Racing
Northstar
Just got home after being over in the US and A riding some of the best trails in the world in the Lake Tahoe region of California. I had some epic rides which included snow, bears, and getting scared lost – look out for all the photos and the feature in an upcoming issue of AMB. I also took the opportunity when I was away to snap a few shots at the ProGRT at Northstar. If you don’t read Vital them you can see them here.
Capital Punishment
A wise friend of mine once said, “If there’s going to be a mountain bike race you can bet that there’s going to be rain”. This good friend has shot more mountain bike races in the wet than the dry and I can see why he hates it but I cannot complain, I didn’t have to ride it. Huge congrats to all that finished the Capital Punishment – you are all legends.
Here’s a link to some photos.
Seems like I have been living in Thredbo
I’ve been back and forth more times that I can count. Lucky I live close.
The Nationals are done and dusted
And I am tired from doing double duty. XC and DH is pretty hard to cover in one weekend. Here’s some DH stuff and you’ll find some more on VitalMTB within the next couple of days.
I’m in Radalaide
Yep, I’m here for the Aussie Nationals. Look out for some stuff on Vital from the weekend and of course, AMB and other Aussie mags in the following weeks. Here’s some stuff from the last bike test I did with AMB.
Tassie Nationals
It’s been a while but I’m back shooting some downhill racing. This is my first trip to Tassie and it’s great. Keep an eye out here and VitalMTB for some photo goodness from the race.
Scott 24 Hour
Maybe one day I will do one of these races but for now I am happy taking photos. I also did a little story for AMB magazine looking at some special people who you might not normally read about. To me they are all heros and it’s the roots that are the soul of the sport. Look out for it in a future issue of AMB.
My first XC race
I normally stick to shooting the DH and gravity crew at races but I had my first real opportunity to shoot the XC geeks at the recent World Champs. I went into the event with a negative attitude but in the end I actually really enjoyed the challenge and also enjoyed the action. It was a great way to shoot many different things and explore photo opportunities over a much longer track. It seemed like the locations and ideas I had were almost limitless. I think I will stick with shooting some more XC – even if it is just to practice some skills and try and think outside the box.
Another 24 hours
This was the first lap of many
I just got back from the Mont 24 Hour mountain bike race in Canberra. Look liked a lot of fun and who knows, maybe one day I will drop the camera and ride myself
My favorite photo of 2008 – for all the right/wrong reasons?
Rachel Atherton at the 2008 World Cup finals at Schladming
This photo of Rachel Atherton at Schladming last year would have to be one of my most favorite photos ever. It’s noisy, suffers from some serious chromatic aberration and is probably all wrong technically but I like it anyways. It was dark in the woods, my camera was really bad with low light*, I was using a really cheap lens but there was a little peak of sunlight thru the trees and that was all I had to play with.
* (No flashes were used or harmed in the shooting of this photo)
Buller and fence jumping
Cody Eichhorn raising the dust at Buller
I was at Buller last weekend for a National race. I love shooting photos at races and it’s aways the challenges that I enjoy. First there’s the environmental challenges. South Eastern Australia is going through a heatwave at the moment and the oppressive heat was the first challenge, it was 44C (111F) on the drive down to the race. There’s no way to avoid the heat so it’s just something you have to manage with lots of water and rest. Next there’s always local environmental challenges. In Canberra it was the lack of shade and harsh plants off the track and in Buller it was the dust and the flies. The dust would stay on your skin like a tattoo and the flies were the size of birds and loved to bite. The second challenge is trying to get photos of the riders you want to get photos of. This you can’t control, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. You can choose to stay in the same place on the track and wait 5 hours for a rider to do their one run for the day or you can take a risk and keep moving to new locations to get diversity in your shooting. Moving frequently might mean you’re not ready to take a photo as they ride past you and you miss that chance. What choice do you make? That’s a tough one and I try and find a balance between the two…. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t and over the weekend I was stressing too much about getting photos of riders “x” but I just had to keep reminding myself why I was really out in the heat and dust – ’cause I love try to get good photos.
Also, when I was at Buller my friend and great photographer Tim Barsdley Smith (look out for some of his killer stuff in Revolution magazine) let me use his new Canon 5D MrkII to do a little interview. Check it out on littermag. It’s almost makes me want to jump the fence to the Canon side… almost.
The Nationals are still going
Check the reflection
I shot XC racing today for the first time in my photography career. It was easier than I thought but hard at the same time. It’s hard to be in the right spot at the right time to get all the action – that’s where shooting DH is good as you know where all the action will be. I still had fun though. Remember to check littermag next week and of course your favorite magazines sometime after from the rest of my snaps from the event.
