Salva Moreno, the man behind the lens

On last couple of years for sure you have enjoyed some great videos from ChainReactin Cycles PayPal team on the different DH World Cup races and also some of the Sam Hill appereances on the Enduro World Series. If you happen to be in Spain and follow the enduro races, specially the Spanish Enduro Open BigRide by Rotor series, sure you have seen some awesome resume videos from the race. Behind the lenses there is always someone that sacrifices sleep time to get those videos online as soon as possible. That person (or persons) have to fight against all odds in order to get that video done, bad weather, dusty conditions, wind, etc. Let's meet one of those persons, from Malaga, Spain, Salva Moreno, the official videographer of the ChainReaction Cycles PayPal team and the Spanish Enduro Open BigRide 2016.

OB: Who is Salva Moreno? Where are you from and where do you live?

Salva: Salva Moreno is a 39 years old guy that lives day by day improvising as much as possible to get to live from what I love the most, bicycles.

OB: What came first, bicycle or videos?

Salva: First was the bike. At same time I was obsessed with graphic design and music on computers. Slowly everything got into the mix until I landed into what I do now. You could say that cameras arrived just by chance.

OB: When and how did you started into MTB and cycling in general?

Salva: I started doing mtb when I was 13 years old. My first bike was a GT Pantera and since the first day I started exploring all nearby trails in Mijas area and equipped with my skate protections tried to go downhill as fast as possible. I didn't do XC or rally routes, I just climbed to go down, something similar to what now is called "enduro" but with less km's. Some months later I saw that what I was doing was called "downhill or DH" and it was considered a sport. From that point on I started to meet more and more persons doing the same and looking for new places where to ride, where to learn new tricks and learn by doing, that means, huge crashes over and over until we nailed.

OB: What other sports you practice when your never ending trips and flights allow you to do so?

Salva: Skate, enduro MX, dirtjump and thanks to my brother I'm starting to enjoy road cycling too.

OB: Have you been involved into MTB racing or any other sport on 2 wheels? Do you still race?

Salva: Yes, when I was younger I wanted to race at pro level and take over the world, as anyone else. But I quickly understood that I was not fast enough to be up there, so I just focused on enjoying the ride and time to time participate on local races with friends, instead of going crazy training non stop to the point to hate the sport.

OB: What bike(s) do you own right now, which one you ride the most?

Salva: Trek Slash 7, Trek Session 9.9, Black Market MOB, Santa Cruz Superlight 2008 and Giant TCR 1. Right now I'm riding a lot with the new NukeProof Mega.

OB: Which rider impress you right now or which one is your preferred one?

Salva: Is hard to say which one is my preferred one. I don't care how they ride, I care about the person itself. I would say I prefer the riders that I enjoy to ride with, Dani, Juanjo, Alex, Barrio, Alvaro, Rubenket or "El Molino" whenever I can meet him! And from the international group, Josh, Bruni, Manon, Sam Hill.. and without any doubt I'm a Brandon Semenuk big fan.

OB: Which is or are your preferred ringing spots?

Salva: Whistler (CAN) , La Thuille (ITA) , Zona de Benasque, La Pinilla, Montes de Malaga (thanks "Moskito" and all the guys there) El Chorro y Mijas. (on this same order)

OB: How, when and why all this video thing started?

Salva: I always liked skate videos and unusual movies. When I saw mtb videos I always thought that I could do those same videos but with a different twist, more like the movies I liked. So I grabbed what I had at hand and started filiming my friends and everyone that was nearby on Malaga area on the pre-season.

OB: Did you studied filmography or have studies of any kind related to video making? Or you just learned by doing, trial and error?

Salva: No academies, no studies.

OB: Begining wa hard?

Salva: Not so much! :D Sincerely, I think I just had luck. At some point, I took the decision to drop my job and followed the DH World Cup on my own with the money I had saved. Nowdays I work with those guys I started filming on my own.

full gas in the Trans-Nomad 2016, pre Pirineos area, Spain

OB: Which were your initial goals?

Salva: Since first day I was clear I wanted to take part on the MTB industry at the higher level possible.

OB: When did you realized you could earn your live shooting videos?

Salva: Even before I started shoting. When I first met in person my idols, persons like Alex Rankin o Victor Lucas, and I saw that they were common persons, normal like you an me, then I realized that I could also do that for living.

OB: Are you surprised by how far have you come or it was something you expected?

Salva: I don't think I have arrive anywhere. I just imagine that one day I will look back and think: "holy shit! look at the places I've been!"

