October Adventures

The end of October was one crazy mish mash of things to shoot. So I figure to combine it in one blog & each event couldn't be more different from each other. It all kicked off with Miss Pole Dance Australia Championships & these girls are absolutely amazing to watch. The one & only Miss Suzie Q begins her act in Vegas style

Cosmic girl Sassy

Felix...need I say more. She is absolutely amazing to watch, youtube her if you got a spare moment.

Little Miss Butterfly & a backstage crowd

6am the next day after MPD, I jumped on a plane to make my way to the Phillip Island Grand Prix. Its been one of those events I just needed to shoot once. For those who may not know me, I am an absolute MotoGP nut & I've been to Phillip Island for the 6 years to watch though somehow found my way in legally to shoot it this year. & yes I go for Rossi. Now my aim is to go see either a Spanish or Italian round.The best tip I could give at these big events, oh heck any event, try and make friends with a security guard cause it makes life so much easier. Though Im sure I pissed off a few when I broke through into pit lane for the podium finish haha.

After getting back to Sydney I now had to pack for Fiji. I've been working on a series documenting ocean swimming in sydney though I thought to go check out the Mana Island Ocean swim for something different. Entrants from Australia & New Zealand make the journey to compete in the main event of 3km. The local contingent continues to grow stronger with many entrants from surrounding islands competing as well.

The view down is hard to argue as swimmers get to swim through clear tropical blue waters & check out reefs abundant with marine life.

A traditional kava ceremony takes place the evening before to bless the race.

Triathlete Emma takes a duckdive in the afternoon light.

I would post more pictures but they'll have to wait as I'll be updating my site once again. Keep an eye out!

Ladders, Fires & the World MTB Champs

Well let's just say things didn't exactly go smooth for me on this photo trip. I figured I'd head down a bit early for the World Mountain Bike Champs & cover it right through out the week. After coming out of the long tunnel on the M5, I had an unusal encounter with a good ol Blue Bailey's steel ladder. The car in front of me swerved to the right running over it & I went to the left as far as I could without hitting anyone else & unfortunately my bumper got a smashing. I told this story to a few others & I kid you not, people would say 'Don't you mean a kangaroo?'(Junior Mens Cross Country start)

That first night I got to Canberra, I had a bit of luck by scoring a free bed for the night as I couldn't be bothered setting up my tent in the night. To say thanks to the rider who offered me the spare bed I took him out to dinner. All was good before the fire alarm goes off, but because there was no obvious danger, everyone kept eating. The fire brigade arrive & suddenly we were to evacuate. My choices were:

A) Evacuate immediately

B) Finish skulling free beer then evacuating
Once outside the enter roof was smoking like crazy. Some guy in the street actually asked us if it was set up for a movie..... was it an alcohol induced question or plain stupidity, i do not know.

U23 Mens Cross country start. Don't underestimate the XCO riders, there were incedibly fast off the start line.Things got a bit congested on Cardiac hill so unfortunately the back riders got a bit caught up. On a side note, Im pretty sure I had a French photographer giving me 'death stares' all week for some apparent reason. I guess I must of pissed of ze french somehow ???

Hammerhead=big rocks & big stacks.

Though at least some were met with a bit of cushioning.

Bit of scenic in the Women's elite XCO.

Men's Elite XCO start certainly kicked up a bit of dust.

Tight corners

Just a bit of detail

I gotta admit that I became obsessed with getting a decent shot with the Wattle trees. Canberra is bloody bare so its a challenge to get a decent shot. The lead pack in the Men's Elite XCO was a sizey goup throughout the early laps but by the last lap it was down to these two.

The swiss came out on top

I know a few people are a bit clueless when it comes to Trials as it doesn't get much coverage. The Europeans are incredibly strong in this sport. The courses were also pretty full on in Canberra consisting of rocks, cement blocks, crates, skippy bins etc

The no.1 men in the 26" category who made this move look so easy

Our Aussie hope Joe from Melbourne who made the final cut of 8

Our other aussie hope Janine Jungfels in the womens category. For her 1st world champs she did pretty good finishing 4th but I know she's bit frustrated at her performance as she made 2 silly mistakes on the second lap. But keep an eye out cause no doubt she'll get better & stronger!

