The latest news from Sydney-based photographer Richard McGibbon as he travels up and down the East coast of Australia covering athletes on adventures and high-action sports events and races.
Another year almost over and once again rounding out the events for us over at Outer Image was the huge Cannonball MTB Festival held at Thredbo each year. I think this is the 3rd year that we have now shot Cannonball for Thredbo MTB and Red Bull Australia. Each year we see the event just keep growing. This year there were around 1000 riders competing in the 5 events over the 4 days, All Mountain, the Flow, Pumptrack Challenge, Whip Wars and the Australian Open Downhill
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For us, this is a big event. It’s not just the 5 days shooting trackside where everyone sees us but it is also the hours of work that goes on behind the scenes in order to get the images out each day to the competitors. We routinely went to bed no earlier than 1am each day (if we were lucky) and arose at 6.30am ready for a quick breakfast and to head back out on the track to do it all again. It’s a long weekend but it’s so much fun.
Below are a few of my favourite images from my weekend rolling in the dust. You can find the full gallery over on the Outer Image website
Osprey All Mountain Assault
Osprey All Mountain Assault
Osprey All Mountain Assault
Osprey All Mountain Assault
Osprey All Mountain Assault
Thredbo Cannonball, Osprey All Mountain Assault 2019
It’s been a quiet couple of weeks for me on the race photography front. There’s been a couple of weeks break from shooting the races but the fun never stops when you have a camera in your hand
Just because it is quiet on the race front doesn’t mean that my photography has come to a standstill. The Australian Professional Photographers Awards (APPA’s) were on in which I entered 4 images. I’m happy to say I came away with 3 silvers this year. I know some of my peers frown upon the APPA’s but I personally have learnt a lot from entering over the years. The need to submit physical prints forces me to print my pictures which is something I rarely do. I also find that it makes me be highly critical of my own work.
Back from holidays now bring on the weekend, its time to go shoot!!!
A shot from the Cannonball Whip Wars in Thredbo,
Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Superflow at Mount Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra, 2019
Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Superflow at Mount Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra, 2019
Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Superflow at Mount Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra, 2019
I went out last weekend and shot some great products with the Tyres and Soles crew again. It’s always fun shooting with them and checking out new gear up close. Be sure and keep an eye out on their website for the upcoming gear reviews. There is still a bunch more kit to shoot with them as well such as the new ZenBivy sleeping bag, North Face duffles and more. As much as I love shooting the sports stuff I also love shooting different things. Shooting the gear reviews lets me do both, win win.
Whistler Performance Lubricants
Oi Bike Bell
Caught up with some friends as they went out on their foil boards. Whenever there is swell these guys head out, they don’t actually need breaking waves. The boards seem almost comically small but they definitely do the trick. I have been seeing the foils pop up more and more in other places too such as paddleboards and kitesurf boards. The crew definitely seems to be growing and I can see this taking off in a big way in the future if people can just keep from getting chopped up by their foils.
Some of the boys took their foils out for a spin today at Long Reef here in Sydney. A few nice waves about for it.
I have also been shooting a lot of fitness and gym stuff of late for my gym, Joe’s Basecamp. They have me shooting all their ambassadors but I will write more about these shoots soon.
This weekend coming it’s back to the mountain bike racing with the next round of Rocky Trail Entertainment’sShimano GP at Ourimbah followed by the Fox Superflow also at Ourimbah the following weekend.
I always enjoy a trip to the mountains. I can’t really say what it is that appeals to me so much but I always feel much more relaxed after a trip to the mountains. Yes there are those of you who may say Australia doesn’t have real mountains but its what we have and they are still very special. There’s a lot of terrain down there that will make you feel really small.
I am up and down these next few weeks as we have a few races on shooting for both Thredbo MTB and Rocky Trail Entertainment with Outer Image Collective. I spent a weekend down there shooting the Super Enduro. Not as big as Cannonball at this stage but it is growing quickly each year. Riders get 2 days on the tracks. 1 day for practice and then the Sunday for racing. They have to hit 3 tracks and get the cumulative best time on all 3. They can do as many laps as possible but only their best will count. It makes for a busy day shooting when you have nearly 500 riders going past with 20-second intervals. It’s good to stay busy though.
A weekend spent in the mountains and on the coast is a weekend well spent in my book.
This last Saturday I was in the lower Blue Mountains near Glenbrook shooting one of the Adventure races from Maximum Adventure. We shoot 3 of these races a year and they are a lot of fun. It makes competitors do a bit of orienteering while trail-running, kayaking and mountain-biking there way around a course. Always a very social atmosphere.
Paddling on the Nepean
Heading back up from the river.
Heading down to the river
With everyone looking out for him there was not much chance of Wally getting lost.