OB: How was to jump from amateur film making to been a pro?

Salva: After shooting the Leogang 2013 video with the help of my friend Kiko(Jorker, ex-203mm, without him surely that had end up in nothing), the Chain Reaction/Nukeproof team started to train in Malaga. We shoot another small edit for them and after a while, team manager Nigel Page asked if I wanted to do the World Cup round with them. In couple more weeks I was already with a flight ticket on my hands to shoot in Sudafrica and Australia. I was astonished. Since then I have not stopped and everything has changed a lot. My friend Kiko has his family and he is settled up with an organized life and all. I on the other hand, I'm always looking at the watch to know which time zone I'm in and sometimes I don't even know where I'm and where I'm going next.

another day at work

OB: Can you detail the equipement you commonly use to do your job

Salva: Panasonic AGAC90 , Panasonic GH4, Canon 7D, Monopod, Gopro, Gimbal, Microfono XLR, DSLR y solapa. And always carry clothes for all wheater, a pair a shoes, bike apparel, swim suit, everything I can get into my suitcase!

OB: You are usually behind a video camera. Are you planning to do some photography too?

Salva: Yes. Is something that I also like a lot and that I've already tried. I had even some pics published!! :D

OB: From all your edits, which one you feel more proud of?

Salva: OnTheHunt Australia 2014.

OB: What or who do you like to shoot a vide of, someone or someplace you hadn't the chance, what kind of edit will you do?

Salva: So far I have done mostly race edits. I would like to do plan something with more time and planning. And time and planning is something on the racing world you don't have.

OB: Other videographers that surprise or inspire you nowdays?

Salva: Seb Moratz and Tommy Caldwell

OB: What advice would you give to someone just starting on the MTB video world and extreme sports in general?

Salva: Don't limit yourself!!

OB: Describe a typical day on Salva Moreno life when you're covering an event. Is there lot of difference between DH, enduro and XC?

Salva: I take several flights, trains and rented cars to wherever the race is taking place. I arrive and try to shoot everything I can. On DH races is a matter of choosing a spot where you believe you will have the best images. Enduro is physically more demanding, you need to move with the riders, both on the trainings and on the race. You get to ride the race track with them, they wait for your and show you their lines, and that alone is awesome. Been able to ride with them, but without the stress of the race is great. After the race, is the same for any kind of video, hours editing to get the kind of video you want.

OB: For whom you have worked so far, could you give some names?

Salva: Mondraker, Fox Europe, Nukeproof, Dirt Magazine, Vital MTB, Sherpa Project, Chainreaction Cycles / Paypal and Berg Outdoor.

OB: Other than MTB, do you shoot other sports, which ones?

Salva: For the moment, professionally just MTB.

OB: How do you see the current MTB panorama in Spain and its future?

XX: In Spain there is a huge number of cycling fans, both mtb and road and we live in one of the best countries in Europe for these sports. There is a big lack of support and events from government institutions. Just by not prohibiting it would be helpful. Spanish cycling federation must understand that right now enduro/AM is what people do the most and what they enjoy and that downhill racing is the F1 of the MTB world. They need to send our good riders to international events so they can learn with the bests. I'm optimistic towards the future, there are lot of new riders, both women and men with lot of talent and willing to do their best. The mtb future is on their hands.

OB: How do you help to increase or support MTB in Spain?

Salva: I try not to say nothing negative...Jeje... No, seriously speaking, I try to talk with everyone, share my stories, what I have done, where I have been and what I've done on my bike, simply that already makes people start dreaming and whising for new ideas. I would love to take others to places where entire villages or cities breathe and live for cycling, so they could realize that this is a win-win situation for everyone. I also organize holidays and enduro rides in Malaga, we bring riders from other countries to Malaga and try to show them our local trails and our lifestyle.

OB: You are from Malaga and you know all the area like your hand and you know everything happens there. What do you believe could be done to improve MTB practice there?

Salva: Malaga on winter is already one of the more visited places in Spain to ride and train. I think we still lack of local groups that meet more often for local rides, without the pressure or stress of a race. That would certainly make more and more persons to join the sport and spread the word.

OB: Future plans?

Salva: Keep doing anything that leaves me with time to ride my bike and enjoy it as much as I enjoy it right now.

One thousands thanks Salva for sharing some of your time with us sharing all these questions, we know you don't have minutes to spare, flying from one place and taking away hours from your sleep to do those awesome edits.

If you want to be up to date with the latest videos from Salva Moreno, you can follow him in Twitter, Facebook y Vimeo.