ECR’s TOP 10 Photos

Every race, every AFTER the race, two things happen: riders make a post thanking their sponsors, supporters, and teammates. They tag 10-20 people and talk about the race weekend, how they finished or placed, what happened, and basically how the entire thing went.

The second thing that happens is the expected flood of photos (and videos) from the race AND a ton of people updating their profile photos. A while back, we featured Isa Halamani, one of our favorite action sports photographers and a cause for the said photo change. This time we talk to the most-shared and one of the most sought-after race photographers in the country: Edmond Reyes AKA ECR Fotograpika.

We were tempted to do a full profile feature but ECR is of the “shy-type” tribe and one of the most humble and efficient artists we’ve known. So instead, we asked him to talk about his top 10 favorite photos that he’s taken.

Captions from hereon are from the perspective of ECR, translated from Filipino.

BANS MENDOZA & NAMMI G

This was taken in Patiis with FLY RACING PH’s Bans Mendoza and banner racer Nammi Gardoce. This was my first-ever paid shoot and I’m really grateful to Bans and the rest of FLY for the opportunity.

SHAGNE YAO

This was also for a photoshoot, one of my favorite portrait shots taken. This is of amazing XC and now Enduro rider Shagne Yao, shot with her and her team, I chose this because Shagne told me herself that she loves this shot.

RAN-RAN SIDEWAYS

I remember that a lot of people were hitting this hip jump that day, but Ran-ran hit it sideways and it was gnarly. This was taken at the first One Cavite Alliance DH race, the hip jump before Haribol. There was a photo contest and I was supposed to pass this but decided not to, what I love about this shot is how Ran-ran hit the jump.

KHASTNER’S SPEED

Taken in Arayat during the first DH race held there, I chose this photo of Khasnter because he’s such a wild rider to watch. There was a lot of great riding that day, but Khastner is just different — he’s really “WILD” to watch because he rides hard and fast, it’s exciting.

MATT FRIAS’ TABLE

The story behind this shot, besides the fact that it’s Matt doing a gnarly table in on of his homecourt trails — the Shawarma line too; here is where everything started in my MTB photography. I started shooting here and I’ll never forget it.

KHIM-KHIM, THE PRINCE OF WHIPS

Once in a while, I get to fly out with races as an official photographer. This section was one of the wildest because everyone was sending it big — but none bigger than Khim’s whip, which was almost completely horizontal. Coming from the top of the mountain, down fast, and then BOOM a big whip from one of the fastest riders in the country.

LEA BELGIRA ATTACKING

Hailing from Guimeras, Lea Belgira is one of the best riders in the country. I took this shot from the side to show how aggressive the “attack” that Lea had in this part, highlighting just how wild the riding is– this part of the track had them flying.

STEVE’S “LOOK MA, NO HANDS!”

Steve has been one of the young riders making BIG moves this year, he’s crazy fast and skilled and I chose this photo because Steve actually told me, “Kuya Ed, I’m gonna throw a no-hander,” so I got ready. This was shot in Tarlac, during the race there.

CHASING THE STOKE

This one is special because it’s teacher and student chasing each other down a fast and gnarly track, this is Steve (in front) followed by JR Barba. This was actually a practice run and I almost didn’t get this shot because I was hesitating where to shoot from, I’m glad I stayed put and shot it from here — this angle gives it depth.

VOLT VOLT IN THE RAIN

Taken at the recent Alliance race, this photo won the photo contest at the same race. It’s of Volt Volt in the rain, it’s a pretty lucky shot because they stopped the race because of the rain, cutting the final run. We were resting already downstairs and some riders still went down, someone yelled out and I took position and shot it. There you go.