Reflecting on Visuals: Why 2023 Sucked and How 2024 Will Shine

by Blog

Yep, you heard me right – 2023 sucked. Well, at least from my perspective as a visual artist. Let me explain. As someone who likes to review my work at the end of each year to assess progress and set goals for improvement, skipping this routine in 2022 left me feeling adrift in 2023. Personal and logistical factors, like moving house after over two decades, consumed my attention and left little room for creative growth.

As I sat down to review my shots from 2023, I noticed a pattern: a stagnation in my work. While there was nothing inherently wrong with my photographs, they lacked innovation and novelty. After over a decade in the field, falling into the trap of repetition dealt a heavy blow to my creativity and left me feeling stuck in a rut.

However, it’s essential to acknowledge that 2023 wasn’t devoid of highlights. I had the opportunity to capture new events for fresh clients, such as Bicycle Network’s Orange Newcrest Orange Challenge and Quad Crown’s The Black Pearl stage race.  Plus regular commercial work for OzTent had me shooting lifestyle and studio product images for their new product ranges with occasional videos in the mix.  Despite these successes, complacency crept in, reminding me that coasting along without actively seeking growth can lead to stagnation.

Looking ahead to 2024, I’m determined to break free from this rut. Plans for travel photography adventures with my partner on touring bikes, exciting new roles with longstanding clients like Rocky Trail Entertainment, and a plethora of fresh projects signal a revitalization of my creative spirit. While event numbers may be on the decline compared to the hectic pace of 2023, I see this as an opportunity rather than a setback. Having some breathing room in my schedule will allow for deeper exploration, experimentation, and ultimately, more meaningful artistic output.

So here’s to 2024 – a year of renewed creativity, growth, and adventure in the world of visual storytelling. Let’s Go.

Visuals 2020

by Blog
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2020 as we all know was a year that made us bend and hopefully not break.  It threw many challenges at us all but I am thankful for many of the changes it forced upon myself and how it created opportunities to look into new work.  Predominantly work for me is photographing sports events in particular MTB and trail running but that all changed very suddenly.

I wanted to branch out a little when I could and try some new genres.  Yoga was the first one to fill the frame but not long after that started was shut down.

Thats OK as much of the work I had in mind could be carried out during the week and did not necessarily mean loads of travel to the event locations which seems to be ever expanding as the calendar nears full.  With events at a complete standstill for a period I did what many did and pottered about the office tidying up stuff I had on the back burner.  Not knowing how long we would actually be restricted a few months passed and then I knew an event of 500 people was not going to happen again any time soon.   

Luckily I have a good network of clients and people and thankful that OzTent needed some studio and outdoor work for their camping outdoor products.  This filled many months and taught me not to have so many eggs in one basket.  Once life returned to a little normal I reached out to a local gym that interested me and shortly after we started creating content, Fitness Boxx has been a great saviour both health wise and my creativity.  The gym was a double edge sword, needing to get back some fitness from my younger years but also to start shooting ideas that did not need to happen on a weekend.  Weekends are a premium for me and when things are running normally I don’t seem to have any free ones to shoot new work. 

Events eventually kicked off again especially with Rocky Trail Entertainment as they are smaller scale and could quite smartly adapt to what was permitted running 1-day events over 3.  This meant some extended time on  the trails when many others where still left twiddling their thumbs.  Thankful is a word that does not even come close to describing this work.   2021 will be the 10th year that I have been shooting for Martin and Juliane, I feel it’s going to be something special.  

Some gear wasn’t being used as often and bringing in income so I figured it was time to sell off a few items and with their proceeds invest in some new kit.  With Nikon entering the mirrorless world with the Z series, I knew it was time to give that a go.  This would predominantly be for video work as I still had a couple DSLR bodies that are too good and new to just sell on and take a financial hit.  Thankfully the FTZ adapter gives me full access to all the Nikkor lenses I already have and start using some of the new Z series glass too.  Wow.  Impressed indeed.  It wont be very long before all the kit is changed over I am sure.  

As part of my annual visuals review I look at what I shot, how I shot it and mostly why.  What for me in 2020 was a little limiting as I could not chase projects as much as I would normally like to but that did mean I had time to shoot some images that I normally wouldn’t have.  One key benefit to my annual review especially of this crazy year just gone, is to look at new ways to find work not just relying upon the same old ones.  Something every photographer should be doing whether in difficult times or thriving ones.  I will admit that towards the end of 2020 I was getting pretty flat, felt I was shooting the same images at the same events.  First world problems I know but we all need to feel inspired in what we do and for me new always inspires me even if I apply back to my regular work.   So with every struggle, challenge or obstacle we face we can learn and become better so I actually say “thank you” 2020 but step aside now as I’ve got some ideas for 2021 I need to get cracking on. 

