Taking pictures of our Bike

KapGranite

New Hampshire, USA
Jun 16, 2020
46
58
18
36
New Hampshire
I ride a
Victory Cross Country
Now I have heard this from a few people but why is a "no no" to take pictures of your bike on the kickstand side? I have been told many times to always take the photo from the right side to not show the kickstand. I just thought it was weird but after 4-5 people were telling me this I was like huh is that really a thing?
 
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Fool Moon

Wannabie Member
Jun 25, 2020
62
49
18
Northridge, California
I ride a
2014 Triumph Thunderbird LT
Never heard it as a no-no, but angle of the bike on non-stand side would give the bike a better look. Same idea of not hunching shoulders forward in a picture. bike looks 'taller'.
 
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Papa Jefe

Excuse me? It's "Harley Bro," not "Harley Guy."
Feb 7, 2020
56
80
18
41
Alabama, US
I ride a
2019 Harley-Davidson Softail FXBB Street Bob
Follow your own sense of aesthetics. I personally avoid side shots as everyone has done that. My preference is as low to the ground as possible and at about a 45 degree angle off the front end.
 

LoneWolfer

Lone Wolfer Garage
Jun 1, 2017
846
1,323
93
43
Connecticut
www.thelonewolfer.com
I ride a
Harley Nightster, Harley Switchback & Suzuki Savage
Yes, composition can be subjective, but you should take pictures that you like. I personally will try any and every angle I can to see what I get. And I certainly will take a pic of the jiffy stand side if that is the side I want people to see. I recently made my own spark plug wires and if I want to focus on those then I need to take a pic of the jiffy stand side because that is where they are on my bike.

And compostionally, there are ways to make the bike look tall, have good light, and look great even with the lean toward you. One tactic is get low and shoot up. Another is take pictures during the magic hour when the sun is low on the horizon right after sunrise or right before sunset. More like 20 or 30 minutes than an hour, but you will have better light than you have ever had before during those short periods. A third tactic is try not to center the bike. Use the surroundings to draw the viewer to the bike, or even specific parts of the motorcycle. Think of a picture frame as having tic-tac-to squares drawn on it creating 9 areas. Keeping the focus of the image on the cross points, rather than in the middle of the squares is often more pleasing to a composition. So, when you focus the shot (don't forget to tap the screen on your phone or focus your lens on the camera on the exact object or person you are taking a pic of) the rest of the image that you compose should help focus toward what you want the viewers attention to land on.
 

Meifesto

Semi-Suicidal Dutchie
Jan 5, 2013
1,802
1,608
113
The Netherlands
I ride a
Yamaha XT660R
I do something and it drives my mother crazy. It’s the Dutch Angle, the road and horizon lines are at an angle to the image edges. I’ve done this for years without realizing, just found it more interesting.


Never knew that was called the Dutch Angle, now i'm curious to find out why xD
 
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R-Rated

Remember to Have Fun! - Solar Bear 2020 Champion
Aug 4, 2016
4,199
4,700
113
Middle Tennessee USA
www.R-RatedCustoms.com
I ride a
2014 Harley Davidson (FLHTK) Ultra Limited
Never knew that was called the Dutch Angle, now i'm curious to find out why xD

I have heard used in relation to filming.
I know it is older than the classic Batman tv show but that is where I first saw it used a lot. Usually when things were getting wierd...

tumblr_newoeiqTMY1s2wio8o2_500.gif
 

R-Rated

Remember to Have Fun! - Solar Bear 2020 Champion
Aug 4, 2016
4,199
4,700
113
Middle Tennessee USA
www.R-RatedCustoms.com
I ride a
2014 Harley Davidson (FLHTK) Ultra Limited
is it because everything is flat, so to mix it up tilt the camera? :)

I think this is what the effect was originally intended for but hey, art is about doing new things right?

From Wikipedia and I am sure @scooterwuf can confirm or deny...

"The angle was widely used to depict madness, unrest, exoticism, and disorientation in German Expressionism, hence its name Deutsch, meaning German, was often conflated with the etymologically similar word Dutch which gives the corruption of the term now commonly used. Montages of Dutch angles are often structured such that the tilts are horizontally opposed in each shot – for example, a right-tilted shot will be followed with a left-tilted shot, and so on.[7]"

I smell a motovlogging challenge here...
 

LandyVlad

King of Mycenae
Jun 8, 2020
582
550
93
53
Brisbane, Australia
gsx1400owners.org
I ride a
Suzuki GSX1400
Going back to the OP - there may be a couple of reasons why this 'advice' has come about.

If on the sidestand and you are taking a photo of the bike from your normal standing stance then it will often be lit better and look better taking the photo of the higher side rather than lower sidestand side.

The solution (and photos almost always look better this way anyway) is to take the photo from a lower angle. Position the bike in advance so the natural light is illuminating the side you are photographing.

Another reason may not be so much about 'not from the sidestand side' but 'from the exhaust side'. Which is to say most bike with a single exhaust have it on the right hand side (happens to be the non-side stand side). People like to show off their exhausts in photos.

Some might just think the 'propped uo bythe sidestand' look isn't for them.

Whatever the case - there's no reason at all not to take photos of the side-stand side of your bike.

20180127231125-7aed2466.jpg
 

SighBored

@thesighbored
Jan 18, 2015
2,662
1,235
113
Malaysia
www.thesighbored.com
I ride a
2012 Kawasaki ZX-6R
Now I have heard this from a few people but why is a "no no" to take pictures of your bike on the kickstand side? I have been told many times to always take the photo from the right side to not show the kickstand. I just thought it was weird but after 4-5 people were telling me this I was like huh is that really a thing?
HAHAHAHAHAHA never have I ever heard such a thing.. Funny..
 
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WEB

L Plate Member
Feb 14, 2020
255
370
63
35
I ride a
Triumph Thruxton + Harley Lowrider
Maybe they mean if you're selling the bike?

I mean, this image, technically, has gone very poorly, light bleed, subjects in the frame moving etc...

but I like it more than just a normal shot of the bike...

O13P6Ou.jpg
 

KrustyBoot

Become one with the Krustyness
Jun 8, 2020
49
66
18
East Anglia, UK.
I ride a
All the shit bikes! :)
It depends on the bike, some bikes are designed to look better on the right hand side. Anything with a single sided swingarm for example will typically have the wheel exposed on the RHS and the drivetrain on the left. Or if your bike has exhausts only on one side that will typically be the right hand side because its shiny and catches the eye with the bike on the sidestand.
 

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