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.

02
May
2015
Shimano GP at Awaba

Shimano GP at Awaba

A couple of weeks ago, back when it wasn’t raining, I was up at Awaba with Outer Image shooting round 2 of the Shimano GP. Awaba for me is a funny track. I have shot there quite a few times but never seem to remember the locations or the layout of the track. I think that is mainly because I have only shot close to base camp before. This time for a change I decided to head out a bit further and just follow the track back in. I found a lot of cool locations, all rainforest type stuff. I did struggle a bit balancing the light out as it was just so dark in some of the locations and the sky when it came through the trees was so very bright. I found my self looking for shots where the sky wouldn’t show.

Love the track though and love the event. It’s another track on my list of places to visit outside of a race meet. I have also been told that I need to go up and shoot the downhill track as I have not yet had the chance to do so. The list is growing.

 

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
20
Apr
2015
A big weekend in the mountains

A big weekend in the mountains

I had a weekend down in Thredbo a couple of weeks ago. The 3rd round of the gravity enduro races was followed by a big start to the season of downhill racing here in NSW.

Cold nights and warm days made for some great MTB weather in the Snowies over the weekend. Kicking off the weekend was the Rollercoaster on the Flow trail. Not a lot of overly technical sections on this trail but a lot of fast-flowing berms. Gil took the lift up and covered the top half of the mountain while I walked up and shot the bottom section. The smooth fast berms saw a lot of folks coming in low as they flew past, laying into the berms as far as they could go.

Sunday saw the start of the DH season for us. Many familiar faces were out on track along with a lot of new ones. This time Gil and I swapped, me heading up top and Gil walking from the bottom. A cool breeze right up top meant I didn’t linger too long but quickly headed down to warmer climes. I tried revisiting a couple of old favourites on the way down but wanted to shoot a new location. I settled in on a corner and the trees just above Snakes and Ladders and spent most of the race there just trying different angles.

Thredbo always puts on great races and it’s always a chance to get away for a few days beforehand to explore the region. I’m already looking forward to our next visit down there.

All the images were supplied to the competitors for the Rollercoaster courtesy of Fox Racing Australia and BH Bikes. The downhill images were supplied by Redass.  Be sure and swing by their Facebook pages and say thanks. And of course to Rocky Trail Entertainment who brought it all together and put on yet another awesome weekend.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
03
Mar
2015
Gravity Enduro Round 2: Del Rio

Gravity Enduro Round 2: Del Rio

 

Hot, dusty and mosquitoes is how I will remember last weekend’s Rollercoaster at Del Rio but also lots of fun. I said it before and I’ll say it again, dusty conditions may not make for the best of riding but they do make for good photographs.

Del Rio is out north west of Sydney near the town of Wiseman’s Ferry. Every time I go out there temperatures seem to be pushing up towards the 40C mark and this weekend was no exception. The hot conditions meant I was perspiring then sitting next to the track meant I got covered in dust.

It was quite a technical course in sections and I certainly saw a lot of people go down for a bit of a taste of the dirt. Thankfully all those that I saw jumped straight back up and rode off again.

The Rollercoaster series is probably my favourite to shoot at the moment as it is fast paced and challenging plus it offers riders a great range of courses. And with such a range means that we get to photograph a great range of obstacles.

 

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
05
Feb
2015
Jetstar Australia

Jetstar Australia

Dominic De Tommaso

This image of Dominic Di Tommaso is being used as a double page spread in the latest (Feb 2015) edition of the Jetstar in-flight magazine. Its good to get a contact with the in-flight magazines especially considering the year and plans I have coming up.

Posted by Richard in Parkour, Published, 0 comments
29
Jan
2015
Gravity Enduro Rnd 1: Killingworth

Gravity Enduro Rnd 1: Killingworth

And so it begins again, race season…

Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Rollercoaster series kicked off on a scorcher of a day. The expectant temperature was 35C but the temperature readings on some Garmin GPS units read up to 44C. Plus it was one of those days when the sun just seemed brutal and unforgiving. It certainly had me looking for shade whenever I set up for a new shot.

The course, at Killingworth near Newcastle, is new on the circuit but an old track remembered by those who had been riding for a bit. Rocky Trail had set the race to run over 3 tracks, the Fox trail, the BH trail and the Gloryfy trail. For the sake of trying to ensure we got photos of everyone Gil and I took a track each and spent the day on it. Unfortunately this meant that we had to miss out on the Gloryfy trail, but then we need to save something for next time.

Already looking forward to the next round at Del Rio

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
07
Dec
2014
Jetblack 24hr

Jetblack 24hr

Last weekend was the Jetblack 24hr and Australian 24hr Solo Nationals, held at the wonderful Mt. Annan Botanical Gardens on the western side of Sydney. I was the official photographer with Gil and our company Outer Image Collective. For this race, we also called in the help of the talented Michael Vettas from Vettas Media to free our hands for a bit more chance to shoot editorials.

This year a new section of track was incorporated into the loop which by the end of the race had turned to dust, not so good for the riders or cameras but great for the atmosphere in the photos. The wonderful thing about shooting a 24 hr race is that you get to experience all types of light from the harsh midday sun to the black of night and the softness of sunrise and sunset.

The Jetblack 24-hour ends the Enduro season for me this year. It has been a great season and has taken me to some fantastic spots again this year. I am already looking forward to the kick-off next year with the AMB100 in Stromlo.

Below are a few highlights of my shots from the race.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events