Tassie 50

by BlogcameraGearlensOutdoor LifestyleTravel
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I have a great affinity for travel especially to new places and sharing that journey with people who have a like-minded kinship for the outdoors.  Whether on holidays or travelling for work, my eyes hardly ever stop looking even if it does mean making more work for myself when maybe I could be relaxing.  The process of looking, planning and retracing steps all to be at a location for the good light or when the crowds are all at the pub is all part of the journey and adventure.  Recent extended trips over the last two years throughout Europe I picked up some tips and lessons along the way to make such trips simpler, more about that in a future article “VanLife Lessons”.

Simplicity.  So, what does this look to a photographer who enjoys all aspects of the outdoors and capturing lifestyle visuals?  It generally means less gear, no laptop, one tripod, no editing images or a VLOG on top of some lookout until 3am so it can be released the next day before we roll on.  Yes the Terrazza panoramica di Sardagna lookout over Trento, Italy is such a place and the views were great, you can see it in my Return to the Mtns VLOG I made late one night while travelling in Europe.

But no, this was not what I had in mind for this trip.  How did I achieve this and still provide myself a challenge to create and possibly find new ways to shoot subjects? Restrict myself to one camera, one lens and see what I can create.  Now what lens, normally I would grab a wide angle as it’s my favourite perspective, but I am too familiar with that lens and as I said I want a challenge.  Our eyes see equivalent to about 50mm so everyone knows what that looks like so creating interesting images will be a challenge.

The Tassie 50 project was born.  One camera, one lens (50mm) and 50 images from 10days of travelling around the island.  

Tasmania is an amazing place, so nice I was thinking of moving there a few years back.  An idea that still lingers in the back of my brain somewhere waiting for a more opportune time to resurface.  With amazing beaches and coast lines, great mountains and rives to explore and quiet city streets, well quieter than the hustle of Sydney, it’s hard not to love Tassie.   New places was the agenda so a hire car in Hobart with a big clockwise loop saw us travel through Mt Field national park, across the centre to the west coast to the township of Strahan.  After some exploring the coast, we headed north to Cradle Mountain for the summit hike missing it two years ago when we did the full Overland Track.   After enjoying the views from atop we headed to the north coast to enjoy the warm weather and water.   Along the top we took in walks near Port Sorell in hope to see some penguins but only discovered quiet beaches and no crowds something Tasmanians seem to enjoy everywhere.   Then to the east coast for a wedding in Binalong Bay before cruising south to Triabunna taking the ferry over to Maria Island for a night.  Maria Island is treasure chest of beauty and adventure with great camping, mountain bike riding, hiking and plenty of wildlife.  Lastly was some time spent in the Tasman national park especially Cape Hauy checking out Totem Pole and Candlestick two popular rock-climbing pinnacles that jut out of the sea taking shape as their names describe while little sight seeing boats buzz around below in the water. 

So how did the project go?  Well I captured some images that caught my attention.   Some simply for the beauty of the land in front of me and some because I had to work for them.  Some I had to walk away from logging the location into my database of locations hoping to return one day soon and capture an image how I imagined it at that time.  Did I capture anything stellar?  I always reserve my feelings until I return home and look at my images later to see if they still invoke the sense of excitement as when I took them.  Some images do, some don’t which usually is an indication that I should have spent more time with the subject at hand.  But the simplistic ease of just grabbing my camera and not having to think about lenses only to try and capture what I am seeing made me consider what it is that I like in front of me a bit more.  This was a great revision for my creativity and keeping me from going flat in my work shooting the same old ways as always.    It’s all about what you leave out of the frame and not just what is in it that makes great photos something a single lens makes you very aware of.    

Visuals 2019

by BlogVisuals Annual

It’s that time. We all like to sit and reflect on the year that has just passed past us and recall the laughs, the challenges and the victories. Never is it an even balance for me with some years being a home run hit smashing it out of the park, others feel like they pass so quick that my list of goals feels neglected. 2019, feels a little of the latter but when I take the time to sit and do a proper review I always find that actually, the camera trigger button got quite a workout.

So after spending the best part of two days going through my Lightroom catalogue and the 44,580 images within the 2019 folder, I feel the number is low. This number feels low but is comparable to previous years, counting only the final “keepers” minus the countless rejects, timelapse images and test shots. Low as I felt I shot so much more than that, especially as I needed to do some big overhauls in my NAS storage and acquiring new USB drives to house all the content.

What I have not included in this number are all the video clips that I shot this year, as it was one of my main goals for 2019. Shooting four videos for one of my long-standing photographic clients allowed me to scratch an itch and I will be continuing that in 2020 but more on that in an upcoming post.

