…I’m heading to Canada next month and have a bit of split boarding on the agenda… thought i would do a random split board google search and came up with this vid… very nice – now I am inspired!
Steelhead and Spines- The Provo Bros from The Provo Bros on Vimeo.
Sally about to collect a wave on the head during an Ocean Kayak
I have lived in sheep sheds, tents and on boats, flown halfway around the world to land in desolate and isolated communities and chased athletes through all numbers of gruelling terrain, however a week with pro surfer Sally Fitzgibbons & champion Iron-woman Jordan Mercer is going to have to rate as one of the funnest and funniest adventure races I have been involved in.
The 2012 Mark Webber Challenge attracted some of the most experienced and hardcore of adventure athletes in the world… and the Red Bullettes.
Sally and Jordan are both athletes at the top of their game, and were willing step outside of their respective comfort zones to take on a new challenge… The mark Webber Challnge. The girls both contain a never say die attitude and competitive streak – it is a pre-requisite to pushing yourself to the top of your sport.
I was intrigued to see how the two girls would handle the arduous week of the Mark Webber Challenge and wondered whether the continuous 14 hr days would get the best of them or whether they would battle through. Would their spirit be dampened or would their competitiveness win over emotion and drive them on?
Having now returned from a chaotic week of snaparazzing the girls through whitewater, beach breaks, forrest, cliffs, extreme heat and freezing temperatures I can truly say that the Red Bullettes spirit was one of the highlights of the challenge.
There is no doubt as to the fitness of the two, however day one did raise the age old debate about the fairer sex and their map-reading skills… seeing the GPS tracking go up and down the same Gorge 3 times (even coming within 100m of the checkpoint) before finally arriving at a transition area had a few people laughing and others frustrated… fortunately the girls laughed it off as ‘teething problems’ and a ‘learning experience’
I am used to predicting where the elite adventure racers of the world might travel and leapfrogging them by whatever means to document such a journey. However this years Mark Webber Challenge held a special Mark Watson Challenge as well… Where the hell would the Red Bullettes go? The girls ability to accidentally find checkpoints and change plans on the run had me confounded… but I managed to catch them every now and then for a photo or two and their plan(or lack there-of) seemed to work for them as they feel into the routine of adventure racing.
Truth be told – by the end of the race the Bullettes were planning ahead like seasoned racers, marking maps and intended routes and collecting both compulsory and non compulsory checkpoints scattered throughout the Tasmanian wilderness.
What was evident throughout was their never-say-die attitude though. Both admitted to a few bouts of tears in the wilderness and on occasion just wanting to give up, but they drove each other on. The easiest way of tracking the girls was to venture into the wilderness and then stand still and listen… the sounds of nature would envelop you but stand long enough and you were sure to get a hint of a female voice singing over the breeze… and soon the voices and laughing and singing and jokes would grow stronger. I have never known a team to battle and entire week long race whilst all the while chatting, laughing and joking with one another non-stop and also to whomever happens to pass their way, whether it be a sole farmer, a rival team or even myself… I was often greeted on a bush track with a bit of a skip and jump and ‘Hey Watto… Whooohoo!’… The one identifying character of the Red Bullettes was their constant smile, chatter and lighter.
What a crazy week, a fun week and just one hell of a a laugh in amongst some of the most amazing scenery Oz has to offer.
So here are a few snapz
Chio fo now,
MW
Latest issue of My Nikon Life Magazine – Inside Cover Double Page spread, Still one of my favourite pix from recent shoots so great to see it getting a decent run.
OK.. so it has been a while since my last post
So firstly here’s a pic of my latest shoot with the new Nikon D800E.
Veloster Street Car… Nikon D800E, Nikon 20mm f/2.8, x2 Nikon SB910, x1 SB900, x2 SB800
Recently I have been busy juggling the new studio, being away, new websites and new blogs etc and so have neglected this blog a little. Damn… all this website and social media stuff is time-consuming huh? Especially when across multiple companies, locations and websites.
Anyway I will backdate a few blog posts to cover off a few recent jobs including: Red Bull X-Fighters, Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine – Dual-Sport Adventure motorbike tour 2012, Adventure Harley Davidson NZ, Oakley – Rick Kelly (Studio), Tourism Victoria, Tye Simmonds (Super Cross / MX)
However my latest project was for Hyundai Australia photographing a concept street car for the Australia Motor Show
I was stoked to be using the new 36MP D800E for the first time and it’s sharpness and clarity is mind-boggling. I was amused with myself when I noticed a hint of noise at high ISO’s but I have been using the D3, D3s and D4 so much I am used to being able to shoot well into the many-thousand ISO’s. The D800E compensates in so many other ways so I quickly checked myself, with the knowledge I ordered the new body specifically for lower ISO, commercial shooting – similar to the images portrayed here (duh!), not for high ISO, high frame rate sport shooting. And the D800E absolutely ‘kills it’ in the area it was specifically designed – brilliant sharpness in detail.
This shoot was a coming together of multiple challenges. Embargoes on images, security clearances at location, limited shooting time and mostly after dark, car build finishing minutes before shooting etc. We ended up collecting the car around 3:30pm and returned it around 2am. plenty of security guys in high-viz vests telling us to clear off, others who were cool, others who didn’t care … but photography and security issues go had in hand in todays Australian liability scared society.
One day turnaround on images to be ready for the motor show added a little extra pressure but in the end it all came together nicely… and the results (below) speak for themselves:
Where live-view excels… holding camera far above head for extra height and still knowing what to focus on.
gotta love a good sunset. Cheat note – I had reccied this area and used the iPhone app ‘Sun Seeker’ to find where the sun would set.
Public Road – lucky the parking spaces were empty.
In this case the stereo system is half the car…so made sure we got photos of it.
1 am and still shooting
Serious late arvo photo session at The Refinery
Soon to be opened… but the fun has already begun
The concept began after quite a few glasses of Pinot and a rant about lack of commercial studios for northern beaches creative and media professionals … and why couldn’t a chilled creative hub be incorporated alongside it.
The ‘concept’ then became a ‘project’ and soon there were draft plans and somehow the idea materialised into The Refinery Studio - with myself as half owner.
Now the partnership of inciteimages.com and andygreenimages is about to shift out of the ‘building stage’ and progress into the ‘moving in’ stage.
Word of mouth has already led to some sneaky-pre-opening studio bookings and we have already had some incredible feedback … maybe we were actually onto something and not just ranting.
Personally I am psyched to be putting the hammer and drill down and finally move in next week.
Doors will officially open soon after.
Additionally – just a mini heads up to Sydney Northern Beaches creatives: A limited number of desk spaces will soon be made available – so have us on speed dial if you are interested in becoming a part of the new creative collective (no guarantees as there are limited desks and a lot of interest)
The Refinery Lounge
