First in Flight – The Story of a Unique Photograph

Posted on 9 Mar, 2015 by Scott Jones

Marc Marquez first in flight limited edition Laguna Seca

When I get back to the Media Center after the race and could look at the images on my laptop, I found this one, which had both wheels in the air!
miss-1

Unfortunately, there were some problems with the shot:
miss-2

Eventually I did find one nearly perfect shot with a rider in mid air, and it just happened to be of the race winner, Marc Marquez, shown above. As it turned out that was the only image of the entire collection that showed a rider in mid air AND was sharp enough to print at the size I used for the First in Flight edition.

I don’t do a lot of Limited Edition prints because I want any LE from PHOTO.GP to be a special shot. This one qualified immediately, of course, so I went right to work setting up a signing with Marc Marquez and was able to pull that off for the coming round at Indianapolis.
Marc Marquez signing First in Flight

Marc hadn’t seen the photo before I presented it to him that weekend. You know that smile he gets when he’s really excited? He wore that the entire time he was examine the print. It was a fantastic moment.
First in flight authentic

There are still some copies available of this signed Limited Edition. Click here for pricing or to order.

Another pleasing use of this image was used when British Eurosport signed off after many years of MotoGP coverage. It was quite an honor to be the final image of British Eurosport’s final MotoGP broadcast.

So yes, if I had to pick a single image from my MotoGP archive as a favorite, this would be it. And though I regret Laguna Seca not being on the MotoGP calendar any longer, the upside is that this image is now truly one of a kind.

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