Graeme Simpson: Teamwork adds perspective to event

Beautiful light at Bike Speedway. PHOTO/ALICK SAUNDERS

One of the pleasures of working on events is sifting through the photos rolling in at the end of the day.

I was stuck in the media centre for most of the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships. With 250 accredited media and a big team, I ended up being more management than anything else. When Graeme Murray turned up late in the afternoon to offload the day's catch, it gave me a chance to check out the action.

Even when I do get out on race courses, it's impossible to be in more than one place, so it is always great to see other perspectives on the day.

Like the Bike Festival - I got to most of the 30 events and caught the excitement.
When the photos flowed in, later in the day or evening, it was an opportunity to relive that buzz.

There were a lot of images. I estimate about 3000 over the week. That's just the ones the team selected to send through or upload themselves.
It wasn't just the volume, it was also the variety and different styles of shooting.
Some of the events were so photogenic everyone turned up. There were five or six different people at work. Allan Ure, Alan Ofsoski, Alick Saunders, Mead Norton, Mike Vincent and Peter Graney.

Overkill? Maybe, but the guys work hard and if they want to work harder, I'm not going to stop them. I like seeing their different visions of a single event.
I'm not sure I've seen a more relaxed and happy group of photographers at the wrap party on the final Sunday - after 10 long, underpaid days.

There was something about this year's festival that made it enjoyable. The success of the Runway Project on the opening day helped - 830 riders loved it.
For the big photo and the video crew from Fever Pitch Visuals, it was nirvana. The endless photo opportunities and the golden evening glow, was a superb combination. When the sun did drop below the horizon, along with the available light, there was some muttering and cursing - but still the same ear-to-ear grins.

There were great photo opportunities all week, along with enthusiastic event participants and spectators. There were similar scenes at the previous two festivals. Everything seemed super-sized this year.

All this sustains a media team. Through the week we caught up at different events and reinforced each other's adrenalin-fuelled elation. There was a lot of snap and then, "hey, check this one out".

Photography is a profession under threat from anyone with a smartphone.
However, within the group, these guys were all typically generous with their time and happy to share their knowledge and ideas.

On the final weekend of the festival I compiled a slide show to loop at the Pig and Whistle on Sunday evening. I was going to do a quick auto-assemble, but the more I got into it, the more I wanted to refine the cut: 1000 remarkable images in just over 30 minutes.
Last week, I chose six images for NZ Bike magazine, showing the range of festival events, and compiled a gallery for Australian Mountain Bike magazine.
It was hard.

Returning in 2016.