G'day! Moved from Cheshire to Australia back in '99. I've been an avid motorsports fan since the olden days. My first ever event was the 'Gold Cup' at Oulton Park, back in 1971. Since then, I have been involved in all sorts of competition as a spectator, marshal, competitor (four wheels), journalist and photographer. I am also a bike nut, albeit road bikes only and recently had to give 'em up due to arthritis. Ain't growing old grand?

I maintain some involvement as a photographer, most recently of motorcycle trials, a sport I had never watched till last year. I was immediately hooked. The thing I like most about trials, as a photographer, is the people involved. What a friendly and welcoming bunch! I can move around the paddocks without bumping into egos all the time, too.

Here in Queensland, the principal challenge for me as a photographer is the heat and the terrain, which can get a bit hard for an old fart who is laden with cameras. Also, I have learned not to take short cuts between sections but to keep to well-worn paths, since that can lead to unwanted encounters with bitey wildlife of the deadly, slithery kind or I end up with a large spider fastened to my face (I find that waving my arms around and running into a tree usually dislodges them).

I can't offer any insights for riders back in Blighty, except to say that the high temps, humidity and the usually grip-less surface (dry, loose dirt and desiccated gum leaves, mostly) seems mighty tricky to me.

I just posted a short video of a trial held nearby last weekend, elsewhere in the forum, which might interest you. I usually shoot stills, not video, so it's nothing flash.

Edited November 28, 20187 yr by SpencerPhoto

Welcome Steve. You certainly add to the enjoyable atmosphere at the trials you come to

Hi Spencerphoto, bet you caused quite a stir turning up with a spider face hugger and a snake wrapped around you!? Without guys like you recording what guys like us get up to with our sport, there would be very little to get enthusiastic about?

Edited November 28, 20187 yr by section swept