Events

Sep

2013

Shimano MTB GP 5 – Stromlo

Last weekend was the final round of this year’s Shimano GP enduro series held on the wonderful trails of Mount Stromlo Forest Park near Canberra. Again I was there with OuterImage to capture the action. There was forecast for rain but once again the weather held and we had beautiful clear skies. That did mean the track was a bit dusty for the riders but it did give us the chance for some interesting shots.

Stromlo Forest Park is situated on the side of Mount Stromlo near Canberra. There is some beautiful trails there. Some years ago the area was destroyed by a fire which burnt most of the trees to the ground. A massive replanting program has since happened and slowly the area is regaining a lot of its trees. With the trees being quite small though views around the trails can be wonderful looking out across the surrounds and across Canberra.

Over 300 competitors competed this year at the Stromlo event and after shooting the whole series I recognised many familiar faces there too. Eliza Kwan and Troy Herfoss took out their 7hr solo categories while Kyle Ward and Wendy Stevenson took out their 4hr categories. Just in case you were wondering, as a rough idea the course is usually around 10km’s in length. Troy managed to complete 15 laps or around 150kms in 7 hrs.

So that’s it for this year as far as this series goes. We are quite often out shooting for fun at many local tracks around the Sydney region. If you see us out there be sure and stop for a quick hello. If you are competing in any races soon there is always a chance we will be around too, we tend to swing by a lot of them even if it’s just as spectators.

As this was the final in the series Gil and I would like to say a big thank you to all the competitors who raced this season and made our work as much fun as it is. A big congratulations to all the winners from the races and the series. And of course a huge thank you to Martin and Juliane from Rocky Trail Entertainment for all there hard work in putting on such a wonderful series.

Aug

2013

Jetblack 12hr Enduro

Lights on at Rocky Trail’s Jetblack 12hr enduro at Dargle Farm.

I swung by the Rocky Trail’s Jetblack 12hr Enduro race over the weekend. It took me a lot longer to get there than I had planned with me thinking I knew the way better than my GPS despite never having been there before. I hadn’t gone on any official capacity just to watch and say hello to a few friends that I had met shooting the 4 and 7hr enduro races. I did end up shooting the editorial for Rocky Trail Entertainment though.

As I wasn’t there on official business it was a good chance for me to play around with some different ideas and different angles rather than a lot of those that I shoot with The Outer Image Collective. A majority of the action shots taken were panning shots with my flash set for rear curtain sync, meaning it will fire when my shutter is closing rather than when it is opening. There is not many of the images where the numbers are visible.

The Dargle Farm course is on a working farm so the course is not always open. As I had arrived late I didn’t get too far around the track but it looks like a great course and its certainly somewhere that I plan to go back when the opportunity next arises.

I don’t have a collection of race photographs for sale for the competitors. They were all being handled by Marathon Photos.

: Crossing the line for another lap at Jetblacks 12hr enduro, Dargle Farm.

: Moving with speed at Jetblacks 12hr enduro, Dargle Farm.

: Under a starry sky at Jetblacks 12hr enduro, Dargle Farm.

: Jason English on his way to a win at Jetblacks 12hr enduro, Dargle Farm.

: The campsite at Jetblacks 12hr enduro, Dargle Farm.

: The evening fire to keep competitors at Jetblacks 12hr enduro warm, Dargle Farm.

: The evening fire to keep competitors at Jetblacks 12hr enduro warm, Dargle Farm.

: Going through a rocky section at Jetblacks 12hr enduro, Dargle Farm.

: Lights on at Rocky Trail’s Jetblack 12hr enduro at Dargle Farm.

Apr

2013

Shimano GP Round 4 – James Estate

There is a new course on Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Shimano GP’s circuit and that’s the trails of James Estate Winery, where round 2 was recently held. The race marked the opening of the trails to the public. The 10km track winds in and out between grape vines, out the back towards the edges of Wollemi National Park before bringing you back through the vines and even weaving you through wine-vats on the way back to the start. The start was conveniently located by the cellar door where plenty of sampling of the local produce was done.

Well done to Rocky Trail, Graeme Scott and all involved withe the James Estate Winery race for putting on such a great day.

Oct

2012

Single Track Mind – Rydal

Rydal is a small town on the western side of the Blue Mountains. This last weekend it played host to the single-track mind endure race. Gil Romane and I travelled out there under the guise of the Outer Image Collective, our new business initiative, in order to meet the organisers and check out the race.

The trail itself is only a couple of years old and is maintained by the Central Tablelands Mountain Bike Club. Although not hugely technical it is a beautiful trail, running circular laps through a beautiful forest of gum trees. It seemed that pretty much everyone had a great day out, I noticed most people had huge grins on their faces in my photos throughout the day. If easy cruising through beautiful forests is your thing then I definitely recommend checking this track out.

Oct

2012

Shimano GP, Ourimbah

So another weekend over and this last weekend I was up shooting at Ourimbah on the Central Coast near Sydney. I was shooting again with Gil Romane and the next and final instalment of the Shimano GP put on by Rocky Trail Entertainment. Despite the threat of rain the weather turned out great. There was 2 events being run simultaneously on the day with around 190 competitors entered. Both races were run on the same track of around 8.5kms per lap. One race lasted 4 hour whilst the other went for 7 hours. There was a bit of carnage too, I think I saw about 5 people go down in front of me, though there was no serious injuries.

I enjoy shooting with Gil. We have a different style and its always great to compare our images at the end of the day. The images will be going on Girophoto so be sure to swing over to and check them out. Gil and I are starting a new co-op called the Outer Image Collective so be sure to keep an eye out for that coming soon. I’ll be sure and let you know when it happens.

Feb

2011

Confetti Wars

Over the weekend I had the chance to partake in a confetti war called El Coso Blanco in Salou just to the south of Tarragona in Spain. It is a festival of light, sound and above all else confetti. It takes the form of a street party with a parade of floats and dancers that go around and around the streets in Salou while everyone throws confetti at each other. Those in the parade throw confetti at those in the crowd, those in the crowd throw confetti back at those in the parade and those in the crowd throw it at the others in the crowd. Just in case the crowd didn’t bring there own confetti there are large towers that continuously pump out a steady stream of confetti into the air.

30,000 people join the party, dancing to 175,000 watts of music (not sure how they get this measurement) and throwing the confetti, 2,500 participants in fancy dress join in the parade, 25 floats with such random displays as Spongebob, vampires and bananas and 20 confetti canons pumping out over a staggering 25 tonnes of confetti into the air all go to making it a hugely enjoyable experience. The street ends up with confetti easily above your ankles in depth. Confetti gets everywhere, down the shirt, in your pockets, in the ears and in the mouth. It pays not to gawp too much as it is a sure way to end up with a mouthful. All in all a great laugh but I would certainly not like to be the man who sweeps the street the next morning. The party takes place on the first Saturday in February starting from around 7.00 in the evening. I definitely recommend marking it in your calendar from next year if you are planning to be somewhere in the area.