Janine's definitely got strength to pull off some gutsy moves

Andre the pom in action for the mens 26" semiThese swiss supporters were certainly decked out with massive flags & huge cow bells. Everyone headed up to the hill to get a spot for the 4x finals.

Rider/s getting interviewed before the action kicks off

Pre race moments

Psyching up

Women's semi action

Caroline Buchanan absolutely dominated the women's leaving the Americans in the dust

The no.2 ranked man busted his tyre in his semi. poor bugger

Caroline lapping it up

& getting smashed by champagne

Jared Graves won the men's 4x so double aussie world champions, not too shabby eh?

The last morning was exceptionally cold. Yap I did camp it after the first night & this last morning I woke to ice frost on the tent & my hands hurt like hell. Yes I know Im a sook with the cold cause Im from QLD but give me hot weather any day & we'll see who's laughing

Men's downhill action

The Rock gardens

Training run

Yes, I like to get a bit close

Elite men's final

they were bloody quick but it would've been great to get them on a steeper course. Apparently last year's course in Italy was so steep, that it was hard enough just to stand on.

Aussie Mick Hannah took out 3rd

South African Rennie got 2nd

The crowd pushed in to get a view of the Men's Downhill podium. Surprisingly it didn't rain, blue skies all week whereas last year's world cup was apparently miserable as it pissed down non stop.

My drive back was pretty boring compared to coming down but I don't mind, I'd like my car to have as little damage as possible.

NZ Wrap Up-Burton Open + VOLKL Freeski Pro

So I've been hanging about NZ for the last week and a half shooting & riding & I figured I better do a bit of an update after shooting the Burton Open & the VOLKL Freeski Pro.

The Burton Open attracted a massive international field & with the Winter Olympics looming next year, the comp became a bit of a preview on what to expect. The Burton kicked off with the slopestyle at Cardrona. The tricks were big, the spins were crazy it was a dam good show to watch. Competition was fierce to get into the finals.

The clouds posed a bit of danger but thankfully didn't set in as it had the day before during the qualifications.

Bit of B/W

The next and final day was dedicated to the Halfpipe. Nathan Johnstone was our only Aussie representative but he came out with the goods qualifying 5th for the final. It was all or nothing to get into the finals which made for a seriously entertaining final. & of course with Shaun White making an appearance, everyone was stoked.

This girl, Jiayu Liu who is only 18 (from China) is one to watch out for.

Kelly Clark was flying high & won the women's.

Luke Mitrani gets some crazy height in the pipe & he maintains it all the way down.

Nathan Johnstone putting a show on for the ever growing crowd.

Shaun White coming out with double corks & more. Next year's Olympic final will be one of the highlights for sure.

& of course the aftermath, Shaun gets inundated with fans afterwards & of course he wins the event.

The VOLKL Freeski Pro has been growing bigger each year & becoming a more high profile event. The guys were pushing it on the Slope style & there were a few serious accidents happening.

Jossi Wells doing the locals proud

A few late sunrays

A bit of action off the first kicker

Bobby Brown won the Mens Slopestyle

Late one

The final day ended in the pipe & Jossi Wells took it out in fine style.

Taylor Seaton came 2nd

X

X marks the spot

Dania Assally getting some air

CCP Documentary Award

Recently I was lucky enough to be selected into the top 12 finalists for the CCP Documentary Award. Last Thursday night in Melbourne was the exhibition opening & the announcement of the overall winner which went to Tom Williams who put together a great body of work. The exhibition will run until 27th September at the CCP Gallery (404 George St, Fitzroy VIC) before it begins a national tour throughout regional galleries.