I tested out a new flash system dipping my toes into the Godox system and checked out the AD200. It will hopefully last me a bit longer than the usual speedlights that I use at the races and tend to burn out on a regular pace. Mixed early results but will give it another good nudge this weekend and hopefully have some more to say afterwards. I may even try to read the instructions beforehand this time.
Sunday
Then for Sunday, it was down to the coast for a sunrise session at a highline. Although the sun didn’t cast its usually morning colours thanks to a big cloudbank sitting on the horizon it was a beautiful morning none the less. Sitting there watching the highliners doing their stuff while surrounded by nature. Whales swam and jumped in the oceans below and black cockatoos flew overhead. A good weekend indeed.
Sunrise highline session at the coast
What a morning!!! A sunrise highline session on a 220m line while whales swam past in the ocean below.
Last weekend was the Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) World Enduro Championships or more commonly known as the OCR World Championships. Competitors ran the 10km course with 30 obstacles in it and tried to knock over as many laps as they could in a 24 hour period. This year I was chasing Shammes AlShamsi, the only entrant from the United Arab Emirates around the course.
The Race
This has to be the toughest and most brutal race that pops up on my calendar. Whilst I think that the people who do 24mtb races and 24hr trail runs are crazy I believe (and please correct me if I am wrong) that these competitors can find a rhythm and lock into it. Obstacle course racers have to break that rhythm every 40m or so to complete a different obstacle. They do a huge variety of obstacles such as rope climbs, crawling in the mud under barbed wire, scaling walls and rope traverses across the creek.
Chasing one competitor around the course is a little bit awkward as the course is so spread out. I found the best place was around the start finish area where the greatest amount of obstacles were found making it easy to jump between one and another. I didn’t manage to get all the obstacles I still managed to get a good selection of shots with Shammes and and managed to grab a few other folks as I was waiting for Shammes to get back around to me.
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Shammes AlShamsi at the True Grit OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race. Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Night
This has to be one of my favourite events as I simply love shooting at night. As night fell so too did the rain and fog. Both years I have shot it it has been raining and foggy which definitely add to the atmosphere of the event. I know many photographers don’t like these conditions but I love it. To a point that is, eventually heavy rain can wear me down.
Trying to pick out that one competitor in the night though became even trickier as it was almost impossible to tell one competitor from another in the darkness and the headlights shining into my eyes. I basically just ended up shooting most people in the night and hoping one was Shammes. Its always good fun playing around with different lighting setups at night. Hopefully I didn’t blind anyone but no-one complained to me so that’s always a good thing.
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Action from the True Grit, OCR World Titles 24hr obstacle race, Lower Portland, Australia
Morning
I got up early for another few shots but had to shoot off before the finish due to another booking. In the early hours of the morning Shammmes, like many others, had pulled the pin due to exhaustion. I still managed to grab a few more frames before I shot off though. Being the athlete that Shammes is though he is off to Andorra this weekend for not one but 2 more Spartan Race events.
I certainly hope to be back again next year. Registration for the event has opened already. The level of fitness of these athletes just astounds me and the vibe at the event itself is just great. It is well worth checking out even if racing is not for you
I was at the new Trailshare MTB trails on the weekend to shoot some product and some portfolio shots with Scott Graham. Scott is currently leading the competition in State Downhill series and needed a few shots to pump up his portfolio for his sponsors. We thought we should also tie in a product shoot for Tyres and Soles shooting the new AMS bike strap, a silicon strap designed to hold your tyre repair kit and spare tube on your bike.
Front on angle of the new drop
Testing the new drop on the Black run
Steep rocky section on the black run
Despite the drizzle there was still a bit of dust around
Through the beautiful greenery of the Trailshare MTB tracks
Putting the pace on through the ferns
Putting the pace on
Mountain biker Scott Graham at Trailshare MTB trails on the New South Wales Central Coast
Scooting down the Goat track
Leaning into it at Trailshare MTB trails on the New South Wales Central Coast
Trailshare and its cabins
We also had an exclusive tour around the new bike park on the NSW Central Coast called Trailshare. Chief trail-builder Josh Paul Smith pointed out a few of the features on the black trail for us to session. It’s still a work in progress though it already boasts 27kms of trails of varying degrees of difficulty. We spent the day on the Black run but I am looking forward to seeing the Red trail, very picturesque from all I hear. to top it off it has its own set of cabins tucked away in the bush. The trails start right at the doorstep making it the perfect little weekend getaway for riding.
It’s a great area and I look forward to getting back up there soon and checking out some of the other trails.
Scott on one of Trailshare’s raised sections of trail
Trailshare’s chief trail builder Josh Paul Smith testing his berms
Through some of Trailshare’s lush landscape
The trailshare experience is all about time with friends
If you need some images for a portfolio or some new images to upgrade your profile send me a message and let’s see what we can make happen.
