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Viewfinder: Ross Bell
The first installment of our new Viewfinder series featuring @rossbellphoto from Inverness, Scotland. The Viewfinder is our new highlight series that broadcasts stories of photographers & filmmakers from our global community 🌍 We recently hooked up with Ross to chat about his background and what brought him into the world of photography. So what's your story? I grew up on the Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland, playing around with bikes and cameras in high school and it didn't take too long before the two hobbies merged into one. I started shooting with my mates and trying to emulate images and techniques I was seeing in magazines. At that moment in time, a career in photography wasn't remotely on my radar, I was just enjoying the learning process more than anything. Following a photography course at Edinburgh College I got offered a place on the degree course. It didn't sit right with me and I opted to move to Germany and take up an internship at a mountain bike magazine. I joined my friend James Shirley who was already out there living in his van, driving to races and riding in the Alps in between. I booked a dirty one‑way flight out there with what little money I had and joined him for some bike racing and riding antics. At an Enduro World Series race in Italy a couple of photographers from Pink Bike spoke to me and said there might be a spot opening up for the following year. I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and suddenly found myself shooting the World Cup events which was a dream come true. What's your gear of choice right now? I still shoot on a Canon DSLR despite the mirrorless uprising! My primary body is a 1DX II with a 5D IV as a backup. A 70-200 lens is the main workhorse, and a 16-35, a Sigma 50mm, and a 15mm fisheye make up the rest of my bag. I see no reason to change for now. Sure the more compact mirrorless bodies look nice and have great specs but I think people get caught up in all that too much, it's still the photographer that's creating the image, the camera merely captures it. Perhaps the mirrorless Sony's might be a little more efficient but I need reliability and trust in my kit more than anything else and I've had very few problems so far. Good weather sealing is also a godsend for shooting action sports and that's something Canon does well! I've also recently invested in some lights which I really need to get out and use more... What about a film shooter? What’s your favourite stock or format? I've only ever shot a couple of rolls of Ilford HP5+. Definitely something I need to play with more! You must have seen some pretty amazing places. What's the best place you've shot? Yeah, I've been pretty lucky over the last couple of years to go to some rather ridiculous places. From a purely photographic and visual perspective, I'd say Namibia last year is hard to beat. The light, the colours, the textures, the vistas, the animals, a real feast for the senses. As for my favourite all-round mountain bike trip, I'd have to say Ecuador is top. The crew I was with were all good friends and easy and fun to work with. The trails were some of the best I've ever ridden and the diversity of the terrain we travelled through was next level. Those are some incredible experiences! What about future dream places? I was pretty gutted to have my trip to Japan in May cancelled [read: Covid]. Obviously a pretty trivial problem in the grand scheme of things right now, but I was particularly excited by that trip and the potential imagery I'd get. Hopefully we can rearrange that at some point as I'd still love to go! There must be some long days when you're out shooting on bike trails. What's your must-have item you can’t live without when you're shooting? Honestly it might be a cliche but you are the most important piece of kit you have. My shooting situations can quite often be physically demanding, whether it be long days in the saddle with a heavy camera pack or sat at the side of a race track severely lacking in sleep and decent food. I can get burnt out towards the end of the summer with lots of travel, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, lack of nutrition. Over the last couple of seasons I've tried to take better care of myself and tried to fuel myself better particularly on those big days out on the bike. There's nothing worse than feeling like you're up against it to even make it to/through/from a location... How can you expect to take the best images you can if you're hanging out your a***?! That sounds like someone with some experiences! What about the wildest situation you’ve found yourself in shooting? Yeah, I've experienced my fair share of wild weather. A particular thunderstorm in the high alpine in Crested Butte, Colorado a few summers back springs to mind... But I'd have to say shooting in the Yukon at sunset on the longest day of the year before riding back to the van on the most insane loam trail ever lit only by twilight at 1am was pretty surreal. I think I might be able to guess this one but what about your favourite thing that's nothing to do with photography? Riding my bike! I don't actually get to ride it that much these days, particularly through the race season, so anytime I get to ditch the camera bag and ride with the boys is greatly appreciated. What about a dream client or project you'd love to work on? I'm about to head to Wales to shoot with Kade Edwards for Trek and I'm struggling to think of anything much better than that. The dude is insanely talented and it's my first chance to shoot with him outside of the race tape. I would like to explore more possibilities outside of cycling though, I've always loved any chances I get to shoot other sports whether it be rugby, sailing or moto. And finally... one piece of advice you'd offer to others following you? In the early days particularly I'd say watch what other photographers are doing, both within and outside of your sphere. Try to emulate what they are doing, learn the techniques and experiment before developing your own style over time. You can check out more of Ross' work at the links below Photos by @rossbellphoto
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Tens x Tiny Changes
