It has been almost nine years since I had moved from the land of the long white cloud to come to Melbourne. As a newly arrived Melbournian, one would visit all the top tourist spots around Victoria but in my case it never eventuated. So it took an event like this to force me to make a trip down to Philip Island after nine years. The scenery at Philip Island was exquisite. The weather was gorgeous, sunny warm with blue skies and scattered clouds. To top it off the view to the Bass Coast from the island could be best described as epic on that day. From a photographer’s point of view, I wanted my dark cloudy days which would for a race like this be reminiscent of a day in hell. Mother natures’ great cloud cover provides the best diffuser to make the colours of the jerseys simply pop.

Anyone who has flicked through a copy of Campagnolo’s 2009 catalogue would be very familiar with the picture of Oscar Pereiro on page 12. I was hoping that lady luck would be on my side and present me with an opportunity to emulate a similar shot. Knowing my luck it didn’t happen, perhaps I was overly ambitious. Nor did I succeed with my cork screw style shot, which would have been amazing to see a long curved line of 50+ riders stretched across. On the other hand I managed to constantly change the selected AF point constantly while anticipating which rider was going to make the quick burst of acceleration to surge ahead. Furthermore, the small incline towards the back of the circuit provided the perfect platform to capture the grimace of pain on the riders as they tried to hang on to the ferocious pace of the pack.

One of my plans for the year is to come along to a few races this year and follow a few guys on training rides and photograph. Hopefully towards the end of the year I should have enough material to create a collage of images on a very large poster. If there is any team who is keen on getting a few photographs of their teams in action and have access to a motorbike then please do contact me. Maybe we can organise a trade of services (conditions may apply)

See you out on the road.

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