Bikes & Babes
Long story longgggggggg.
Photography isn’t my main gig (yet). The past few years, I’ve taken on various jobs to supplement my photography goals. Among those was the motorcycle industry. Here is the ridiculously long story of how I discovered my passion for motorcycles.
My older brother rode his Kawasaki through Central America and came back with incredible stories of his journey. Having the travel bug myself, I suggested that we ride together through South America, starting in Columbia and working our way down to Patagonia. He precociously responded, “well I think you need to learn how to ride a motorcycle first”. And he was not wrong.
So when my car was totaled while parked a few months later, I really only had enough funds to buy a cheap motorcycle on Craigslist. I owned a 1978 Honda cb400 and at one point it was my sole source of transportation. Like any old bike, or machine from the 70s, it needed work constantly! From snapped clutch cables and blown fuses to the dying electrical system, I got pretty good at fixing this thang from watching YouTube Videos. And, I don’t know if you’ve every fixed ANYTHING, but repairing my motorcycle was empowering and rewarding. After replacing my friend’s 80’s Kawasaki kz550’s voltage regulator, I was like “heeeeeyyyyy, I think I’ve found another calling.” I was 25 years old at the time and the idea of becoming a motorcycle mechanic sounded hot! …And I love challenging gender norms and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
After fixing my friend’s old Kawasaki, I was offered a mechanic apprenticeship at a Denver small business, Knuckleheads. What?? Holy shit! Dream job!! But, it came with conditions. I was to be the service writer, marketer, inventory manager, event coordinator, and apprentice…ok you get the gist. I loved working on bikes. I befriended the two mechanics, Dave and Shovelhead Todd, while learning how to do oil changes, replace tires and batteries, electrical diagnostics, and whatever came in the door. Eventually, the owner couldn’t afford to stay open so his shop shut down. However, I did find and buy my 05’ Dyna Low Rider working the shop and made lifelong friends out of the mechanics, so there were at least silver linings to this experience.
I started working for Harley Davidson as a lot tech, which is the entry level service position. I had a fantasy about how this would work out, “I’d get promoted to parts, eventually service writer, and then they’d send me to Milwaukee to get trained in mechanics”. This didn’t exactly shake out but I made a bunch of biker friends and met my partner who is a Harley stunt rider. My partner is apart of a growing group of stunt riders, Breakerboyz Krue (you don’t want to know what their nickname was lol).
I got to see all these Harley riders improve at stunting and be apart of this unique bike culture. And…to make a short story unnecessarily long af, is how I met one my models from this shoot.
Caroline (blonde streak in her hair with the backpiece) isn’t just a smoke show model. She is also a Harley rider and contortionist. Caroline’s boyfriend had just repainted his Dyna with this clean Marlboro design (he actually doesn’t smoke ciggs at all). Caroline’s contortionist partner and bestie, Ari, was coming to town from Vegas and wanted to do a Hot Girl Summer bike shoot with the fresh paint job.
I was honored to photograph these babes with the Marlboro bike. They crushed this shoot and I’m really pleased with how they turned out. Here are some of my favorites.
Let me know which one is your favorite ;)
Photography: Me
Styling: Me
Retouching: Also Me
Caroline @envy_aerial
Ari @ari27
Select any photo to expand.
