjoholm, Niki Leitner, Andrew Taylor at Ocotillo Wells, CA, USA

March 7, 2012

Ocotillo Wells is famous for motocross. The Season’s of Shred crew wanted to venture into foreign grounds in search of something that had never been ridden on a mountain bike. Seasons of Shred is a new video project featuring Niki Leitner and Andrew Taylor on our travel's around the world. We have everything dialled for the year with some cool locations and riders in store. This time around we brought along our Swedish buddy Linus Sjoholm as our special guest, so keep a look out for some sick shredding.

Equipment: Canon 7D with 70-200 2.8

Momentum: Martin Davalos at Thunder Valley Denver, CO, USA

June 24th, 2011

When I shoot extreme sports I tend to shoot straight on more often than others. As I watched the riders speed around the course I wanted to try a panning shot to capture their speed. I dropped my shutter speed, raised the aperture and searched for a spot on the track where the athlete would be traveling at high speeds.

Equipment: Canon 7D with 70-200 2.8

Sending IT: Cameron Zink at Red Bull Rampage 2010, Virgin, UT, USA

October 3, 2011

I was sat in this location for at least 45 minutes before Zink was cleared to drop in. I was lucky I waited and didn’t move because they accidentally allowed Zink to drop in sooner than expected. A personal favourite.

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 F4