The renowned French photographer Marc Riboud once said, “Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” For famed action photographer Darryl “Killboy” Cannon, the next second could bring a 3.8 million dollar Pagani Huayra into his viewfinder or a motorcycle hand-built to look like a jet ski.
On the Tail of the Dragon, both are possible on any given day. After ten years and several million photographs later, Darryl has seen all of that and much more.
For those not familiar with this mecca for the automotive and motorcycling world, Tail of the Dragon is ground zero. In many ways, if you were an actor, driving the Dragon is like walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival or the Oscars.
A place to see, be seen, and photographed by Darryl “Killboy” Cannon. Sportscar and motorcycle manufacturers transport their latest creations to this obscure 11-mile, twisty corner section of the Great Smokey Mountains.
They will tell you it’s a performance test, but honestly, it’s to have their brand photographed by Darryl conquering the Dragon.
The Story Continues, , ,
Our interview with Darryl is an adaptation for our new “Vettes of Atlanta” podcast. This is the second of three articles from our in-depth interview with Darryl. If you’d like, you can read the first article here. Darryl “Killboy” Cannon – The Eyes of the Dragon.
For this installment, we talked to Darryl about being featured in magazines, books, and his many TV appearances. We also delve into what a typical day is like for him and his team photographing the Dragon.
Lastly, we get his advice on how to tackle the 318 curves of the Dragon. From Darryl, we find out how to approach your first ride of the Tail of the Dragon and how to get the most out of your experience.
Enjoy!
Being A Roadside “Rock Star”
ROD WORLEY – EDITOR – Killboy Productions started around 2001. You’ve been in dozens of magazines and books. You’ve also been featured on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, and I think the Travel Channel as well if I remember correctly. For the record, my favorite was “Hell Roads” for the Discovery Channel back in 2012.
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – Yes, we had a role in those productions. They usually would reach out to us if they were doing a piece on the Dragon. “Hell Roads” is an interesting one.
For those who haven’t seen it, you can go on YouTube and look up “Hell Roads,” Tail of the Dragon, and see that section of the episode. It wasn’t a really long series, but they were doing a piece on some of the more dangerous roads in the world.
The Tail of the Dragon was one that caught their attention. So they wanted to do a piece on it. It was difficult for me because they wanted to play up the aspect of how dangerous it is. That’s what everybody wants to talk about usually.
But the reality is there are a lot of other roads around the area that are not anywhere near as fun but more dangerous statistically than the Dragon. Anything that happens on the Tail of the Dragon, because it’s got such a memorable name, gets over-reported.
We go to shows representing the area for county travel and tourism, and people only want to talk about the dangers of the Dragon. They’ve heard it was so dangerous, and they’re now hesitant to come.
I try to explain to them that if something happens on a highway up in Ohio, I’m not going to hear about it. But if something happens on the Tail of the Dragon, you’re going to hear about it because it’s so famous. So, it gets over-reported.
And so, Hell Roads was focused on that. I tried to persuade them to cover the fun, safe aspect of the road also. But they weren’t concerned about that. You know, they had a goal and a focus on that show.
So we went along with it, and it was fun. The Discovery Channel brought in a full production crew. They were very interested in my wife Lori’s story about her incident.
She was riding the Dragon and got hit head-on by another motorcyclist out there. It was about the impact it had on her life and everything.
Larry, the Cable Guy, also did a piece on us for his series called “Only in America.” The show is about businesses you can only do in America.
I guess standing on the side of the road, taking pictures of strangers, and making a living at it falls right into the “Only in America” type. They also included the Tail of the Dragon store, selling souvenirs and shirts based on that same principle. It was fun to work with Larry.
He doesn’t sound like he does on camera, only when he does his piece. He’s an entirely different person when he talks off-camera.
A Day On The Dragon
ROD WORLEY – EDITOR – Yeah, we’ve heard that about Larry, the Cable Guy, sounding different when you meet him vs. when he does his standup routine.
Today, Killboy Productions is known across the country and maybe the world. You’ve got some truly talented people working with you. Can you tell us about your team and what an average day is like during the season?
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – Yes, we’re pretty well known. Even outside the country, like you say. It’s very flattering that so many people know about us.
We’ll get people wanting our stickers sent to them from all over the world so they can put them on their scooters and motorcycles. It’s pretty wild.
The people on my team are enthusiasts of the road. It might be a smarter business move to bring in someone who has a background in photography.
But what I like is that our team has a lot of passion for the area. We’re not just out there to make a buck. They do what they can to take care of the place.
If there’s something that needs to be addressed to keep it safe, then that is what they do. If there’s something on the road or if there’s an accident, the team concentrates on that.
I always tell the guys that even if you’re coming in and don’t have a lot of experience shooting action stuff, in a couple of weeks, you’re going to be very good at it because you’re going to take a lot of photos on a busy day.
One of our guys will take around 10,000 photos, sometimes close to 15,000 pictures, on a busy Saturday. We’ve got two or three guys out there working hard.
