Thursday, December 30, 2010

New team — Vicious Velo

Kings-of-Palace (7 of 8)
As of this weekend I'm racing for Vicious Velo. It's basically a split from Dulwich Paragon. It's a bit of a laugh innit.
The kit turned up today so we shot some photos.
Kings-of-Palace (3 of 8)

Best shots of 2010

2010 has been a really good year for me, and I'd like to think I've taken some really good shots. These are some of the shots I think are my best. All of these are hosted on Flickr, just click the image to see them larger.
Dalby6-ABSALON
7 new edit 16/9/10
Simon Warren
Tour Series Explored

SSEC2010 9
Belgian Cyclocross Fan
EUROfreeride
UTAH031
Terry Cronin_0231
AnnaRiding
brake blocks
James&Anna0076
Cafe St Germain, Crystal Palace

Monday, December 20, 2010

Shooting yourself, and living to tell the tale

UTAH017
Earlier in 2010 I travelled to Utah in the US for a feature that is currently on the shelves, in the January 2011 issue of MBR.
As I was travelling alone, I had to shoot all my own photos, which meant shooting myself as the riding model. This could have been a nightmare, but in reality, it actually proved quite easy thanks to one small piece of equipment.
A remote shutter plugs into your camera's side and allows you to trigger the shutter by holding down a button on the transmitter. With my 7D on a tripod and set to 8fps, and with the lens switched to manual focus so as not to have it hunting, I was able to hold the trigger under my bars — out of sight — and snap away.
I got some really good shots this way, some of them look a little staged if you look closely, but most of them came out really good. Have a look below and see what you think.
UTAH008
UTAH063
TorrreyRiding 097
UTAH084
UTAH015
Give it a go. I picked my remote shutter up on ebay for about £15 and it works faultlessly. The only downside to this style of shooting is that you end up having to do A LOT of editing, especially if your camera can rattle off 8fps.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Koksijde 2010 Photo Special

I took my Bronica medium format film camera to Belgium. I only shot three rolls of film, so 36 shots in total, but I got some — I think — really good ones. I left the 150mm f3.5 prime lens on all day.
See the whole set on Flickr
Helen Wyman
Fans
---_0204
Helen Wyman
Slop
Compton
Zdenek Stybar
Washing out the sand

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Regional Championships


gwp-101205-0013, originally uploaded by wideopenwaugh.
I came sixth. Proficient — not not set the world on fire amazing, just proficient.
I didn't bother doing a practice lap, as the course looked horrible and I wanted to keep my bike clean and in working order.
I got an amazing start and led the field up the hill — the Hoggenberg — going through the finish line in first place (visual proof below).
Not knowing the course I lost a few places, but was in around 5th by the end of the first lap. Darren Barclay and Nathan Miller got past me and I ended up riding with Greg Simcock and Andrew Nichols from the Eastern Region most of the race, competing for sixth. With two typically long (every time we race at Hog Hill the lap seems to take 15minutes) laps to go, I distanced those two and got away by myself. I nearly got across to Darren and Nathan at the bell, but I then crashed and lost some time — the wet, muddy corners were icing up again by the end of the race.

So I crossed the line in sixth.

Gareth Montgomerie of Sigma won ahead of Jamie Newall and Billy Whenman. Interesting that all three of them are really good crit riders, and either ride, or have ridden, the Tour Series.

That was the third time I've raced at Hog Hill and every time I've raced cross there, I've sworn I'm never going back — today was no different. Apart from having showers and the ability to make the course regulation 3m wide at all points (ffs...), it really is a miserable place to hold a cross race. The clay just holds water at the surface, it's revolting. I don't think many of the Eastern lot are desperate to come back any time soon.
Pics courtesy Cross-Crazy.com