Nikon 1 V1 – still lovin it!

As we speak I sit with a new Nikon D4 next to me (11fps, full frame sensor, ridiculous ISO abilities, damned near unlimited buffer, Wireless capture shooting and control via iPhone, iPad and laptop, 1080p HD recording direct to card or throughput via HDMI etc etc etc.)

However it is still the Nikon 1 V1 that is always at hand

The V1 has finally turned me into one of those photographers who always has a camera at hand. And this is purely because I now have a camera that is compact enough to fit in a pocket but high enough resolution and sharp enough lenses for front cover abilities. The video is amazing, the lenses incredibly sharp and the little black box with a very cool range of interchangeable lenses is just perfect to have on hand all the time.

Over X-Mas my naturalist brother pointed out a Southern Brown Tree Frog and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a some more Nikon 1 fun.

Here’s the resulting snap.

Southern Brown Tree Frog photographed on Nikon 1 V1 with 1 Nikkor VR 10-30mm f/ 3.5-5.6

Now all we need is a fish eye lens and waterproof housing for some cool water photography… don’t worry I have already been chatting to Phil at www.aquatech.net regarding this… maybe on the horizon – we will see???

Oh yeah… and a quick few thoughts on the D4 will follow soon but no you cannot see sample footage and images yet… However hang in there as D4 mini-review and sample photos will follow as soon as the guys at ‘the big N’ give the all clear.

Dolphins, sunburn, bikinis … and a big ‘mutha’ of a rope swing

“We’re putting on a rope swing event for the public” I was told over the phone. “Do you want to photograph it?”

“Hell yeah” I thought. “There’s gonna be carnage” and I was right!

Tangalooma Island Resort off Southern Queensland’s Moreton Island coast was the host for this comedic event and this meant crystal clear cerulean waters lapping against perfect white sand beaches and rusting shipwrecks, a mecca for local scuba divers.

However the peace would soon be shattered with divers of a more aerial nature… and wanna-be gymnasts, and generally anybody who enjoys hurtling through the air, trying as many backflips as possible before slapping down into what hopefully will be a slightly cushioned landing (“depending on the angle you hit the water” cliff diver Joey Zuber informed me with a grin)

Rather than the serious business of extreme sports in exotic locations, for this project Red Bull Australia decided just to ‘have some fun’ … and that they did.

I admit I was dubious at first, “a few guys with board shorts hurling themselves into the water… hmmm???” but my attitude quickly changed.

Event day dawned to a perfect QLD cloudless day and soon the temperature skyrocketed to perfect ‘launching’ weather.

The first ferry of the day offloaded a mixed crew of petite bikini clad and face-painted  lasses, brash ‘lads’ in costume and amazingly enough, some professional gymnasts and high divers, albeit some were clad in dinner suits… they were all psyched to just see what they could pull off on this makeshift human catapult.

Floating 100 meters offshore a barge sat with a long crane arm protruding into the cloudless QLD sky. suspended from the end of the crane arm was a single spiderweb like strand of rope, designed purely to hurl anybody bold enough to hang on, as far as they liked out over the azure waters of the tropical Eastern Australian coast.

With ‘smack-downs’ aplenty as competitors warmed up, emergency crews were amazed to treat only minor injuries instead of severely winded competitors who really should have emerged from some of the belly-whackers witnessed.

As the day progressed, so did the skills of some of those competing, and the wipeouts of others.

A triple backflip was thrown down while advanced free, straight, pike, tuck and spins were attempted – and landed; But on the other hand, spectators were also witness to a 40ft back slap and a 30ft face plant.

Aboard the beach and barge, music blared and crowds danced and hyped one another up for bigger and bolder moves.

As the sun sank lower, teams were whittled down to just a final few and just before the local dolphins came into shore at sunset, final awards were anounced as beachside bonfire was laid.

