Spend enough time around BMX riders and your definition of a reasonable afternoon starts to change. Somebody looks at a wall and sees a possibility. Somebody else starts working out the approach. I start looking for the photograph. Most people would have walked past the wall.
That’s a world I enjoy being in. People doing something because they’re obsessed with it, surrounded by other people who understand the obsession. The clothes belong to that world, too. A hoodie gets worn riding, hanging around afterward, and going wherever the rest of the day takes you. Photographing it means being willing to follow.
My buddy Dustin Grice and I have been shooting together for roughly twelve years. During that time, I’ve watched him help grow Ride MN from its BMX roots into a brand you recognize around Minnesota without having to go looking for it. Stickers on vehicles. Hats at events. Shirts on people who have somewhere to be and something they’d rather be doing.
People choose to carry that logo around. For an apparel company, that’s a hell of a relationship to have with your customers. When I photograph the brand, I want that relationship to come through.
You Have to Enjoy Being There
Dustin has spent years showing up. Riding, working events, talking to people, building relationships. You’ll see the brand at outdoor shows and community events because that’s where its people are. Through Ride MN and the wider Life Brand family, riders, skaters, anglers, and hunters can wear their activity and their home state together.
You can understand that on paper pretty quickly. Understanding why somebody wants it on their truck takes a little longer.
That’s the part I like getting into. What do these people love enough to spend their weekends doing? What do they save money for? What can they talk about long after everybody else has lost interest? Get somebody onto that subject and watch what happens to their face. Now you’re getting somewhere.
I bring my own history with skiing, mountain biking, climbing, training, and action sports into these assignments. I understand the appetite for getting outside and doing something physical. Each community also has its own habits, humor, and definition of a good day. I want to spend time with those people and find out what theirs looks like.
Shut Up Long Enough to Notice Something
A photographer can become a real pain in the ass by assuming every interesting thing requires instructions.
Turn here. Look there. Hold that. Do it again. Eventually, everybody is watching the photographer, waiting to find out what kind of person they’re supposed to be next. Meanwhile, the afternoon they actually wanted to have is getting away from them.
I talk with the people I photograph. I listen to what they’re planning. I watch how they move, how they handle their equipment, and how they behave around one another. There’s confidence in familiar movements. There’s personality in the way somebody listens to a friend. Sometimes the expression I want arrives while we’re talking about something completely unrelated to taking pictures.
Familiarity helps. People get comfortable, the conversation moves on, and I can work without making every moment about the camera. With someone new, I start by being interested. People can usually tell whether you’re listening or waiting for your turn to arrange their arms.
The same attention carries into the action. I need to understand where someone is going, what the movement might become, and where I can work safely. Then I get into position and stay ready. An athlete committing to a movement has enough to think about without checking whether I’ve finished having an idea.
That responsibility is mine. I know the camera. I read the surroundings. I keep watching. When the opportunity opens, I need to be able to shoot.
The Weather Is Part of the Assignment
Outdoor apparel eventually goes outdoors. Minnesota offers plenty of opportunities to discover how serious everyone was about that.
Cold hands, falling snow, wet equipment, and the business of getting from one place to another all change how people carry themselves. I’m interested in those conditions because they give people something to respond to. They’re occupied. Their attention has somewhere to go beyond my lens.
I like working there. I’ve spent enough of my life outside to be comfortable staying with an assignment when the conditions become inconvenient. The athletes are still doing their thing. I’ve still got photographs to make.
Being in their world means respecting its pace. There are moments to ask for an adjustment and moments to let someone get on with it. I might need a clearer view of the garment or a different position for the light. I can make those decisions without taking possession of the entire experience.
What I’m watching for is the person inside it. Concentration. Amusement. The way someone settles into doing something they know. That’s where the feeling of the brand starts becoming visible.
Stay for What Happens Afterward
There’s plenty to photograph after the riding stops. Friends gather. Families come along. Somebody finally has time to enjoy where they are. I keep working because those relationships help explain why people keep showing up.
That’s part of what I’ve enjoyed photographing with Dustin, including time with his family at U.S. Bank Stadium. An apparel campaign has room for that side of the experience. Your customers spend a few seconds committing to the big move and a lot more time living the rest of the day. I want photographs that feel familiar across both.
Bring the Whole Experience Back to the Brand
Of course, someone has to sell the clothing. I love the action, but I’m being hired to photograph apparel, and I keep that job in view.
The customer needs to see what they’re buying. The logo needs to read. The clothing needs shape, texture, and enough attention that it earns its place in the photograph. I work through those details while keeping the people comfortable and the activity moving.
Before the shoot, I want to talk with your creative team about the products, the audience, and where the photographs need to work. Show me the layouts. Tell me what’s launching. Let’s establish what we need while there’s still time to make decisions about it.
Then I can build coverage with purpose. An image that pulls someone into a campaign. A closer look at the product. People whose behavior belongs to the brand. Enough variety to carry the work through a website, an email, and an advertising layout.
Ride, Skate, Fish, Hunt. Each connects with a different community. I want the person looking at the photographs to recognize something familiar and feel invited. Maybe they’ve ridden that kind of spot. Maybe they know that cold. Maybe they see the shirt and think of the people they spend their weekends with.
That’s why I keep coming back to this work. I enjoy the people, the movement, and the slightly unreasonable enthusiasm that keeps everybody involved. I want to make photographs that give someone a reason to look at your brand and imagine themselves wearing it.
I’m Aaron Belford, a commercial human performance and outdoor adventure photographer based in Monticello, Minnesota. If you’re building an apparel campaign, bring me into the conversation with your marketing team or agency. Show me what you’re making and introduce me to the people who live in it.
I’ll come ready to keep up.
Talk to me about your next shoot.
https://aaronbelford.com/get-in-touch/