Photographer: Richard Gwin

Camera: Nikon D1H digital

Kansas University senior Falestine Afani Ruzik, co-founder of KU ScooterHawks, an officially recognized student group for scooter and mo-ped enthusiasts, enjoys an afternoon cruise on her 2003 Yamaha Zuma Sport Scooter.

Lens: 17mm

ISO: 200

Shutter: 1/20

Aperture: 18

When I received an assignment to shoot pictures for a story about scooter, I thought of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in “Easy Rider.” They cruised on their Harley-Davidsons as the landscape panned behind them. I wanted to duplicate that feeling for the lead scooter photo.

So I asked Jim Baker, the reporter for the story, to drive my El Camino as I stood in the back. We drove alongside a young woman riding a scooter down a vacant street in east Lawrence.

I needed a clean background and, starting out with a slow shutter speed, I used an aperture of 18 and a 17mm lens on a Nikon D1H digital camera and used a Nikon SB-28 DX flash adjusted to a rear curtain flash. It still took a steady hand, but I was able to capture the motion of the scooter and its driver on about the fifth frame. The background blurred just perfectly.

“Behind the Lens” is an ongoing weekly series that features an image selected by the Journal-World photo staff that previously ran in the newspaper or online. Wondering how a certain picture was created? Nominate it for “Behind the Lens” by contacting chief photographer Mike Yoder at 832-7141 or myoder@ljworld.com.