Swing-a-Long – the best aerial acrobatics
WINNER: Dope Ropers – Phillip Kismartoni, Luke Campbell & Joel Pocklington

Swing-a-Bomb – the most water dispersed by an individual
WINNER: Bloody Frogman – Victoria Camilieri-Asch

Swing-a-Bloop – the biggest blooper where things went pear shaped
WINNER: Red Bellies – Elsa Lilford & Liana Lilford

Create-a-Swing – the most creative performance
WINNER: Bumbles of Fun – Clare Hambridge, Renee Kubala, Madeline Franklin & Marianne Whittenburg

And the coveted title of:
King of the Swing – best overall performance
WINNER: Double Pock – Dion Pocklington & Ben Pocklington

And so the story ends… with a bonfire and beachside party, a perfect sunset, dolphins in the shallows and an empty rope, silhouetted against the mainland backdrop of the sunshine coasts mountains on the horizon.

… oh yeah and one sunburnt ‘happy snapper’ – And I even managed a quick moment to throw my own version of a backflip, with an accidental half twist – I think maybe next year I will enter.

Pix are below and Milkmoney Films were on hand to capture video of all the action at Red Bull Rope Swing… worth a watch for a good laugh.

 

 

 

Rick & Ryans Adventure – Mark Webber Challenge

Freycinet Peninsula, Tasmania

In the drizzle of Hobart-town a tanned athletic South African ultra marathon runner winds his way towards the docklands. Coming from the other direction is a hero of Australian motor sport, turning heads as he strolls towards the same location. On the pier the two meet, shake hands and simultaneously announced “what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?”

Ryan Sandes is more commonly known as one of the fittest and most tenacious ultra-marathon runners on the planet. He crosses deserts on foot for a living??? Mad some may say but when you meet his unassuming and mischievous grin, you can simply tell he’s just another bloke up for a bloody good challenge, albeit a gruelling challenge in 50 degree heat, running 200km plus on sand… OK! Maybe he is mad!

At the other end of the spectrum is a bloke who openly claims “I just sit on my arse all day.” However Rick Kelly’s version of sitting on his backside does include hurling a 1.5 tonne thundering V8 powered missile around some of Australia, NZ and the Middle East’s most daunting motor sport racetracks at over 300 km per hour. In between he somehow finds time to co-own and manage the multi million dollar, five car V8 Supercar team of Kelly Racing.

So what do these two blokes have in common one might ask… the answer is simple. They both signed up for a masochistic 5 days of relentless physical abuse through some of Tasmania’s most inspiring but sweat-inducing terrain in 2011 Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge. Not only did they both sign-up, but they happen to be team-mates and neither have competed in any form of adventure race before… actually neither packed a compass. Maybe a little naive when a major part of the non stop gruelling race involves topographic maps and accurate navigation.

Amusingly, the outdoor stores in mid-town Hobart didn’t know what hit them as the two Red Bull athletes burst through their doors only moments after event registration, hoarding Powerbars and bike shorts, compasses and trekking pants, skins and anti-chafing cream.

They arrived in Tasmania with the simple intent to just ‘have a go’ but for those who know what drives such elite competitors… you also know that ‘just having a go’ doesn’t exist in these guys brains… it is all or nothing. With no real expectations of being competitive against the elite teams, both Rick and Ryan knew full well that each other would keep going until the soles of their feet wore through, their hands became blistered, lips split from salt and chafing began to bleed – there was going to be no such thing as ‘giving up.’

And so it was with a slight surprise that on day two of the event the duo found themselves leading the pack early in the day, well amongst the lead teams and in contention for a top five finish overall, but they had a long road ahead.

The 2011 Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge is no walk in the park

It is a week-long multisport adventure race that throws athletes amongst some of the most awe-inspiring terrain Australia has on offer, and also some of the most treacherous. From the perfect azure waters of Wineglass Bay and Freycinet National Park and the rugged towering dolerite pillars of the Tasman Peninsula athletes kayak, abseil, swim, mountain bike and trail run, eventually winding their way south to the windswept and isolated dunes of Bruny Island before climbing up amongst the alpine tarns of the Hartz Mountains, to finally descend to the finish line in the historic city of Hobart.

The course happens to be designed by one of the guru’s of global adventure racing, John Jacoby. Former world-class racer and veteran of Eco Challenge, Raid Gauloises and a plethora of truly brutal multi week-long challenges in the furthest and most isolated corners of the world, Jacoby may not admit it but is about ‘as hard as they come’… and any adventure discipline set by Jacoby is sure to test ones willpower and physical endurance.

