Shooting low light MTB sport scenes in forests is always a challenge to look natural but keep focus on the main subject, the rider.
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Thredbo MTB Summers
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.
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.
Empowering Photography
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
Majura Pines Magic
Majura Pines mountain bike park has a great mix of cross country, downhill and enduro trails all amongst the pine tree plantations.
A couple weeks ago I took the opportunity to make the drive south to Canberra, nothing unusual, spend a lot of time there. What was different was my destination, Majura Pines mountain bike trails because the Australian 24HR Solo Nationals were on and because I have not actually spent anytime photographing here before. Weird I know, but with Stromlo MTB Park so close I could be excused for doing so until now that is.
I knew I would like the different conditions of tall pine trees and barren open ground covered in the red needles dropped by the trees. But like it this much I did not predict and helmet visors must be tipped in acknowledgement to the volunteers at Majura Pines Trail Alliance. Great trails with lots of variety and I still have not seen all of them, something I plan on remedying very soon. So quick note about the trails, the main area runs parallell to Majura Parkway and is fairly flat but in a non-gravity fed way is very flowy. With riders completing 30+ laps over 24hrs they would find little mistakes in lines would cost them time dearly. Then there is Mount Majura itself, the trails twist and wind up the slopes and the higher you go the steeper they get. Sensibly, CORC: Canberra Off-Road Cyclists who ran the event modified the original course reducing the climbs at both south and north ends of the loop, something all riders I’m sure appreciated.
Enough about the trails. For me I was there for the light opportunities that 24Hr racing provides and the trees. The trees. Love the trees. In the bright midday sun it created harsh splashes of light on trunks and as the day progressed long shadows sweeping across my compositions. Unfortunately, evening shooting was cut short as the sun set behind Mount Majura early casting one big shadow over the forests. Sunrise to the rescue. I knew this was the key time to shoot and so getting back up at 4.30am I found many support crew members grabbing quick naps between rider laps. Tough job and hats go off to these guys/girls. This brings me to another reason for attending the event. A good friend Jason Moxham has started up FiZO Cycling and Components providing bike servicing, fitting and supporting riders at races. They wanted some portraits of team riders pre-race and race images during, plus rider Rachel Cook needed images as she has just joined the team and luckily so, she took out the U23 category and national title, all in her first 24hr.
So as I run thru the images for this post I cannot help but feel lucky to able to work with such great companies in this sport and meet so many wonderful riders along the way. One particular rider has decided to “pull the brakes” on 24Hour Solo racing. Brett Bellchambers announcing the 2017 national titles event was to be his last, something many hope he reconsiders, the trails won’t be the same without his zany spirit on the trails, singing and cracking jokes. If he doesn’t return its a well deserved end to a very long and popular ride he has had, all the best Brett.
Cheers Gil
