I shoot a lot of different things; from elopements on the top of mountains in the rain to product images of new model hiking socks on rocks in a creek. However, out of all of these different niches, my absolute favorite avenue of photography is extreme sports.
There’s nothing more inspiring or rewarding as dangling off the side of a cliff desperately burst-mode-ing shots of a furiously-concentrating pumped climber reaching for the crux on a challenging outdoor sport route or the pure focus of a mountain-biker shooting around a berm. I respect the grit and endurance of athletes sending hard in all conditions, and the flow-state and pure concentration it produces.
Last weekend I was introduced to a new extreme sport that has topped them all.
Paragliding.
It requires more mental game and is more exhilarating than all other extreme sports I know and love, so this is a shock to no one.
Hike up a mountain for sunrise and jump off to glide over a misty valley with other people stoked on an adventure? YES PLEASE!
Unsurprisingly, I met a host of hugely inspiring people that morning.
Phil, the owner of Paragliding Queensland, can only be described as an absolute weapon. He does ten thousand meters of elevation every month, which is insanely impressive.
Rhanni and Tim have been paragliding for two years and have a little four-year-old. I sat in the shade made by their fourbie and chatted to them over brekkie. They are truly the nicest, most genuine people!
I hiked up the mountain a second time with Simon, a GP with a very soft spot for paragliding - no kidding, he hiked and flew at least four times while I was there - as well as biking!!
All in all, a very solid crew!!
