Richard McGibbon Photography

Mar

2012

Surfing at Marquesas, Narrabeen

Recent storms have whipped up a solid swell here in Sydney. I got down to Marqesas at Narrabeen Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and got a few shots done. The light conditions was quite variable. It was grey when I first got there but right at sunset a beautiful golden light shone through for a few minutes. I tried to keep shooting after sunset but it got dark quite quickly I’m hoping to get down there also early tomorrow morning and pick up the sunrise with a nice swell. Hopefully there will be plenty of people out surfing..

Feb

2012

Skateboarding in Austria

Patrik Pittl, Kickflip, Innsbruck, Austria

What do you do in Austria when there is no snow? Skateboard of course. Well, that is if you are a skateboarder I guess.
Yesterday I was speaking to a friend in Austria who I had done some skateboard shots with and he told me that he hadn’t seen the shots for a while as he had lost his copies. I realised that I had never actually posted many of them here on my website, so I thought I better rectify that.he shots of Patrik Pittl were taken in and around Innsbruck. The other shots are all taken in and around Brixlegg and the Cradle Skatepark.
I also want to say a big thanks to few people who made these shots possible:
Ben Herbert who introduced me to everyone.
Chris Cab for his amazing hospitality
and Flo Smith (www.flosmithphotographic.com) for helping me out in Innsbruck and lending me bits of equipment when I realised I had left mine back in Australia.

See more of my skateboard shots here

: Patrik Pittl, Kickflip, Innsbruck, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Dave Margreiter, Feeble, Brixlegg, Austria

: Patrik Pittl, Kick Flip, Innsbruck, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Patrik Pitt, Innsbruck, Austria

: Chris Cab, Brixlegg, Austria

: Simon Fliri, Austria

Jan

2012

Blue Mountains and Kanangra Walls

The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

A trip over the New Year’s weekend to the Greater Blue Mountains and Kanangra Walls resulted in some shots that I am very happy with. It was nice to get out of the city for a short while. I had been in a rut lately, hence the shortage of recent posts, but a trip to a new destination always tends to crack the rut. A quick tip: If you find yourself in a creative rut take yourself out of your familiar surroundings.

Although I have been a few times to the Blue Mountains it is such a vast area that I think that I could take many trips up there without getting into a rut. They always seem to vary slightly whether it is due to a variation in light, visiting a different spot or a change in the weather. This was the first time I had been as far out as Kanangra Walls and without a doubt the walls look different at other times of the day. The shots from below were taken early morning but I think that late afternoon would be the best time to shoot the actual walls themselves. This is when the light would bring out the colours and light them up. In the morning the walls are all in shade as seen in the shot below (the actual are the cliffs on the right side of the picture).

One of the reasons I wanted to go on the trip was to visit a walk called the Grand Canyon Loop. It’s a beautiful walk that takes you down and along a narrow slot canyon. Inside of the canyon is mostly protected from the sun and is cool and moist with ferns lining the walls. If you leave early enough like I did you might be lucky to get a lot of it to yourself. Later in the day though plenty of people streamed through as it is such a popular walk. The walk takes about 4 hrs including plenty of photo-stops. It is an easy track to follow but make sure you take some food and water with you. The walk out get get quite warm.

: Kalang Falls in the Kanangra-Boyd National Park which is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area.

: Looking down on eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains National Park.

: The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

: The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

: The early morning view looking out over the wilderness of Kanangra Boyd National Park

: An early morning view from Anvil Rock in the Blue Mountains.

: The Grand Canyon walk near Blackheath is famous for being the only walk-able canyon in the Blue Mountains.

: The Grand Canyon walk near Blackheath is famous for being the only walkable canyon in the Blue Mountains.

: The Grand Canyon walk near Blackheath is famous for being the only walkable canyon in the Blue Mountains.

Dec

2011

Downhill Mountain Biking at Oxford Falls

Yesterday I met up with local rider Nick Turnbull at the Oxford Falls downhill track here on Sydney’s Northern Beaches area for a bit of mountain biking. Its a short track but with a few nice jumps and obstacles. We also met up with another local rider Tom Sanders. Despite being a Friday afternoon we had the track to ourselves so we had plenty of time to set up shots. Here’s a selection from the afternoon’s shoot.

Nov

2011

Long Reef, Sydney, Australia.

The sun sets on another hot day as seen from Long Reef Headland on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Extending right out into the ocean, Long Reef offers great views both up and down the coastline. It’s also a great spot to go and sit and watch the whales swim by. At this time of year the humpbacks are migrating back to Antarctica after their season up north. As they return they are bringing the newborns with them who seem to love to play, jumping and splashing around.

Oct

2011

Google Photowalk around Sydney

Yesterday I went on my first ever photowalk. A photowalk is basically a bunch of photographers (in this case about 130) who stroll around the city and take photos. It should perhaps be called a photostroll as that to me sounds a lot more casual and my photowalk was certainly a casual affair. For me spending time with other like-minded people and just making new friends. That’s not to say that I didn’t take any photos I just didn’t take that many.

The walk started off at Hyde Park in Sydney and meandered it’s way through the streets to Observatory Hill near the Harbour Bridge. So we didn’t come across like a protest march and get ourselves thrown in jail the group was split into smaller ones. The groups kept meeting up with each other and converging at key points through the city. I am sure that as we split again I found myself following a different group each time, not that this was an issue as the whole thing was very casual.

The photowalk was organised by three photographers from Google+, Giuseppe Basile, Michael Sutton and Gretchen Chappelle. Lockey McGrath from Google got wind of the event as it was being organised and Google themselves kindly threw their weight behind it giving all participants a t-shirt, new camera strap and to top it all off put on drinks and a BBQ at the end of the day for anyone. I was very impressed by this from Google. They seem to be determined to take Google+ further than just another social media site and turn it into something more like a small online community. It has certainly become an amazing place to talk to fellow photographers, follow their work and get inspired by all the wonderful images on there. So in closing I just want to say a big thanks to all the organisers and to Google for making it such a fun day out.