The new issue of Cycling Active magazine is on sale this week featuring my work on the cover from a recent cover shoot assignment for them plus a couple of bike test features that I shot for them also. Outdoor sports cover shoots like this one can be a bit of a headache from a logistical perspective as typically there’s a long list of things that need to be pulled together and criteria met, and while I can organise most things the one thing I have no control over is the weather. Blue skies were on the list which are probably easy if you live in California but here in the UK they’re not quite so common plus we’re blessed with some of the most unpredictable weather in the world so you can never rely too heavily on the forecast. This shoot was originally planned a week earlier than the eventual shoot date; models, location, bikes, and clothing were all arranged but I woke on the morning of the shoot to heavy, dark, 100% cloud cover despite the original sunny/blue skies forecast so we had to postpone. A few days later we were hit with a heat wave and of course my models weren’t available… I couldn’t risk missing the window in the weather so a couple of emails were sent out and new models and location were found in Cornwall; weather was incredible this time without a single wisp of cloud in the sky, but it didn’t last too long with cloudy skies back a couple of days after so I was relieved to have gotten the shoot in the can. Big thanks to Bike Chain Ricci for all of their help and to cover model Chis Opie who can normally be found at his day job riding for the Pendragon/Le Col/Colnago cycling team.
Issue 51 of Shred magazine is now available featuring my photos of British cross-country mountain bike legend and Giant Global Team rider Oli Beckingsale on the cover and illustrating the feature interview; I shot these images way back in the summer in Oli’s hometown of Bristol and it’s great to finally see them in print. Read on-line or order a good old fashioned hard-copy HERE or pick one up from any good UK bike shop.
The new issue of south west bicycle magazine Shred West is now available featuring the portrait I created of Cervelo Test Team professional cyclist Jeremy Hunt on assignment for the magazine. Although Hunt has been a professional athlete riding for European teams for 13 years he still thinks of Devon as home; he was back in the area recently which is when I caught up with Jeremy at a personal appearance at Colin Lewis Cycles in Paignton. Options and time were (very) limited and I ended up shooting the portraits in a bus station behind the shop in just a few minutes before Jeremy was dragged off by Mr Colin Lewis himself for other commitments… And all while being heckled by local kids. As ever the photos look better in print so pick up a copy from your local bike shop or get a subscription direct from Shred. Also featured in this issue are my photographs from the Exeter round of the Tour Series, the Totnes Town Centre Bike Race, and the Springtime Pursuits.
As promised in the previous post; here’s a quick slideshow featuring some of my favourite images from the Alberto Contador cover shoot that I shot recently for Cycle Sport Magazine that didn’t make it to print.
The new June 2009 issue of Cycle Sport Magazine is now available from all good news agents featuring the portraits that I created for this cover story of Astana team rider and Lance Armstrong team-mate Alberto Contador; winner of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a Espana grand tours over a timespan of less than 18 months. The portraits illustrating the interview were all created on-location in a hotel on the outskirts of Contador’s home-town of Pinto; a small Spanish town about a half-hour or so drive from Madrid. With just 15 minutes agreed to by Contador for the photo-shoot the pressure was on but I managed to squeeze several different looks and a lot of options out of the extremely tight timeframe and limited location. While scouting the location at the hotel in Pinto I picked up an email from the magazine’s picture desk notifying me that as they were right up against the deadline, they would need the images on their FTP server by the start of business the following day… and the interview had already been bumped to 7:30PM meaning I was in for a late night. Fortunately I’d already checked into the hotel at the location as the writer I was with was to continue south to Granada immediately after we wrapped-up – leaving me to make my own way back to the airport for my early morning flight back to Gatwick – so I stripped down the equipment, grabbed some dinner and hunkered down in the hotel room to make the selects, post-production adjustments and retouching and transmit the finished images via the hotel wi-fi. I got a few hours sleep while the images were uploading, then checked-out at 6:00AM; my taxi already waiting for me in the dark outside the hotel entrance for the transfer to Madrid airport. The finished article and cover look great but as ever there were a lot of good photos that didn’t make it in so I’ll update the blog with a slideshow featuring my favourites out of the images that didn’t make it to print as soon as I can.
Procycling Magazine issue 123 is now on sale in the UK (mid-March in the USA) with my work on the cover and throughout two articles inside the magazine; the Fabian Cancellara cover story and an interview with Jakob Fuglsang in the ‘Fab Four’ feature where Procycling unveil their choice of four young riders who they will follow over the upcoming season. The two articles were both shot back in January at the team’s first training camp of the year, on the island of Mallorca. Time was pretty tight as we were out there for just the last couple of days of the camp and with the riders out on the road all day we were able to get just a few minutes in the mornings as they left the hotel and picked up their bikes from the Saxo Bank team truck parked outside, and then maybe an hour in the evening between the post-ride massage and dinner to get both the interview and shoot the photographs.
With the daylight gone entirely by the time we got our slot with each rider, an outdoor portrait was completely out of the question and a walk around the hotel interior prior to the shoot had failed to unveil anything that would provide a background that would look strong enough for the cover or the jump photo for the article. What I did find however was a very large and empty conference room in the hotel basement which the hotel manager was kind enough to let us use for the duration of the interview and photo shoot which turned out to be perfect; it was warm (which turned out to be important as Fabian was feeling a little ill) and very private. I set up a small studio in the conference room around two chairs for the subject and journalist and shot some candid portraits during the interview, and Cancellara then changed into the new Saxo Bank team jersey for the more formal portraits that you can see from the cover and double-truck image above.
Above: New Saxo Bank team rider Jakob Fuglsang outside the team truck prior to setting out on the day’s team training ride.
Issue 49 of Shred magazine is now available and features the images I created during a portrait sitting and short interview with US National Road Cycling Champion Tyler Hamilton when he was in the UK earlier this year with the Rock Racing team at the 2008 Tour of Britain. The article runs as the cover story and spans eight pages inside so pick up a copy to see the full feature.
Also featured in issue 49 of Shred Magazine are a few of my photographs from the 2008 Bontrager 24/12 mountain bike endurance event which was held over one very hot and dusty weekend at Newnham Park this summer: DPS image below features Shaggy of Team 69′er.
Issue 2 of Shred West magazine is now on sale and features one of my images from this year’s Bontrager 24/12 endurance mountain bike race on the cover; the shot is of local rider Richie Rowland ten hours into his ride in the 12 hour solo category. More of my work can be seen in the magazine illustrating articles about the recent South West Mountain Bike Championships, as well as the portrait that I shot for an interview with Inov8 adventure race team athlete Alli Northcott; more on that to come.