Lightroom offers a lot of info using the metadata captured in each frame, not very informative with a single frame but multiplied 44,580 times and some patterns start to appear. I won’t bore you with the details but I’ve seen a swing in my chosen focal length and a resounding consistency for one aperture. Little pieces of gold like this are a quick way to see new ways to mix up my style for the coming year.

More interestingly, for me anyway, even though I consciously made some decisions to shoot differently in 2019 my final 20+ images have one distinctive pattern to them, something I have always done and obviously appeals to my eyes. This creates a few questions in my head “Can I change my style, what means change and should I?”

This year saw less travel and more focus on local events with a resounding tilt to MTB racing. Each image has it’s own story to tell, click on any of the thumbnails to view it full screen and read the description about why it made my final selection. So without further ado here they are.

Capturing Lifestyle Visuals

by BlogOutdoor Lifestyle
Best way to start your working morning.

You know it’s going to be a fun weekend when the morning kicks off at 5am and you’re shooting a timelapse sunrise. Was a busy week of planning and preparing for two events, both trail running, here in Sydney. The 10th annual Maximum Adventure Coastal Classic in the Royal National Park and Run Forest Run for Bare Events.

With any job it all comes down to planning, knowing your locations and working with a great team of organizers, photographers and the support of the local government in the form of National Parks Wildlife Services. Even when weather doesn’t play along with your plans with 50km+ winds.

Getting to film a video for Maximum Adventure in the planet’s second oldest national park was an honour, flying a drone for some great coastal views once all the appropriate red tape requirements were met. A big thanks to NPWS for letting me shoot in the park and show off this great trail running event and location.

Thankfully, Sunday’s weather was a little calmer so the families and fun runners could have their turn at Run Forest Run. Shooting stills with the photography team of my event photography business, Outer Image Collective, was a great way to explore some new trails and witness many families enjoying the outdoors in a healthy lifestyle of activity.

Capturing lifestyle visuals never gets boring and always provides a challenge to create new and exciting content. Watch for the full video promoting Sydney’s best trail running event.

Different Week Different Light

by BlogMTB

What a difference one week makes. Same trails but different riders and wheels but same track plus throw in some hectic weather during the week and it all makes for some exciting new images.

Last week the XC racers had their go on the dusty and dark forest of Ourimbah, this week the Enduro racers were treated to mud and more open, fast gravity fed trails. Thankfully Ourimbah’s aquaphobia allowed the crazy amount of rain to shed in time for Sunday’s racing. With three tracks to choose from and not having shot Enduro here for 2 years, I knew the main race track, Fox, would be my pick as it was situated in a more sunny position and probably the driest.

So many great riders in all categories showed up to race, from the young gun, ladies in abundance and of course the elites racing for glory. Few unexpected riders from interstate and some BMXers racing MTB.

Features were easy to find, some hard to shoot as the skill levels were a mixed bag, some capable of gapping features others, taking the safer lines. The light was on song, being warm and predominantly side lighting created some nice shape on the subjects. As always photography is about light, lack of it or its position will always make or break a photo. Flash still used here to help ensure no dark faces under helmet visors or just make the rider pop a little more. Carefully placed and you don’t even know it is there.

Thanks to everyone for such a great weekend and see you again soon track side.

Brook Macdonald signs a poster for young fan during the 2018 Thredbo Cannonball MTB Festival

Thredbo MTB Summers

by BlogMTB

Mountain Biking is truly alive and kicking.  If you have your doubts well you have not been down to any of the events over summer at Thredbo Resort which hosts quite possibly the largest mountain sloped, gravity fed event in the country.  Four epic days of racing covering disciplines of Enduro, All-Mountain, Downhill, Whip Wars jumping and Pump Track with nearly 1000 riders all frothing to be crowned the winner.    It’s not just the elite, there are age groups from the young fearless kids, your middle-aged weekend warriors, women and the big gun names going for glory.

Now big guns names were off the scale this summer with a whole enchilada of international names lining up on the start line.  Red Bull rider Brook Macdonald jumped the Tasman Sea from NZ and many others from Loris Vergier, Dean Lucas, Greg Minnaar, Luca Shaw and Steve Peat gave the crowds plenty to be amazed with.  Times were fast with conditions dry and dusty for the entire weekend. 

The Ahern sibling duo, Kye and Sian, stuck it to everyone in the pro categories for the Maxxis Flow Motion Cup eventually taking out the king and queen titles to boot.

This event is probably maxed out at 1000 riders now unless they start building more runs and utilizing the Gunbarrel chair more, something that organizers mentioned in passing. The village does fill up quickly or you can camp at one of the two campgrounds making the short 10-15min drive up each morning, escaping the crowds during the evening.