And this is possibly why the Rick and Ryan show became an all enthralling battle on multiple fronts. From smart strategy and mixing it up with the leaders, the two pushed hard but fell through the ranks with small errors caused by fatigue. On one hand the duo battled side by side with world-class adventure racer’s whilst on the other they ended up running an entire multi-hour trail run in bare feet after misinterpreting the rules and exiting their kayak with no footwear to change into. They careened down a waterfall – upside-down in their kayak and eventually came up battered and bruised but laughing.

If attitude could have won the race, these blokes would have had it in the bag.

Kelly even managed to bring a grin to his face when as one stage I asked whether chafing was an issue at all and he simply turned to me and said “you don’t want to see ‘down there’ Watto. It’s nasty! there ain’t gonna be any sex for me for months!” – I took his word for it.

At the end of a huge week, every competitor in the 2011 Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge was bruised and battered however not one athlete looked downtrodden. The terrain had been brutal but the vistas and perfect sunsets over mirror like waters, amazing.

At the finish line, most faces looked a picture of relief, but as the sweat dried and the swelling subsided it was clear to see that glint in the eye already beginning to re-appear… there is no question…. it may take a day, a week or a month but as some stage the pain will fade and the grey matter inside one’s head will start asking… I wonder if I could do it faster, maybe I should do some more kayaking training, I wonder if my team-mate will be up for it again? And there is also no doubt… Rick and Ryan will be amongst those pondering another venture into Tasmania’s wilderness… and they’ll be a step ahead of many for they will bring their own personal compass… now scratched and muddy – but a true reminder as to where to find the good things in life, even if they sometimes hurt!

Sheeny’s last flight… for a while

Two days before FMX superstar Josh Sheehan was due in a Sydney hospital where green robed surgeons would delve into the depths of his shoulder, pull a few bits out, re-align some other bits and paste a few extra bits back in (which would mean up to 6 months off the bike); He could be found somewhere in the stratosphere, hovering over his childhood property in Donnybrook Western Australia, Performing his iconic Ruler Flip, or Rock Solid, or Lazy Boy Flip… or any number of ‘bulls#*t’ inverted FMX manoeuvres.

In between throwing himself and his Carlton Dry clad Honda CRF450 well into the golden sunset of southern WA, he could also be found projecting massive rooster tails behind him as he exploded from each corner of his personal MX sand-track.

“I’m lucky to have grown up on a property where I was able to put in my own sand track, but also build my own FMX compound in the clay earth amongst dad’s orchards. When I first tried backflips I practiced on a sandy step-up I built out back so if I crashed I’d only fall a few metres” Sheeny professes.

Following Sheeny’s dominating performance and win over Dany Torres of Spain & Levi Sherwood of NZ at Red Bull X-Fighters in Sydney, I mentioned to Red Bull how it might be cool to catch up with Sheeny to shoot some photos outside of competition. Then all of a sudden I got the call at the last-minute, “Can you go to Western Australia next week?” Sheeny’s surgery meant he would be off the bike for the first half of 2012 and so if we wanted to shoot anything other than him sitting on a sofa with his arm in a sling, then we had to do it immediately.

And so a few days later I found myself eating a roast dinner with the awesome Sheehan family who offered up some incredible country hospitality to accommodate me  for the shoot.

As it happened Sheeny’s chaotic schedule, my back-to-back projects and mother nature all managed to align to offer up a sole afternoon and one morning of good weather before it clouded over and I had to hammer it back up the highway to Perth to catch a red-eye flight back to Sydney where I was due to shoot the entire next day.

There’s no question Sheeny is on the up-&-up. He’s obviously got balls of solid steel, but he is also meticulous with his training and ability to perform at the top of his game.

Whilst there  is often the cliché of tattoo adorned, rebellious heavy drinkers and partiers amongst the FMX crew, Sheeny goes to show that both inside and outside of the competition scene, the sport of Freestyle Moto Cross is an incredible art and takes huge dedication and drive to succeed. For the time being he appears content with his lot… being at the top of his game and following his dream.

 

Sally Fitzgibbons Studio Shoot

I know I have been pretty poor at keeping the world up to date with comings, goings and new stuff on my blog recently and so hope to remedy that in the coming weeks.

However just to give you a sneak glimpse at just one photo that is a standout from recent jobs, I have included a recent portrait of world No#2 surfer Sally Fitzgibbons here.

