Taking only photographs – leaving only footprints
E Hayes and Sons is a large hardware store in Invercargill. Walking through the front door you see a normal household department store, with plates, pots and pans. In the rooms behind are more DIY equipment such as power tools and screws. Wondering around the shop you come across a number of motorbikes and a few cars. This isn’t your average shop. It also contains a museum to Burt Munro. You can see this strange juxtaposition in the above photograph.
Not sure what to expect, as I headed down to the ASB Show grounds last Saturday, for Big Boys Toys 2012 show. I focused on two massive ramps, that BMX riders and Motocross riders were using to perform some insane stunts. In the background of the above photograph is One Tree Hill, a 182 metre volcanic peak. Although some of the stunts, especially from the motocross guys, pictured below are probably more impressive.
My aim was to capture a rider next to the obelisk at the top of the hill. This proved much more challenging than excepted. Firstly, I had to get further back and zoom in as far as much camera would let me. Then there was no way of telling exactly where in the air they were going to be. Still I got a couple of photographs that I like.
Reading events listings on the internet, I came across Living Room 2012. A 10-day public art event, with free performances in Auckland. One of these performances was a group of BMX riders. I was sceptical at first, especially after seeing a single ramp. However, the sun was in the right place and the riders had some great tricks.
Parking in the car park between Grasmere and Rydal Water just off the A591 in the Lake District I spotted this beautiful Triumph Thunderbird 900 motorbike. It was parked very close to the hedge which made it difficult to separate the bike from the background, but with the way the sun was falling on the chrome and metal of the engine I couldn’t walk past without capturing a quick photograph.