My first experiment with video; I bought a Nikon D90 a while ago for shooting video and as a (relatively) compact back-up body and this is my first attempt. The few things I’ve learnt while making this video so far include; editing video is really (really) tedious, syncing the vocal track is a complete pain, and I really don’t like being on that side of the camera. Clearly I have a lot to learn but I really like the cinematographic quality that you can get with the new HD-SLR bodies and although I don’t plan to make anything too involved I am thinking about the potential to produce some short vignettes if and when time allows.
One of my band portraits of the Plymouth based group Brotherhood Of The Lake made it into the current issue of Rock Sound Magazine available now from all good newsagents… The band’s new album ‘Iron Sails” will be released on June 28th 2010 and gets a glowing write up by Rock Sound, stating: ‘we promise you won’t hear as many records as good as this in 2010…’.
The new April 2010 issue of Cycle Sport is now on sale and includes an article I shot for the magazine on location in Holland with Rabobank team rider Robert Gesink. There was a big train crash in Brussels a few days before we were due to head out to meet Gesink at his home in Holland not too far from the German border which nixed the original plan to catch the Eurostar out to Belgium and hire a car from there, so plan B was to drive out the whole way to avoid any possible issues with the train service that may of caused us to miss our very narrow window. Three long days of traveling across northern France, Belgium and Holland and back again on a road that I can only describe as consistent was made more bearable with the company of Cycle Sport staff writer Lionel Birnie and we kept ourselves entertained with some good conversation and dreams of a large glass of Leffe at that night’s hotel. The shoot was the usual affair with a limited location and time and we were in and out of Gesink’s home in a little over two hours including the interview but with some solid images and several different options in the can. As always there were many good photos that didn’t make it into the final article but the magazine did a great job with the layout which as always is best appreciated in print so be sure to pick up a copy from any good newsagent. The rest of the layout is below, along with some out takes that didn’t make the final cut.
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.
One of the previously unpublished portraits I shot of American professional cyclist (currently with Garmin) Tyler Farrar earlier in the year in his adopted home town of Ghent in Belgium has finally seen it into print in the new November 2009 issue of US cycling magazine VeloNews. I’m not too sure where you can pick up a copy in the UK but you can buy a subscription (including a digital subscription) at VeloNews.com
With the images now delivered and my legs starting to get back to normal it’s time I blogged about my assignment last weekend for Men’s Fitness Magazine and EnduranceLife.com. I arrived on location at Port Isaac in Cornwall at 9:30PM last Friday to meet the Endurance Life crew at the starting point of the Classic Cliffs 57 mile (91KM) Ultra-Marathon; the milage alone doesn’t do the epic nature of the course along the coastal path of north Cornwall and Devon justice however so click HERE to view the profile/elevation drop and gain. I’d been assigned to cover the race for the event organiser Endurance Life, and Men’s Fitness Magazine who had entered a two man team into the race; twin brothers Nick and Steve Tidball of Vollebakwho will be writing about their experiences in the next issue. The race got underway at midnight and the overcast skies made for zero visibility although it was relatively warm at least and the storms seemed to have blown over by that point. Boscastle was my first stop on the route at the second checkpoint at 13 miles into the race; one of the race marshals guided me up the steep path to the top of the cliffs above Boscastle and as I struggled to stay on his heels with 30lbs of camera equipment at 1 o’ clock in the morning I knew I’d be worse for wear come tomorrow. From this vantage point I could see the headlamps of the runners appear from far on the horizon and then slowly make their way towards me; a large group came through at one point and the cluster of bobbing lights gradually moving nearer was strangely beautiful.
The inky black darkness of the night doesn’t make for great photos however so I was glad when the sun finally started to come up and give me a little light to work with. The cliffs above Widemouth Sand provided some amazing views of the cliffs and surrounding hills although by this point in the race the competitors were already starting to get very strung out which meant a lot of waiting, and unknown to myself at that point one of the two-man Men’s Fitness Team had dropped out at sunrise with a foot injury. Fortunately one of the marshals eventually caught up with me and relayed the information, and so I packed up and moved on. I later caught up with Nick, the remaining Men’s Fitness team member at the Devon and Cornwall border and shadowed him through the next two valleys.
