Tag Archives: enduro

The Fling that’s Flung

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Well its been a while since my last post but that doesn’t mean I have not been very busy, November was a very busy period with loads of great events on with lots great images being shot.  One race in particular was the 2012 Highland Fling, great event, great trails and lots of fun to shoot.  The shoot was contracted by Wild Horizons who run the event and the images were used also by Flow Mountain Bike in an online article, you can find it here if you missed it,  Highland Fling @ Flow MTB

Then I receive an email from Wild Horizons with news that they were releasing a photo book of the 2012 event and giving it as a thank you gift to sponsors, land owners and the rest.  These events cannot be achieved with the help of many so I was very happy to know that these people would be sitting down to a cup of caffeine and browsing some of my images as a thank you. :)

But don’t despair, Wild Horizons are making the book available as well for riders who want their 15-minutes of glory and relive the ride whenever they want.  The book can be found here, Highland Fling Photo Book

Jump over and grab a copy.

I have been wanting to share some of my photos from the day but needed to sit on them until the mags and others got done their work.  So here they are, hope to see you out on the trails during 2013.

Thx Gil.


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Single Mind for SingleTrack

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Over the weekend my colleague Richard McGibbon and I headed out to Rydal to see what the action was like at the Chocolate Foot’s Single Track Mind series and impressed we were. We wanted to see what other MTB event companies were doing and shoot at some new trails. Rydal is a tiny country town with only a dozen houses maybe and a exhibition oval on top of the hill. The trails here are quite new, being only two years old and the members of the Central Tablelands MTB Club are very enthustiastic about what they have achieved there. Rightly so, the 9km circuit used for the day is singletrack nirvana, not only is it in some beautiful gum tree forests, which will never be logged, but there is never more than 20metres of straight trail. I was almost dizzy at times just watching riders weave and bob around the course building their handling skills to a heightened buzz.

As for shooting, we were very fortunate to have some thick cloud cover for most of the day providing very soft and even light eliminating the harsh shadows and requiring loads of flash to balance out. Because of the large number of trees and shin high grass in places getting low with a long 200mm lens made for some great shots. A few dead tree roots were built up to give the more adventurous or experienced rider something to fly off but many showed off for the camera and had some fun.

The course runs along top of a ridgeline in a large loop from the grounds where everyone had setup camps and fires obviously coming out the night before and enjoying the cool fresh air that only the outdoors can provide. Joe and Fiona of Chocolate Foot put on a great race and had plenty of praise for this course.  As usual, the MTB community are a tight knit group who love the sport and the outdoors, if you havn’t attended one of their events or simply the Rydal event check it out, you wont be dissappointed.

Cheers Gil.


MTB Magic

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WOW!  What a weekend.  Two awesome races and at two great locations.  Saturday saw me at Ourimbah shooting the final installment of the RockyTrail Entertainment Shimano MTB GP.  Then Sunday at the innagural Kowalski Classic 50/100km event.  The two events couldn’t have been more polar in comparison but both well worth the attendance.

RockyTrail capped the series off with a great “Plan B” course as there has been some issues with Appin and the land councils, I heard people saying out on the course the were happy with the changes and preferred to be at Ourimbah.  The repetive 8.5km laps gave the riders a chance to put together that perfect lap and if you messed up a section, another chance to get it right.   Great work to both Martin and Juliane for putting on such a great day.

The Kowalski brothers also put on a fantastic event and have been hard at work building new trails which allowed them to link up a super variety of riding at the Kowan forest.  Mostly an A to B type course, but the 100′s saw some of the same course twice, no problem it was all the new section and since it was super smooth, flowie and burmed I don’t think the riders minded.

As for shooting, thank god the weather man got it wrong.  Everything was packed in the vehicle for wet weather but none of it was needed, in fact alot of the gear got dusty if placed close to the trails.  There was some carnage on the course at Ourimbah with bloody knees and elbows, thankfully the camera gear pulled thru with some minor scrapes due to gusts of wind.

