The early morning sun struggles to burn through the fog that veils the Great Smokey Mountains. The internationally famous, 11-mile stretch of U.S. 129, known as the Tail of the Dragon lies deceptively quiet.
The dense wisps of fog obscures the sight of those foolhardy enough to traverse it’s 318 curves in these early hours. The locals in these mountains will tell you not to be fooled, the Dragon never sleeps.
The Dragon is always ready to lash out and bite even the most confident of drivers. Darryl “Killboy” Cannon will certainly attest to that fact, for in many ways, his camera lens, and those of his talented team, have become the eyes of the Dragon.
Through his camera, he has seen the Dragon humble the overconfident, and lay waste to prized possessions. Those who lacked respect have been effortlessly tossed off its back. Some never to return.
Action Photography At Its Best
Darryl Cannon started Killboy in 2001. Word spread quickly throughout the region of his talent for action photography. Today, Darryl Cannon is considered one of the best on the planet for capturing automotive and motorcycle action.
People from around the world flock to this unforgiving mountain pass to prove their skills, and be photographed by Killboy doing it. Darryl’s legion of devoted fans will attest to his prowess behind the camera.
As an authority on the Dragon, he is featured regularly in magazines and books. Darryl has advised for The Discovery Channel, History Channel, and the Travel Channel. Of particular note is his inclusion, with his wife Lori, in the episode for The Discovery Channel’s series titled, “Hell Roads – Tail of the Dragon.”
Today, Killboy.com is the premier source for motorsports photography and area scenery around the world-famous Tail of the Dragon.
Getting A Unique Perspective
After a great afternoon on the Dragon, we reached out to Darryl to give us his unique perspective on this American sports car and motorcycle mecca. What follows is an adaptation of our interview with Darryl for our new “Vettes of Atlanta” podcast.
The questions ran the gamut from his early beginnings, to his experiences on the Dragon, his gear, and what he sees as the future of the Tail of the Dragon.
This is the first in a series of articles that cover the interview. In this first installment, we find out about the early years, and how Darryl focused the Killboy brand.
Enjoy!
Honestly, How Cool Is That Name?
ROD WORLEY, EDITOR – So welcome back from the break. As we promised, we’ve got none other than Darryl “Killboy” Cannon with us today. Now, before we jump in and talk to Darryl if you aren’t familiar with Killboy Productions, you owe it to yourself to check out his Web site. It’s www.killboy.com.
Honestly, he has some of the best automotive and motorcycle action photography we’ve ever seen.
All right. So let’s get rolling. Darryl, welcome to the show!
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – Hey, Rod. Thanks for having me on. I’m really honored to be on here.
ROD WORLEY, EDITOR – So, Darryl, I want you to know, we sat around for about a half-hour trying to come up with a cooler name for an action photographer than Darrell “Killboy” Cannon. And I got to tell you, we couldn’t do it.
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – I just stumbled into the Killboy name, but it worked, and people remember it. Some say it’s a little morbid sometimes, but I don’t get that.
It doesn’t sound like it’s a team of people, but it really is. It was just a gaming nickname that I started using back in the 90s that grew into a Web site.
From there it grew into a business. If I tried to change it now, I’d have to start all over with building my brand reputation again. The name sticks in people’s minds, it’s short and easy to remember.
ROD WORLEY, EDITOR – It’s a catchy name for sure. But I want to tell you, our mission now is to get someone to name their son, Darrell “Killboy” Cannon.
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – (laughter) Oh, no. They’d have a tough time in grade school for sure.
Getting Killboy In Focus
ROD WORLEY, EDITOR – You know, I’m fascinated with the backstory of how people start their business. How did you transition from a regular day job to becoming one of the most famous action photographers in America? How does that even happen?
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – I simply fell into it. I mean, it was just being open to trying something that was available to me. So I was getting into riding motorcycles at the time, and I had heard about this crazy road a couple of hours from where I lived.
I started riding up there and really enjoyed it. When I wasn’t riding, I would hang out at the Overlook, but since I’m sort of a fair-skinned redhead and it’s just too sunny out there, so I’d hang out in the turns.
My first digital camera was bought with a gift certificate I got from an award at work. During my breaks from riding, I would sit in the shade and take pictures of people as they rode by goofing off.
From there, I started putting the photos on a website so people could download them. People would say to me, “You know, you should do this full-time. You could make a living doing this.”
That was back around 1999 and 2000. So I just started doing that, and through feedback, I kept getting better and better. For about two years, I did it for free as a hobby.
Ready To Go Pro
DARRYL “KILLBOY” CANNON – I still worked my regular job as a forklift driver and materials handlers while shooting photos on the weekends. After a couple of years, I felt like I was doing well enough to go commercial with it.
It took right off, and within like a couple of weeks, I was already getting so much photography work that I couldn’t do both jobs. So I quit my materials handler job and went full time with the photography.
In the beginning, I got a friend to help me as a partner to cover when I couldn’t be up there. Not long after, I started talking to Ron and Nancy Johnson, who had just started Tail of the Dragon.com.
We decide to start working together, and cross-promote each other. Honestly, that turned out to be the best business decision that I’ve ever made.
Their merchandise is really good quality, and they use my photos to promote their business. In return, their brand promotes our business. So it’s a great little relationship. It didn’t take long before they blew up and became popular.
Ron and Nancy helped me move closer to the Dragon so I could spend more time on the business instead of commuting two hours. From there, the Killboy business just took off.
Today, we’ve got a talented team of people taking photographs. We have two or three people out there from nine a.m. to six p.m. every day of the week from March to November. It’s become a self-sustaining business.
There is still a lot to do on the back end, such as filling orders, answering emails, and posting photos. All of that takes time.
I’m very fortunate that it’s worked out and become the brand that it has.
The Car Show Comes To Us
You could tell the genuine love, and reverence Darryl Cannon has for this twisty mountainous stretch of U.S. 129. Darryl’s fond of saying, “We don’t have to go to a car show because the car show comes to us.” In many ways, he’s right.
The Dragon is an international mecca for motorcycles and sports cars, a place to see and be seen. A place where both man and machine come to be tested by the Dragon’s 318 perfect corners.
Through it all, Darryl and his team of photographers have been there to capture the moments. Through them, the eyes of the Dragon have seen it all.
Articles We Recommend:
The 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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