Sports

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.

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

Red Ass State Champs – Ourimbah

Last weekend it was the turn of downhill to come under scrutiny of the lens. I travelled with Gil Romane up to Ourimbah on the New South Wales Central Coast this time to shoot the Red Ass ACT/NSW State Downhill Championships. The aim of the shoot was to get some ideas for new angles, locations from Ourimbah downhill track and just to have a bit of fun while we were at it. I shot only in the first 200m of the downhill track this time, there is more than enough features there to keep me happy shooting for the day. The shots below are a small sample from the day.

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.

Aug

2012

Golden Ride Magazine

Snowboarder Aline Bock crosses over into the surfing world

I was contacted by a friend of mine, Aline Bock, with the request to do a couple of surfing shots for Golden Ride Magazine while she was down here in Sydney. Aline is a world class snowboarder and Golden Ride were looking to do a story on women who have crossed over and do both surfing and snowboarding. We did the shoot early one morning at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach. The waves were packed even at that early hour in the morning but we managed to find a quiet corner and get a fwe shots done. If you have looked through my blog before you might remember Aline’s name from when I shot with her in Austria and did a profile on her which you can find by clicking here

Snowboarder Aline Bock crosses over into the surfing world

Jun

2012

Surfing Deadmans and Wild Weather

Wild weather has lashed the Sydney coastline these last couple of days. Winds up to 130km/hr have whipped up a huge swell which is throwing itself onto the coast causing damage up and down. Only a brave few have taken themselves out into the water to chase the waves. I spent the day shooting around near Deadmans on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Although the waves were some what infrequent they were big, solid and impressive when they did roll in.

: Sunrise at North Curl Curl

: A watcher at North Curl Curl.

May

2012

Surfing, Dee Why Point

It’s been a great couple of months for sizeable swells coming to the beaches of Sydney. Again the swell has picked up. Peaking around 10ft yesterday afternoon. This morning I swung by Dee why point for a bit of a look. I have always had trouble shooting at the Point. It’s a spot where a really long lens is needed so you can shoot from further up the beach or of course an underwater housing and to get out there amongst it. If I keep shooting surf shots I am definitely going to have to think about this.