Creating positive experiences through our mood enhancing lenses has been central to our ethos since day one. We love that our sunglasses add a little bit of warmth to your daily travels; however we recognise that maintaining a healthy mindset takes more than that. Mental health is an incredibly challenging issue at the heart of our generation and the Tens team. Today we’re sharing our first steps in actively engaging and driving support in what we feel is an immensely under-resourced space. We’re proud to announce our partnership with Scottish mental health charity, @tinychanges; a community of tiny change makers, working together to help young minds feel better. Tiny Changes is a Scottish mental health charity set up in 2019 by the family of, and in memory of Scott Hutchison. Scott was best known to most as the lead singer and songwriter in Scottish folk indie band, Frightened Rabbit. Through his music and art, Scott made tiny changes that made a big impact. His honesty and openness about his own mental health inspired people from all walks of life. Scott’s family felt sure he would want his voice to continue to be heard. This legacy inspired a bold vision; to make young minds feel better. Tiny Changes has three main aims in its mission: Irrespective of your location around the world, we implore you to visit @tinychanges on Instagram and their website at tinychanges.com to find out more about their story, how you can support it and importantly; learn about what you can do to manage your own mental health as well as looking out for others. It’s never been so important to do so during a testing time for everyone. We hope that you can join us on this journey supporting Tiny Changes and all the important work they do. Every tiny change can make a big impact. - - #TinyChanges
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City Guides: A Long Weekend in Lisbon
While the sun's come out plenty this month in the UK, and so far the conditions have been perfect for Tens, we've still not been blessed with that spring heat. Yearning for that summer heat, our Iain took a trip to a new city with his best pal & a camera. If you've been to Lisbon before you'll know of its stunning architecture, colours, food & warmth. Iain got so excited about it he's written us his guide. If you're needing any more tips, just slide into our DMs, amigos! Okay, the first tip is to get electric scooters EVERYWHERE (well, not up the hilly parts). Most of them are around €0.15 per minute with around a €1 starting fee. They go up to 26km/h and are SO much fun. You just pick them up from the side of the street and leave them wherever you want! If you take them along the water from Praça Comercio you'll pass some lovely sights, the path gets bumpy at times though. We never actually used the metro, just walked around in the sun and only got the train out to further away places. For a half-day trip, I'd highly recommend going to see Sintra and the vibrant castles there. It's a bit of a trek to walk up there (around 45 minutes uphill), but you can always get a Tuk Tuk up & down! The castle is STUNNING and set in a forest park. Very 'Instagrammable' and the views are class. I wouldn't go on a Saturday though, and I guess try get there early as it was super busy. The return train ticket is €5 and takes 40minutes. Another great half-day trip idea if you get a super sunny day is Cascais. It's a GORGEOUS small beach town with even smaller windier tiled streets. Great wee outdoor seating spots for food & sangria, a really nice chilled beach too. If you go, you must walk up to the fort and check out the lighthouse, it's gorgeous. This is also €5 return but takes a bit longer, around an hour each way. On the way back, it's worth checking out the Champalimaud Foundation. Honestly one of the most impressive examples of architecture I've seen in my life, look it up. It was mind-blowing. We went near sunset when the golden light was stretched over it which was super dramatic. You can go on the way there too of course, just get off the train at Alges, then it's a 10 minute walk. Along that same train line as above you've got the MAAT museum. This is in two parts, there's the old thermal power station and then the new Amanda Levete building which is extremely cool. It's only €9 to visit both buildings (or a fiver each) so might as well go see both if you're there. Very impressed.Back towards the city you've got LX factory which is a bustling spot. A lot of vintage shops and street art to check out. What's cool about it is that it's under the main bridge so the surroundings are sick. We ended up sitting for hours under the bridge drinking margaritas. Ideal. One of my favourite things about Lisbon was watching the old trams rattle past. We didn't actually get on one, but they're all over the old town area, and super cute. There's also a funicular you can get from the centre which has the same vibe - again, didn't go up but would have done if we had an extra day.Drinks-wise, Foxtrot is a great quirky cocktail bar that's a bit further out of the main Barrio Alto but worth it. If you time it right, I'd recommend going to Park Bar for sunset, that was cool. It's a bit tricky to get to as it's literally on the roof of a multi-storey car park, but once you work that out you're golden. Went to this great wee jazz bar too called Palheta, so much fun and the crowd spills out onto the street. Such a warm vibe. If you know your bars and have good judgement, you'll find what you're looking for on most corners. The food in Lisbon is to die for. A top spot for us was Farès, mediterranean Ottolenghi vibes and a fairly new restaurant but it was simply perfect. Great if you're into that taste, and the staff are extremely friendly. Amazing tunes, really nice cocktails. Make sure you try the artichokes if you're into that. The owners also own this cafe called Janis which is a perfect Parisian-style brunch spot. Another good brunch spot was Juicy Lisboa, nothing out of this world, just really good healthy food & juices. If you're not into your meat, then check out AO26 (Vegan Food Project). The burgers and basics looked good, but I had this imitation scored scallop dish with shimeji mushrooms, with vegan caviar, blue spirulina foam and all sorts of goodness and it was probably the best thing I've ever eaten in my life. Great organic wine there though. We also went to this taqueria called Pistola y Corazon which was amazing. Really creative cocktail menu, & fantaastic tacos, however there's usually a bit of a wait. Try to get there for like 6:45pm (opens at 7) to put your name down. If there's 20 odd people outside you'll probably be waiting half an hour. You can also order drinks for waiting outside and they'll give you tortilla chips. And last but not least, for those famous custard tarts, we kept going back to the same place. Just near Praça da Figueira called Confeteria Nacional - beautiful interior. And if you're vegan, don't fear! We got our vegan fix from Zarzuela. If you're planning on going, DM us on Instagram with any questions. Photos by @yoiain & @steffiholtz
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