New South Wales Archives - Richard McGibbon Photography

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

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.