Vistas capture bikers’ artistic talents

DVLA Personalised Registrations is dispelling, once and for all, the “grease monkey” image often linked with motorcyclists - thanks to the phenomenal response to its on-line Bike Vistas II photographic competition.

Hundreds of bikers submitted a “stunning” array of images capturing some marvellous Bike Vistas, proving motorbike lovers hide artistic talents behind their leathers! Due to the popularity and the quality of the images, organisers expanded the categories from the original Mobile Phone and Camera taken groups to also include images taken overseas and humorous ones.

Damian Lawson, marketing manager for DVLA Personalised Registrations, explained: “Last year we featured bikers’ definitive top ten scenic routes photographed professionally for the Motorcycle Show. This year we’ve invited bikers to send in their own Bike Vista shots and the results have been incredible. We’ll be featuring the best selection on our stand.”

An independent judging panel chaired by highly acclaimed motorbike photographer Chippy Wood marked each image out of 10 for its artistic content and composition.

Passionate photographer-turned biker Ian Smart of West Lothian, Scotland, won the overall top prize of a day on a professional assignment with Chippy Wood plus a £500 voucher to be spent at Bikers World, one of the UK’s leading biking accessory providers, and two tickets to the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the NEC, Birmingham.

Ian, who also had a second Vista highly commended, said of his win: “While photography is a passion of mine, I’ve never entered a competition before so to win at my first attempt is quite remarkable. My trip was arranged at the last minute and I'd never been on most of the roads I travelled on before so there was a degree of good fortune in finding the place with the perfect weather to get the shot.”

Chippy Wood said: “Never in a month of Sundays did I think judging this competition would be so hard. There’s a lot of bikers out there with an eye for a good shot and Ian is a very worthy winner. The depth to Ian’s photograph was incredible, it just made me want to stand and stare at it for hours.”

David Hall, of Barnsley, who captured a great shot using his beloved Lambretta as a model during a summer outing riding “Coast to Coast” near Robin Hood Bay, was judged second.

Sheila Rainger, from Highgate, North London, captured her Triumph Thunderbird brilliantly silhouetted in North Wales during a round-Britain charity ride to earn her first place in the Mobile Phone category.

A breathtaking view of a French mountain pass with a subtly placed biker earned Stephen Normington of Keighley, West Yorkshire, the top prize in the International category closely followed by a panoramic view of lakes in the Irish Republic, taken by Sarah Bowey of Wingrave, Buckinghamshire. A photograph by Richard Bland, of Northampton, showing a bike stuck in a bog was chosen as the Humorous category winner.

All the winning entries together with those highly commended are being featured on DVLA Personalised Registrations’ stand, 2H30 in Hall 2, at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the NEC, Birmingham. They are also being featured on a special gallery at: vista.dvlaregistrations.co.uk/vista2.