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.
On Thursday myself and a few others headed out to Dungeons in the hopes that the surf would turn on during the three hour window that was spotted for the morning. A 5.5m swell at 16s was predicted and there were hopes for some solid surf following the previous Friday’s perfect conditions. This was my first time out there. Unfortunately the swell direction was just off but that didn’t stop the core group of charges from surfing. Just goes to show how much work and dedication these guys have. They’re warriors not athletes in my book.