01
Dec
2016
Harrison Dobrowolski: Enduro MTB

Harrison Dobrowolski: Enduro MTB

I went up to the Blue Mountains and met up with Harrison Dobrowolski, one of the young guns on the Australian Enduro circuit. Harrison has been ripping it up on the tracks and walking away with the goods in the races. This last year he took out the Under 17’s Superflow Enduro series winning it outright. More recently, he stepped it up with his first foray into the Elite category for the Superflow Enduro Championships at Ourimbah and finished up on the podium again. Definitely one to keep an eye on in the coming years.

I met Harrison at his place in Katoomba and he showed me around one of his favourite trails in the  mountains, No Friends near Mt Victoria. It’s a great flowy little trail with some really cool features. It would be quite a challenging trail in the wet as it runs down a small waterfall and along a steep slope under a prominent rock-band.

If you are an athlete looking to pump up your profile or portfolio, or you represent a company or brand looking to promote your athlete, get in contact and we can work out how to get the best images to support you.. 

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Portraits, Sports
30
Nov
2016
Aiden Varley: Downhill MTB

Aiden Varley: Downhill MTB

I had a bit of a shoot with downhill mountain biker Aiden Varley after the Thule B24 a couple of weeks ago. We cruised around the hills of Bright, checked out a few different spots and tried out a couple of different ideas that I had floating around in my head. Unfortunately Aiden’s downhill rig was out of action so we shot with more of a lean towards enduro. Also, after shooting for almost 24hrs out of the previous 36 I was more than a bit shattered and vacant-headed. It sort of made those ideas of mine a bit blurry. Never the less we still got a few shots.

We did a short shoot on the new Hero track which is looking amazing. Its has some great views around the top section before ducking down into the pine forests. Then we headed to a simple little trail called Sycamores which led through a beautiful little stand of, yes you guessed it, Sycamores. Next time we meet hopefully he will be back on his big DH rig and I shall be a bit more on-point and focussed.

If you are an athlete looking to boost your portfolio or a company or brand looking to promote your athlete get in contact and we can sort out how I and my imagery can best help you. 

 

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Portraits, Sports
02
Nov
2016
Pace Athletics Run Club

Pace Athletics Run Club

I’m always up for a quick shoot somewhere. It gives me the chance to play around with my lights and get some practice in. Each Tuesday evening the Pace Athletics Run Club meets at Manly.

I have managed to get down for a couple of visits now and have been shooting them on what is known as Snake Hill. I went down for a quick visit again last night. There is quite a few familiar faces in the group that I have seen from shooting races like the Coastal Classic and Rafferty’s Run with Outer Image. The group is led by Matty Abel, the owner and head coach of DBA Runners. So if you are looking to getting a bit more active or polish up a bit on your running fitness be sure and get down there and join in the fun. You never know I might see you there next Tuesday.

You can check the  full gallery from the afternoon here but for now here’s a couple of shots to whet the appetite.

Posted by Richard in Trail Running, What's going on
31
Oct
2016
On the Local Trails

On the Local Trails

With no races booked in this weekend I decided on a quiet weekend at home. I didn’t realise the East Coast Titles were on at Greenvalleys MTB Park which would have been fun but sometimes a bit of downtime is needed anyway. My relaxation however usually involves getting out and taking photos somewhere. This weekend I kept it close to home. I took myself out to the local trails and caught up with the local crew that I hadn’t seen for a while.

The guys were doing shuttle runs up and powering it back down the track. I found myself a nice location and shot them as they went on by. Each lap they did I changed it a bit and found another spot. It’s a great little corner with plenty of features to shoot all within a stones throw. But a note, be sure and take your mosquito repellent. There seems to be a great swarm that lives around there. I also managed to find a tick chomping down on my leg. Bug season is upon us!!

I find getting out on the local trails is a good chance for me to practice playing with some lighting setups.  It also helps me to just keep my eye in. I find it amazing how quickly I start to get rusty if I don’t go out shooting a particular sport on a regular basis. One of the things I am trying at the moment is to step away a bit from using my flashes. I love using my flashes and they certainly have their place but I am always aware that I use them at times to an excess. So one of my projects at the moment is to try and define to myself when to use them and when to go with out. 

Here’s a couple of shots from the morning. Some more can be found in the galleries here

Posted by Richard in What's going on
29
Oct
2016
Great Adventure Challenge

Great Adventure Challenge

Last weekend my camera’s weather proofing and my own was put to the test. I was up at Cam’s Wharf on the NSW Central Coast covering Maximum Adventure’s Great Adventure Challenge and it rained and rained and rained but it didn’t dampen the smiles and the fact that it was a great day out.

The Great Adventure Challenge or GAC is an adventure race for corporate teams where they raise money for the Starlight Foundation. 17 teams from various companies compete on the day doing a variety of disciplines including mountain biking, trail running and kayaking with a bit of orienteering throw in for good measure. The wet weather added a new element into the event as well.

Rain started to fall about half an hour before we were due to start shooting and continued all morning turning the tracks into treacherous trails with a 10cm layer of thick mud on top. It kept up through the day but as the day progressed it started to ease off until it dried up about half an hour before we were due to finish up. I had full wet weather gear on but water seems to find a way to get in none-the-less. By the end of the day I was pretty thoroughly wet through.

I have a large Think-Tank rain cover which is definitely rock solid at keeping the rain out. The problem I have with it though is how big and bulky it is. For a much lighter and easier to handle rain protection I use Optech rain covers which are also large enough to cover my trigger system atop my camera. For around $15 you can find a pack of 2 on Ebay. They come packed up about the size of a cd which makes them small enough to just throw in your back for that just in case it  it down rain situation.

I saw another new toy on the weekend. Gil my colleague showed me his new coffee plunger that makes what is supposed to be a fancy little expresso. It appears that though that he might have gotten a faulty version because despite my request to try it out I or our other photographer failed to see so much as a drip from the plunger. 😉

Here is a selection of shots that I got from my locations on the day.

Posted by Richard in Adventure Racing, Events, Sports
27
Oct
2016
Coastal Classic Trail Run

Coastal Classic Trail Run

A couple of weekends ago, after a previous delay due to heavy rain, the trails of the Royal National Park played host to Maximum Adventure’s Coastal Classic trail run. Around 750 people strode out from Otford under the blue skies and set off for Bundeena. The event is quite big on the Sydney trail running calendar. It draws in everyone from the serious racer who covers the 29km course in just under 2.5hrs to social striders taking their time and making a day of it.

Being such a big event and a Point A to Point B style event rather than a continuous loop we decided to field a team of photographers to make sure we caught all the action. In total, there was 6 of us spread out along the course. Gil and I had scouted the course previously wanting to get something different from the previous years but still get a good variety of shots. We selected our locations carefully placed our team at some of the most idyllic and different settings we could find.

Although not one of the longest courses, the Coastal Classic trail run does provide a great challenge.  You are constantly going up and over the headlands, along challenging singletrack and running through soft s

and. What makes it really special though is its stunning views along the coast with its steep dramatic headlands and beautiful beaches and its all just a stones throw (granted a particularily big throw) from the city. From afternoon location that I shot I had the pleasure of watching pod after pod of whales frolicking in the ocean on their way heading south again.

A big congratulations to all who competed on the day. If you haven’t seen your results yet you can find them over on the Maximum Adventure website here. Here’s a couple of my shots from the day.

Posted by Richard in Events, Sports, Trail Running
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