Gent-Wevelgem Offcuts

The July issue of Cycle Sport is now on the shelves at newsagents around the country. Included in the magazine is the Ghent-Wevelgem feature I shot back in March, be sure to go out there and buy it. Being just a short 4-pager, however, there are plenty of photos that didn't make it into print, so here they are. Enjoy!

Old man, look at my life…

So I turned 30 this weekend, and this is a gift from the inimitable Rich Baybutt (and Stu, mustn't forget that). I'm sure everyone who sees this will wonder why the hairy hell I have a picture of myself riding a dragon on my wall, but sod them. Who needs reasons when you can ride a frickin dragon! Awesome birthday, cheers guys.

The Brixton Saga Continues…

I'm finally tying up the loose ends on the Brixton Bikes project. Above you can see my incredibly technical and difficult-to-work out setup for the shot of Stockwell legend Billy. See if you can work out what I did there… Although the final shot was a little tweaked as I used an ND filter so I could shoot at f2.8 in the evening sunshine for a little DOF on the council estate in the background. Why shoot him in the skatepark? Because the shop is right next to it and sells stuff to cater for any skater or BMXer who may find themselves in difficulty.

Also, wish me well as it's my 30th birthday. Piss up planned for the weekend, existential crisis next week, and putting on three stone for the week after.

Stay tuned for some as-yet unseen portraits of 2001 Paris-Roubaix winner Servais Knaven. Without a doubt, the nicest professional cyclist I've ever met.

Join me…

Yup, I've gone joined the digital age and signed up to vacuous social networking phenomenon Twitter. I did it on Friday, and so far tweets have included such incisive and informative photographic subjects as Twitter spammers, suggesting that someone start a bike magazine called 'Bike Curious', and well, very little else. Give me a break, I've only just started this… Follow me at www.twitter.com/tomsimpsonphoto.

The Brixton Bikes shoot is going well, with what should hopefully be the last three days of shooting this week today, Wednesday and Friday. Until then, have this little offcut. As much as I love the shot, it doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the shots and the article that goes with it.

Brixton Cycles' very own Maggie.

MBR June Cover

MBR Magazine's June issue just hit the shelves with a cover photo shot by yours truly. The shoot was in the southern end of Surrey at a top secret location, and (GEEK OUT ALERT) shot with 3 lights, 2 AB400s with 11" reflectors at camera left and camera right, and one on-camera SB28 for fill (OK, GEEK OUT OVER). As is always the way, of an all-day shoot, it was the third frame I shot that was the one that was used.



Also in this issue is their First Look article on the Genesis iOiD, a hardtail offering with an internally geared hub. This was shot not far from MBR Towers in Croydon, and, since it was cropped a bit in the review itself, here it is in all its uncropped glory.

Away from the off-road world of mountain bikes, the ongoing project with the good people at Brixton Bikes is going well, with 4 of the 7 employees having sat in front of the camera.

If it's not raining, get out on your bike. I don't care if you have a job, that's no excuse. Oh, and don't forget to vote tomorrow.