I have been documenting the sport of Ocean Swimming for the past 1 & 1/2 years and the pics below were my entry: (The full edit will be posted on my website very soon)

Shoreline Rush

Swimmer Stampede

Deep Dark Depths

School of Fish

Ocean Solitude

This Morning's Surf

Somehow I managed to get out of bed nice & early & make my way up to the Northern Beaches. The swell peaked this morning & there were some solid sets coming through. I think I saw about 4 or 5 broken boards.

Even though there's a bit of a crowd, there's always one perfect one that sneaks through

Little Greenie on the Inside

Golden Turn

Starfish

A Surfer makes his way up the beach.

Patience During The Inconsistent Swell

Last Minute Checks

Morning Stroll

Pull Out

A Surfer's Tracks

MISCELLANEOUS TRAVELS IN THE DESERT

After the Anaconda wrapped up my boyfriend came out to join me in exploring a bit more of Central Aus. So after picking up our Wicked Camper we tore off outta Alice Springs & hit the highway. We pulled into a servo/diner/campsite for the night & came across 'Dinky' the dingo. He gets up onto the piano & which ever note he plays he'll howl/sing-a-long. Behind the piano you can see numerous articles from around the world on Dinky.

When everyone leaves, it's shut eye in his favourite chair.

Good morning emu

The highways were straaaaaaaaaiiiiight & looooooooonnnnng so that gave me plenty of time as the passenger to muck around with the camera

Then we did a U-ie for this impressive roadkill site

Wise words from a great man

Another emu who I began stalking through the compound

Is Toohey's really worth that much?

I wonder how much it was when Sydney-siders were paying this last year?

The big red rock...finally

The other side

Unique textures

Swine flu even made an appearance with a few in this group wearing masks

It's not everyday you get to see waterfall marks run off Uluru...

Then have it sunny the next. The climb was incredibly steep & we were told that some crazy guy managed to run up to the top & back down in 12 minutes, world record of course. The climb up is about 800m then it's another 600m or so across the top. Not a bad effort :) especially when you only have a chain to hang onto & a slip could easily see you falling a hell of a long way

Worth the view though

& we did it barefoot 

Welcome to the highway on Mars

The top!!!

We took a detour to go visit Kings Canyon before returning to Alice for the Finke desert race. This is just a little view of the big thing. 

We took the van on a bit of a short cut (you cut out about 200km or more so it was worth the risk) We thought we were doing alright...

Then some abo's hooked it past in a holden commodore. 

Having a keroberee at Rainbow Valley

Welcome to Bojangles Pub in Alice Springs. The place is so dam fascinating, it has got the biggest unusual collection of everything. There's notes stuck to the ceiling (I even spotted a note from Peru), a coffin on the wall, articles covering snake bites & a photo of that poor cat being strangled by a massive carpet snake, train tracks running around above the bar & the list goes on... 

R.I.P Meatloaf & see how many snakes you can spot?

Guess which skull it is???

Karl the croc, a BLOODY BIG Lizard.

WRAP UP FROM THE ANACONDA MTB ENDURO

Well my attempts at blogging whilst in Central Aus were shocking. Perhaps I should of thought things a bit better but with shocking connection & being completely out of range half the time my attempts were futile. But I thought I'd at least wrap things up. The Anaconda MTB Enduro was a success & I can't wait to see how much more it grows next year. No doubt there were a few injuries to be had during the week ranging form cracked pelvis, broken ribs, lost teeth, & some interesting collisions with Mulga bushes. 
During Stage 4, competitors loaded their bikes into a road so a remote start could take place. Arriving before dawn, riders found their bikes to re-attach bits & pieces.
Though as soon as the sun was up, the 62km stage began.
Road trains were everywhere in Central Aus & for me who has never visited the desert before, I'd never seen one so I couldn't help but be a bit fascinated. 
There was a night stage & waiting on top of sunset hill in chilly winds, it was well worth the site. You could look out & see a trail going 5km. It's amazing to see the difference between the top rider & the last.
Finally stage 7 and the end of a very long week. Riders are actually crossing the Todd river in this pic. Like a lot of the rivers, they don't flow too often around here.