Giniel De Villiers has final Dakar testing in his Hallspeed Toyota in Upington, Northern Cape on 17 November, 2015
Red Bull X-Fighters returned to the Union Buildings this past weekend for the fourth stop on the 2015 World Tour. I arrived a few days early, met the course builders and shot portraits of the international sculptors. The rest of the images are pretty much an assortment of action from the weekend. Congratulations to Tom Pagés of France for putting together flawless runs all day and making himself untouchable. Check out these links for all the real info written by those in the know – I’m just about the eye candy 😉
http://www.redbullxfighters.com/en_ZA
www.redbull.co.za
http://www.redbull.com/za/en/motorsports/offroad/stories/1331746842726/red-bull-x-fighters-south-africa-2015-track-build
When I was shooting Red Bull X-Fighters there was talk of swell hitting that left in Namibia.. you know the one I’m talking about! The chances of going seemed stacked against us but thankfully Red Bull, being the fine company they are, made magic happen. Two days later, flights were booked, accommodation sorted, a moersa lens rented and passports were packed.
The main focus was to get images of Slade Prestwich. Check out the the interview Red Bull did on his pre and post expectations / experience. If you’ve heard rumours of this wave being heavy… believe it! That spitting chocolate mouth of death will eat you alive however it’ll most likely give you the barrel of your life. Its gamble you just can’t walk away from.
As for Namibia, it’s a bizarre place. Your mind keeps changing its mind on where it thinks you are. One minute you think you’re in South Africa, next transported back to “puzzle box” era Germany / Europe. Puzzle box as in those old 1000 piece German architecture landscape puzzles you used to sit for hours with you mom trying to figure out. Then the dessert and vast amounts of sand settle your mind back into reality.
What a great trip. I live for opportunities like these. Quick shout out to Sunshine Company for hooking me up with the carbon fibre Sirui tripod you see me operating in the last photo.
I have one of the best jobs in the world and believe me I appreciate it. Working with a client like Red Bull I’m constantly put into the most stimulating environments with the most inspiring of people. A double whammy of awesomeness sets the stage on which I work. It’s a team effort when it comes to Red Bull. I can only shoot what is in front of me and for that I give a huge shout out to the team that makes it all happen.
That brings us to Red Bull X-Fighters. The Union Buildings in Pretoria played host to the final round of the 2014 X-Fighters season with a closely contested race for the title between Josh Sheehan of Australia and Levi Sherwood of New Zealand. Due to a hard crash and a seriously tweaked ankle during the qualifiers, Levi Sherwood was unable to compete properly and it was Josh Sheehan who took both the stage and series win.
For the full report check out:
http://www.redbullxfighters.com/en_ZA
http://www.redbull.com/za/en
Here are some of my shots from the event….
Here are a few shots from my Saturday night at the Red Bull stage at this years Oppikoppi. Not as conceptual as the Snapshot Symphony but still managed to have fun testing out my new Nikon 14-24mm lens. Also have a couple of shots of Zebra and Giraffe coming out in the Red Bulletin magazine. Will share those next month. Next up though is the Red Bull X-Fighters in Pretoria this weekend which I am really looking forward to.
The next couple of photos are the left overs. The one’s that never made the cut. The losers. They didn’t qualify for this article:
http://www.redbull.com/za/en/music/stories/1331670668104/a-symphony-in-snapshots
So basically I had a great time walking around shooting crops of scenarios that I felt would represent the Oppikoppi experience. It was hard narrowing it down to the twenty found on the Red Bull site so I thought I’d share some that might feel neglected.
Following on from my last post here is a Pantsula outfit from Soweto called The Perfect Storm. I’ve just got to say I’m a huge fan of Pantsula. The outfits, the moves and general attitude I’ve experienced each time has made it a firm favourite culture for me. You can follow them on Facebook
Red Bull Beat Battle took place on 31 May 2014 at Walter Sisulu Hall in Soweto. (For a full report on the event click here)
I shot a few pre event crew portraits a month before and here is the first to share. Meet Supreme I Crew who are a Hip Hop outfit hailing from Soweto.
Follow them on Twitter – https://twitter.com/supremeIcrew / @supremeIcrew