What’s going on

Jan

2020

Airborne

After taking breaks from the camera I like to get out and shoot for a bit before I pick it up again for a job. It doesn’t have to be anything too complex or challenging. It’s so that while I am shooting, operating the camera controls just become second nature again and I don’t have to think about things too much. I think about composition and exposure, aperture and such but not about which dial do I need to turn in which direction to change my settings, it all just flows automatically.

And with my first job locked in for this coming weekend, so it was I took myself to Maroubra yesterday for a day at the beach shooting the Red Bull Airborne. They may have been small waves but they were still getting some airtime in.

I also got to play around with my 500mm lens. It’s not a lens that sees the light of day too much. It can be a little slow to focus and a little too big for the things I normally shoot. Plus you need a lot of light. It’s perfect for surfing, especially when it’s mounted on a cropped sensor

Dec

2019

Top 19 for 2019

I know, I know. Traditionally it’s only supposed to be a top 10, not a top 19 but I always struggle paring down my images and I take so many each year. How can you expect me to pick just 10? My picks are a mix of shots I like and shots that, for me, invoked memories or feelings. A couple will probably not mean much to you but I will try and explain them as we go. If you just want to look at the photos just click the first one to open up the gallery.

So without further ado, my top 19.

Continue reading →

Dec

2019

Cannonball ’19

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

BTS

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

Sep

2019

Dance, dance, dance!!!

It used to be all about the landscapes for me but these days it seems to be mostly about shooting people in motion, be that people on bikes, running, surfing etc. Dance is fantastic for that, in fact, it should really be called the art of motion (it probably is but I just don’t know about it).

I put a call out for a dancer as iI wanted to play around with some ideas that I had in my head. I was put in contact with the wonderful Pippa Ravencroft from the Pure Performance Dance School. Although I have shot some urban street dancing before, I have never shot any contemporary type of dance before so wasn’t exactly sure of the motions and names of the movements. Pippa was patient while I tried to explain to her what I was and then was able to do those movements but also suggest more that might suit better.

We were only shooting for I think an hour but I learned so much in that hour alone. I definitely want to get back out there again soon and shoot some more dancing as soon as I can. I have so many thoughts and ideas in my head that really need to get out.

Aug

2019

APPA’s, product and more

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’s Shimano GP at Ourimbah followed by the Fox Superflow also at Ourimbah the following weekend.

See you out there!!

Aug

2019

High above the whales

One day I will get both in the photo, a whale and a highliner. Twice now I have had the chance but I have either been at the wrong angle or lost in the moment watching the whales jumping below.

I spent Saturday sitting on the edge of the sea cliffs around Sydney again watching whales making their way back to Antartica while highliners strolled across the 220m highline high above them

Until this weekend I have never seen anyone cross a highline with a blindfold on as I saw Gabriel do on the 220m one. It has led to a couple of discussions as to whether it might actually be easier as it lets you focus better and remove the distractions around you such as the whopping big height underneath or is it more difficult as it would be more disorientating as there are no points of focus. I’ll check with Gabriel and get back to you

Whales playing in the waters below
High above it all
Walking a highline blindfolded