So all of those photos are coming together, going onto our racks. We’re looking at sometimes twenty, thirty thousand pictures or more a day.
All of the photos have to be individually sorted and put into a category. So they sit there with a laptop and look at every photograph that they take.
They use their laptop to see it full-sized, then put it into a category, pull up the next picture, and do the same. It’s a lot of work that these guys are cranking out, not just shooting but also trying to sort and not get too far behind.
So, at the end of the day, they can go home at a reasonable hour and not be too backed up. It’s a lot of work.
ROD WORLEY – EDITOR – It sounds like it would be. The photos your guys took of my Corvette were incredible—some of the best photos I’ve ever seen of my Vette.
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – Thank you. Yeah, we use a lot of good equipment and have a lot of practice at finding the best angles. We also use professional series lenses.
To See, And Be Seen
ROD WORLEY – EDITOR – Every year, hundreds of thousands of people make their way up to the Tail of the Dragon. I can only imagine what you’ve seen over the years. What are some of the experiences that stand out in your mind?
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – Yeah, we see some pretty cool machines; I always like to say that the show comes to us. You know, speaking of Corvettes. There were some C8s that came out and did some testing before introducing it to the public.
We got to see them firsthand and hear them going by, and they sounded great. We also got one of the first up-close looks at the convertible version. One of them came up to the store, and I got some shots up in the parking lot of it, putting the top down. They were showing people how the top works. But yeah, we see some pretty crazy stuff.
We had a Pagani rally at the Tail of the Dragon at the end of last year. They had 17 of them in the parking lot. One Pagani Huayra supercar alone is worth about 3.8 million dollars.
Then we see homemade stuff. People bring out homemade trikes and motorcycles that are super customized. Custom cars and things like that, of course, come through.
Then there are the accidents and other craziness, too. We’re lucky that we don’t see very many of the accidents. Craziness, well, you know, women flashing their boobs and stuff like that.
We don’t encourage any of that, but you can’t stop people from doing what they do.
You never know what we’re going to see out there. It’s pretty wild. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
Advice For First-Timers
ROD WORLEY – EDITOR – The dangers of that 11 miles, 318 curves, stretch of pavement are well-documented. What advice would you give someone who’s visiting the Dragon for the first time?
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – Well, there’s a couple of main points that we stress hard. First is to stay in your lane; do not cross the double yellow. It’s a big problem with newer people, especially.
They drive all over the road, and there’s no point in it. You’re there for the curvy road. Don’t straighten it out.
It’s just a bad habit that starts you down a path. It causes a lot of problems. Never mind that it freaks people out, and you might hit somebody. So the big thing is to stay on your side of the road. First and foremost.
The other big thing that a lot of people take for granted is that there are a lot of paved pull-offs. We counted 105 paved pull-offs in this 11-mile stretch of road. So you’ve got frequent opportunities to pull off if someone is coming up behind you.
Even if one person is coming up behind you, try to use the pull-off on your side of the road. Do not go across the road to pull off. Pullover on your side of the road; let those people go by you.
The pull-offs also work the other way. If you get behind someone slower and they’re not using the pull-off, you can pull over and let them go. It builds up a little bit of space between you and them, where you can then go at your own pace.
But be careful. The speed limit is 30 miles an hour, and that is a little slow. But The Tail of the Dragon is so tight that averaging 30 miles an hour for someone new to the road is hustling.
Watch your speed; the police are out there often. They sit in the places where you’re going to want to open it up a bit.
They’ll be right off the road in a little spot where you can’t quite see them. You’ll come into a straight piece and start getting on it, and boom! They’ve got you. So be careful.
Try to coexist with other people as much as you can. Stay on your side of the road; take it easy the first time through.
It has a high frequency of turns, but they’re short-duration. So it’s almost like this dance. You just kind of scoot back and forth a lot, but it has a sort of rhythm to it.
So you’ve got to do that for a few passes so you can kind of feel it out and get the flow of how the road works. Just take it easy the first few times.
The Draw Of The Dragon
The Tail of the Dragon is legendary among motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts. Over 1,300 people a day take on these 318 beautifully banked curves.
Many are hoping to experience an intimate connection with the road in a way that no other stretch of highway can give. Others drive these challenging 11 miles to check it off their bucket list of things to do while they still can.
Either way, know this: the Tail of the Dragon is unforgiving, relentless, and doesn’t suffer fools well. Fortunately, Darryl “Killboy” Cannon and his talented team are there to immortalize your moment of triumph.
Articles We Recommend:
Tail of the Dragon – A Voice That Drives My Heel,
Ron Johnson – Keeper of the Dragon,
Ron Johnson – Keeper Of The Dragon Part 2,
Ron Johnson – Keeper Of The Dragon Part 3,
Darryl “Killboy” Cannon – The Eyes of the Dragon
Darryl “Killboy” Cannon – The Eyes Of The Dragon Part 2,
Darryl “Killboy” Cannon – The Eyes Of The Dragon Part 3
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