Great to see the weather improving and so many people out riding their bikes, the only problem for me is that I wish I was one of them, but when work puts you behind the camera on trailside out in the fresh air I don’t feel like I am missing out that much as being out there is what MTB is really all about… plus beating your mate on a section of track and getting a trophy in Strava :)

The following is a selection of some images from Ourimbah, the gallery of all the images is available at the Ourimbah Shimano MTB GP page, jump on over.

 

If you raced at the Kow Classic, jump over to Aurora Images whom I was shooting for on the day.

Enjoy the great summer sun.

cheers

Gil.


Canberra for Capital Punishment !

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I was in Canberra on the weekend to witness the resounding positive vote for the return of capital punishment…… on a MTB.   What a great day for the riders as the early morning cloud cover kept the chill to a bearable temperature and the sun eventually burst thru to perfect blue skies.  Whether you completed the 50 or 100km event you would have been captured by the photographers working for Aurora Images as you jumped, banked or flew by in a blur.  The course as usual started in Kowan forest and made its way thru Sparrow Hill, Madura Pines then a short spin thru Canberra taking in a climb over Black Mtn to complete the adrenaline rush at Stromlo MTB park.

The following are a selection of images I shot over the varied terrain during the day.  Jump over to Aurora Images for all the images shot on the day.

Shooting images was so varied over this course from pine forest so thick that setting up camera shots 6am proved almost impossible to catching the super fast action of screaming down the perfect XC trails of Stromlo.  The winners for the 50k finish in approximately 1hr40 to the last 100km competitor taking 9hrs30.

I saw a few locals from the northern beaches out there competing, good to see such a variety of people mixing it up, proves that these events are not just for the elite riders and anyone can have a crack and get the enjoyment from completing these challenges rather than just winning.

The camera gear was put thru some work even though the weather conditions were perfect.  Dry conditions cause alot of dust which can cause havoc with sensors and front lens elements.  A good quality blower never is too far away on these days.  The flashes were put to the test as well as usual, nothing melted or dead thankfully but more and more batteries always seem to be needed.

To the organizers at AROC, great job, the event ran without a hitch and I know your team were out there even longer than us.  I’m sure the efforts all paid off and I personally want to thank you for the 2x huge bags of fruit buns and 4x large bunches of bananas they didn’t last long but were the best I have tasted in a while.  :)

Thx

Gil.


The Mont 24 – 2012

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The Mont 24 - 2012

The Mont 24 - 2012

On Saturday at 12pm another running of The Mont kicked off at the Kow.  Fortune shined down upon all who attended as the sun was out and the course was dry and fast.  Numbers were reported to be 4000 strong and as usual it felt like it with the continuous train of riders not stopping from the first rider on lap 1 to the sweepers on Sunday afternoon.  I was shooting the event for Aurora Images with a group of 7 other photogs and images will number 70,000 strong with us all shooting away. Check out the Aurora Images website for the official images to purchase.

The Mont 24 - 2012

The Mont 24 - 2012

This event has such a variety of track terrain, there is countless perspectives and locations to capture.  The dark pine forest, the big sweeping corners, the fast fire-roads and the majestic white gum trees all make for great shots.  Even the competitors make it alot easier as plenty dress up for their moment of glory and fun to the fast racers cranking out the hot lap trying to beat a personal best or a mate.

The Mont 24 - 2012

The Mont 24 - 2012

This year I tried shooting some night shots trying to capture the racing in a more complete coverage.  Just because it gets dark doesn’t mean that we need to turn off the cameras as racers put on there battery charged lights and head out.  Placement of flashes so not to blind riders upon approach but also to provide enough fill flash is always a fine balance.  Then finding that interesting background object to light up and provide some interest requires pre-dark reccy’ to locate as doing so once dark is impossible.

The Mont 24 - 2012

The Mont 24 - 2012

Some unnexpected issues with trigger devices in new gear proved testing, but once corrected provided alot more shooting options than just your standard one-camera one-flash scenario.

The Mont 24 - 2012

The Mont 24 - 2012

To the Paul and Allen and all the rest of the organizers, volunteers and anyone else involved great work, great event and look forward to shooting again next year.

Gil.