But Cannonball is not the only event on offer in this piece of the Australian mountains.  Not by a long shot, they also offer The Super Enduro and Australian Mountain Bike Interschools, they both bring in nearly 800 and 700 competitors respectively.  Kids are flocking to the sport and for good reason, the healthy lifestyle of sport and being outdoors provides a means to build confidence and meet new friends and build a social community, something the online world seems to be failing at. 

My event photography business, Outer Image Collective, with fellow photographer Richard McGibbon have had the pleasure of shooting for Thredbo over the last three years with plans already in place for the 2020 season.  We provide images for everyone racing the event, something many competitors and parents have shared their gratitude about as they cannot get onto the mountain themselves or capture the action photos, we work so hard at taking. 

Thredbo MTB have been a great team to work with I can see why these guys enjoy their time in the mountains so much.  Every time I am in the car and pass Cooma on the way to Jindabyne the large fields of scattered boulders starts to build a sense of excitement.  It reaches an apex as I roll over the last hill and see the view over lake Jindabyne and the Thredbo valley mountains on the distant shore greeting me like I am coming home. 

So, if you missed out this round make sure you watch the Thredbo MTB Facebook page for when they open registration, I would say early November.  I will be there track side, camera at the ready smiling as that first rider approaches and the trail dust begins to rise on another Thredbo MTB summer.

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Empowering Photography

by BlogGiRoPhoto

So every now and then I get thrown a challenge.  It usually goes along the lines of “we want something different” or “we need fresh new material to show off our event”  or “we want to promote our event to more people and bring in new competitors.”  Well a few weeks ago I got a call that pretty much summed up all of these needs, the job was for Maximum Adventure and to shoot their Convict100 Marathon MTB race.  I have been shooting this event for some time now, the last 2years under my event photography business Outer Image Collective capturing race photos for all the riders.  Being one of, if not the oldest, marathon event in Australia Maximum Adventure wanted marketing images from the event showing the great mountain bike community and what it’s like to attend this awesome event.  Every aspect of camping out, eating at the historic St Albans Settlers Arms Inn built in 1863 to what the trails are like.   

Now how can I do this?  Tough course to get around by vehicle.  I know.  E-bike.  

This will be amazing, I can ride the whole course and capture images along the way sharing the highs and lows of marathon racing, now who can I get an e-bike from?  Lets let Facebook do the work.  Out goes the post and within a few hours, I had my answer.  The team at Drift Bikes in Newcastle sell Specialized and the word on the web is the Levo is one rad machine and after a quick phone call, it was sorted.  Now I will say I paid for this bike hire, no talking up mates or bikes for a freebie.  Luke and Robbie were very helpful and knew exactly what this bike was capable of and the power requirements I would need.  Great service from the shop and these guys are passionate about the Specialized brand and riding.  Until now I had not ridden an e-bike so didn’t know what to expect but if you were on the course when I went past you will know this bike is a weapon, uphill and downhill.  At a cool $10,000 the 2018 Turbo Levo FSR Expert Carbon 6Fattie is worth every dollar, I just need to find a way to claim it as a business expense and order one. 

So quick stats on the bike and camera gear.  I used 2x batteries leaving second with a photographer at 33km location swapping out when I arrived.  I got about 31km out of the battery when on “turbo” mode the whole time.  Second battery got me a bit further about 38km as I was a bit more cautious using “normal” power mode when full gas was not needed.  As advised the big “enduro” wheel setup was fine for this fire-road XC style event.  It gave me ample confidence on the downhills which was great seeing I had 2x cameras, 3x lenses: 14-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm, 1x flash, food and water and bike tools in the backpack. 

So how did the whole experience work from a working pro point of view?  You need to be smart and know the course and what/ where you want to shoot.  Easy to ride past key photo locations either not knowing they are there or simply because you are having too much fun.   I also used my Cotton Carrier system which I always have on, the new CCS G3 Harness-2 worked well providing me with hands-free holder when  I stopped at locations.  I decided to bag the cameras when riding as a precautionary choice and when I stopped both cameras out onto the harness.  I could scramble up cliff walls to get high angle shots.  I could run around the kayak bridge or feed station and have two cameras on hand not having to change lenses, missing shots and letting dust into my camera body.   I wouldn’t change much to this setup next time. 

 

As for the images, I think it was a success.  I am always critical of my own work and know I missed a few shots out there but trying something different has allowed me to capture content that would never be seen or at least by someone with a camera in hand.  Being part of the event and laughing with the others racing on trail was also great fun.  I now know what riding the kayak bridge is like and Mark from Maximum Adventure, if you are reading this keep it at 4-planks….. unless of course, I am not riding a $10k bike and about $12k in gear than I think 2-planks is fine 🙂

Cheers Gil