Richard McGibbon Photography

Jul

2013

Shane Yates, Highlining at Manly. POTM

Shane Yates walking a highline at Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

I took this photo last weekend at Manly. We had planned on a sunrise shoot but it never worked out that way. The sun just didn’t want to agree with us first thing in the morning and hid behind the only cloud in the a beautiful blue sky. I chose this image from all the ones I took on the day because of the boat. I think it really gives you some idea of just how high the highline is. Highlining is like a slow motion action sport. It all takes place at a very relaxed pace but it has all the adrenalin and focus of the faster sports.

Jul

2013

Shimano MTB GP 4 – Mt, Annan

Round 4 in Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Shimano GP went down at Mount Annan and as usual, I was there with OuterImage to cover it. This time with Gil away chasing the peloton in the Tour de France I called up fellow photographer Mikulas Jaros to help out. Mikulas did a great job covering the stages of the course nearest the starting area.

Running through The Australian Botanic Garden at Mt Annan is a course of sweeping berms and long grass. It doesn’t often head through the trees like many of the other courses in the series and as such offers some nice views out across the surrounds. The weather turned on one of its finest winter days for the event keeping the skies nice and blue from start to finish. Rocky Trail, as is normal at their events, did a great job of organising and keeping everything running smoothly.

May

2013

Kathmandu Adventure Race, Royal National Park

Once again Maximum Adventure has put on a great day out in the form of Kathmandu’s Adventure Race in the Royal National Park just to the south of Sydney. The three day event attracted close to 1,000 racers making it the largest turn out for their adventure race series so far. Two different courses were used due to wet weather. Gil and I were there to cover the goings-on under the guise of OuterImage of the second weekend and luckily the weather shone bright over that couple of days.

The race covered 5 different disciplines which included trail running, mountain biking, kayaking, orienteering and rowing. Judging by some of the antics happening out on the river the rowing was was one of the competitors favourites. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone row a rowboat backwards up a river before, quite humorous indeed.

A big congratulations has to go out Maximum Adventure and Kathmandu for putting on such a great race and to all the competitors for making it a such a memorable weekend.

Apr

2013

Shimano GP Round 4 – James Estate

There is a new course on Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Shimano GP’s circuit and that’s the trails of James Estate Winery, where round 2 was recently held. The race marked the opening of the trails to the public. The 10km track winds in and out between grape vines, out the back towards the edges of Wollemi National Park before bringing you back through the vines and even weaving you through wine-vats on the way back to the start. The start was conveniently located by the cellar door where plenty of sampling of the local produce was done.

Well done to Rocky Trail, Graeme Scott and all involved withe the James Estate Winery race for putting on such a great day.

Dec

2012

Lens Testing at Oxford Falls Downhill Track

Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

A couple of months ago I handed in my 28-300mm L lens to my local repair centre. It had been a long time since it had been serviced and it certainly gets enough abuse. It had a broken roller and wasn’t moving through the focus range smoothly. They were quick and prompt with the service getting it back to me before the week ended. I was quite happy with the service until I actually came to use it. From what was a broken roller I now had issues with my aperture, my image stabiliser and the lock that let me keep the lens shut. After jumping up and down in frustration at the camera repair man who more or less told me it was all in my imagination I took my lens directly to Canon. Almost 4 weeks later and nearly $1000 out of pocket I got it back so this weekend was spent putting it through its paces to make sure that it was all running smoothly again.

I spent a few hours on Saturday and a few on Sunday up at Oxford Falls downhill trails just shooting with a few friends and a couple of random riders. Quite happy with the shots. It’s great to have my old faithful back again and Canon, despite taking a silly amount of time to repair the lens, have done a great job at fixing, it. Thanks to all who were there and let me shoot them.

Enjoy.

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

Nov

2012

Single Track Mind – Awaba

Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

Last Sunday saw me up at Awaba to the north of Sydney. Chocolate Foot were hosting their final event for the Sram Single Track Mind series. An 8 hour enduro and an enduro it was with temperatures pushing up around 35C. Toasty to say the least. There was around 360 competitors who braved the heat. The track led through some beautiful Eucalypt forests and down into a great section of rainforest. Note to self: When shooting in rainforests be sure to use insect repellent. 2 days later and more and more mosquito bites keep showing up.