Hartland Point; the 50 mile checkpoint was my last stop along the course; the coastal path starting to flatten out a little by this point (relatively at least) although many of the competitors had dropped out by this stage due to either injury or fatigue. I hiked up to the top of the cliffs and sat in the long dry grass looking back towards the bay and waited for the runners to come through on their way to the checkpoint below. It was 14 hours into the race at this point and being a sunny Saturday in July there were plenty of tourists around, looking over at me curiously and a few stopped to chat; amazed that yes, they’re running 57 miles, no not cycling, on the coastal path rather than the road, and all in one day.
Final stop was Clovelly; a beautiful but odd Devon fishing village built into the (very) steep hillside; access to which can only be gained via a large gift shop and laying down nearly six pounds per person; essentially the Disneyfication of the archetypal fishing village. No motor vehicles are permitted within the village and any haulage required is done by donkeys that pull sleds up the steep cobbled alleyways; although for tourists who feel unable to walk the half-mile from the car park down to the sea there is a Land Rover bus service available which presumably circumnavigates the village itself. While shooting runners as they arrived at the finish I set up some lights and photographed Nick from the Men’s Fitness team as soon as he arrived; he looked (disappointingly) good for having just run 57 miles and been up for 40 hours and counting by his brother’s estimation. I shot a few more frames of Nick and Steve and some of the other competitors before deciding I had everything I needed, packed up and hiked back up to the car for the coast-to-coast drive back home; I arrived back almost exactly 24 sleepless hours after I left, exhausted but happy with my take.
Above: Nick Tidball – Men’s Fitness Team – 57 Mile Portrait
I was on location in Bournemouth at 6:00AM last Sunday (ouch) for the 2009 running of the Bournemouth International Triathlon; on assignment for Triathlete’s World Magazine. The first wave (Sprint Distance) set off at 6:30AM with the Standard Distance competitors setting off from 7:00AM. The weather conditions were cold and the sea was choppy but apart from a few very light showers it remained dry and the weather improved throughout the morning. First man home in the Sprint Distance was Stephen Barratt (Team Durham Primera) at 1:05:21 and first woman was Holly Lawrence (Swansea Uni) at 1:09:12. Full Distance men’s winner was James Gilfillan (Primera) at 1:54:47, and first woman was Tracy Cook (Tri UK) at 2:13:02. Look out for the photos illustrating the full race report in the October issue.
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.
Earlier in the week I travelled to Bournemouth in Dorset on Assignment for Triathlete’s World Magazine. The subject was PC Rob Hammond of the Dartmouth & Poole Constabulary’s West Howe Safer Neighbourhood Team who has represented both the Great Britain and Ireland teams (he has dual nationality) in international Triathlon competitions. I was to meet and photograph PC Hammond at a primary school in Bournemouth where he was spending the day talking to the pupils about triathlon as part of a community outreach program; kind of an odd job for me as it involved spending the day at a primary school for the first time in twenty years… The portraits will illustrate a feature about Police Constable Hammond in the Personal Record segment of the next issue of the magazine.
The new July 2009 issue of Cycle Sport Magazine is now on sale in the UK and USA and I’m pleased to say is packed with portraits that I shot on assignment for the publication. Three interviews in the magazine are illustrated with my photographs; Olympic Gold medallist and World Champion Nicole Cooke in Italy (above and below), Tour de France Green Jersey winner Robbie McEwen at home in Belgium, and American sprinter Tyler Farrar in his adopted home town of Gent, Belgium. To read the interviews and see more of my images pick up a copy of the magazine at any WH Smiths in the UK or any other good newsagents in the UK or US (archive race photography by Graham Watson).
