Story behind the cover for issue # 596

A Photography Adventure by Jack McIntyre

There are some people you meet during Bike Week that leave an impression before the first shutter click ever fires off.

Holly Hudson, better known around the scene as Scooter Trash Holly, rolled into that category real damn quick. March 2nd, 2025 was one of those classic Daytona days that’ll fool anybody looking at the photos afterward.

Sunshine lit up the InterCoastal Waterway like a postcard, blue skies stretching over the palms, but meanwhile the wind was ripping off the water hard enough to cut through leather. Temps were hanging around the low 50s, which in Daytona during Bike Week feels colder than it’s got any right to. Didn’t matter.

We had a mission that day, shoot the cover for Easyriders issue #596, September / October 2025.

I had never met Holly before that afternoon. We arranged to meet up along the water in Daytona, and she actually beat me there, which gave us some time to talk before the chaos kicked off. Right away you could tell she wasn’t putting on an act for the camera.

Holly had this wild combination about her, rough around the edges but smooth as silk once you got to talking. Tough as nails, too.

She had literally just come from some event with the police where they were running obstacle courses and doing all kinds of brutal physical training. She showed up scraped up and bruised like she’d just survived a bar fight in the backwoods somewhere.

Funny thing was, she still had a cover shoot to knock out that same day and never complained once. Matter of fact, she laughed it off. That’s the kind of energy she brought to the table.

Then Joe Marshall rolled in with the machine, a jaw-dropping 1956 Panhead Chopper he designed and built himself.

The thing looked almost wireless sitting there in the sunlight. Sleek lines, clean stance, killer craftsmanship from front to back.

The kind of bike that makes people stop mid-sentence when they see it roll by. Between Holly’s attitude and Joe’s Panhead, the whole setup had this dangerous old-school Easyriders vibe before we even started shooting.

Once the cameras came out, Mother Nature decided to make us earn every damn frame. Wind gusts whipping Holly’s hair sideways, cold air blasting across the water, wardrobe malfunctions popping up here and there like little gremlins trying to sabotage the shoot. But nobody folded.

We adapted, laughed through it, and kept hammering away.

Holly never lost her composure for a second. She knew how to work the bike, how to work the camera, and more importantly, how to own the moment. Some models need constant direction. Holly wasn’t one of them. She brought confidence, grit, and attitude naturally, exactly what a real biker shoot needs.

Since that day, Holly’s done several shoots with me personally, and I’ll tell you straight, she’s solid gold to have around any event or production crew.

No wasted time, no drama, just positive energy and a willingness to jump in and get it done.

She knows how to pose, knows how to handle the crowd scene, and she’s got the kind of personality people remember after the smoke clears and the bikes roll out.