February 22nd, 2009 §
Photo shoots rarely work out exactly like planned, regardless of the groundwork put in, but that’s not a bad thing; often opportunities arise that are far better, and the trick is to be able to work around those challenges and roll with whatever comes your way. That was the case this week when I shot local triathlete Heather Booth of Plymouth Tri Club; it was the usual deal of trying to fit in the shoot around the subject’s busy schedule but we eventually arranged to meet early one morning at Heather’s local swimming pool where she trains several times a week. Everything was arranged with the pool beforehand but on arrival the duty manager vetoed the whole thing; I tried to talk my way around it (after all, they’d already told me there wouldn’t be a problem), but I was clearly wasting my breath so politely thanked them and focused on re-scheduling with the subject. So Heather makes some phone calls and within a few minutes she’s secured us a new location; a secret training bunker on a private compound on the edge of Dartmoor National Park; a two lane 50 metre training pool built for the owner’s son who’s competing in the next Olympics! We had the whole place to ourselves, and it has this cool industrial feel to it so we set-up some lights and started out with some very simply lit portraits of Heather training in the pool for a paired down natural style, and then grabbed a few frames poolside for a completely different look.
February 18th, 2009 §
Last Sunday saw the revival of the Alltrax Newnham Stinger; an off-road duathlon with a run-bike-run format. Competitors set-off at mid-day with a 5KM run followed by a 20KM mountain bike course, and then a final 3KM run. The final run was the real interest of the event for me; it was hard enough hiking up the trail with the camera gear which sent the athletes through rivers and bogs (I personally witnessed one runner lose a shoe, and heard tales of a couple of face-plants later…), over gates and under fallen trees. I loved the format and it would be great to see a longer off-road running only event in this style which has more in common with mountain biking than XC running. Husband and wife Certini team-mates Maddie and Jay Horton (Maddie featured above) won the solo mens’ and womens’ categories, with Amy Tapping and Paul Sole taking the Mixed Pairs win, Carla Haines and Heather Booth for the Female Pairs, and Duncan Baldie and Paul McClymont for the Male Pairs category.
February 15th, 2009 §
Busy weekend; first up was the first round of the 2009 Springtime Pursuits near Exeter to cover the race for Shred magazine; the first road race of the season down here in the South-West of England. Pendragon Sports team rider Chris Opie (below) took the mens win with Yanto Barker (Le Col/Colnago) and Marcin Bialoblocki (Sports Beans/Wilier) rounding out the top three.
February 15th, 2009 §
After much procrastination I’ve finally signed up to Facebook; I’ve been a long time hold-out as I have precious little free time as it is but I figured that I’d finally jump in and see what the fuss is about. I’m still unsure about the benefits but hopefully it’ll be a great way to reconnect with old friends while also making some new contacts, so if you know me, knew me, or want to keep in touch via Facebook for any reason then feel free to add me.