Sally is a always a breeze to photograph with an athletic body, brilliant eyes, a relaxed smile and laid back personality to go with it. I only had a short window to work with Sally to gather a photograph to promote Sally’s ‘Design Sally’s Board’ promotion.

The initial challenge was going to be working on the beach in some unseasonably nasty Sydney weather but when the location was relocated to a studio… my job was made easy.

With lights in place and the usual happy-go-lucky Sally just having a laugh, it was easy to shoot the full body images for my client but I wanted to sneak in a bit of a bonus shot because I knew Sally had a great connection with the camera and her eyes sometimes just have that sparkle many photographers talk about but don’t always find. I wanted to shoot a simple portrait and then hone my retouching and airbrushing skills to create a very fashion oriented image, something a little different from my more usual documentary genre.

The retouching on this image offered yet more knowledge into the fine tuning of skin texture and retouching, edge sharpening and noise reduction etc and so I was stoked to have taken a few moments away from my everyday work to delve a little deeper into the world of post production.

and here is the resulting image, take it or leave it (I reckon it’s pretty damned nice):

Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine Cover

You can never tell what an art director will do with your images…

Sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it looks amazing.

On this 2-stroke v 4-stroke MX test I had lined up some cover possibilities even though the weather was about as bad as it gets… however the photo that finally went to cover was the final shot of the day… no flash, average composition, not a huge amount of thought and definitely not a perfect rider setup.

It was a dodgy narrow corner with only one line but I asked the riders to see if they could find two lines in the corner and then to ‘get on the gas’ out of the corner to create some energy.

After about three attempts it became a competition as to who could best pull off the impossible and 10 attempts and one over-the-bars later we managed to get a photo I thought would suit an A4 opener in the article… BUT instead it went to cover.

Who would have guessed – typical art directors!!!

But this time I am reasonable happy with the results, even if it wasn’t shot for a ‘cover’.

Mist, rain, narrow lines, average corner and less than perfect rider and photographer set-up - but somehow we pulled off a cover photo.

4×4 Australia Magazine Cover

I nabbed the latest cover for 4×4 Australia Magazine – but honestly I didn’t expect my imagery to appear on this issue’s cover.

I should have nailed the perfect cover shot because I had teed up a killer location for a last light photo atop a ridgeline and the evening light was ballistic… but during the day we had km’s to cover and so arrived just atop the ridge exactly on what we had calculated as the perfect shooting time…. hmmm!

I had shot the same location a few weeks earlier and assumed we would have a little more time as we enter longer days but of course the changing angle of the sun messed up my plans and we arrived only minutes too late… the perfect light was two metres off to the side of the road and the road was shaded by some tall trees that two weeks earlier had not affected the photo location.

Missed the light but nailed the cover sometimes it is worth shooting back up images for cover's and DPS.

You win some you lose some.

Nikon 1 V1 photo of the day

My latest test camera is becoming a bit of a fixation…

But here is the Nikon 1 V1 doing what it does best – super sharp, super fast imagery

Corella captured mid flight

Playing With Compacts…

In between shooting cover possibilities and double page spreads for 4×4 Australia’s Ute of the Year, I occasionally pressed that other button on the camera for a laugh… the video button.

I still like toying with the Nikon 1 V1′s high-speed 400fps option and the AW100 waterproof camera is just cool.

Harley Heaven

I only have a few seconds before my next job but had to drop a blog update following my recent job shooting for Harley Davidson in NZ.

We scored some amazing weather and the roads were empty as they wound through blow your mind scenery.

Sometimes the planets align and you realise that in amongst the hundreds of km’s and after dark finishes whilst hauling a heavy camera bag that life is good… actually it is great!

My Clik Elite Contrejour 45 backpack hard at work... this pack saved my back and has quickly become my favourite camera bag of all time... and I have to admit the Harley Davidson V-Rod Muscle is a very nice piece of machinery to play on. Photo by Sam Maclachlan

Empty roads and perfect vista's... NZ's South Island in Harley Heaven

Is the light always perfect in NZ? Only hours after landing in Dunedin my compadtriot and I were winding our way around the roads of Otago Peninsula under a perfect South Island sunset.