Horses, Lobsters, and a Golden Chopper

Last week was nothing if not varied. I started off with a shoot with Irish international eventing rider, and Olympic hopeful, Camilla Speirs in Dublin. It's the first shoot of an ongoing commission by Horse and Hound magazine to shoot a series of portraits of riders who'll be competing in the equestrian sports at London 2012. As usual, the shot can't be shown until it's been published, but here's a picture of me at work. Wondering what the massive white things are? Waterproofing against the light drizzle in the form of empty horse-feed bags. All I can say about the shot is it's really rather special, and very different from anything I've shot before.



From there it was on to the Raleigh Headquarters just outside Nottingham. I got to spend the day in their warehouse looking at all sorts of interesting and historic bikes, including Reg Harris's silver medal winning bike in the 1948 Olympics, and a prototype carbon fibre bike made slightly ahead of its time in 1968. Best of all however was a gold plated Raleigh Chopper, made to commemorate the millionth chopper ever made. Some of the Raleigh pro team were visiting at the same time before heading off to a training camp. The sight of this bike made their day, as it did mine.


And lastly, on Thursday it was off to the Isle of Wight to photograph another Eventer for Horse and Hound, this time it was Australia's Sam Griffiths, Dorset resident. We photographed him in a few different locations, culminating in a somewhat surreal shot in a seafood restaurant on the coast. Again, I can't give the shot away, but I'd like to thank Sam for being such a great sport and agreeing to some rather off-the-wall shoot ideas. It really is one of the most beautiful and serene locations I've come across in the UK, and I hope to be back there soon. If you're interested, it's The Boathouse restaurant in the very aptly named Steephill Cove, near Ventnor. The proprietors, Mark and Vanessa really went out of their way to help, so a massive thankyou to them. If you're wondering why I liked it so much, have a look at the sunset from the restaurant...


Next, it'll be off to Holland again, this time for dressage rider Adelinde Cornelissen. Also, I'm looking forward to two days embedded with a team during the classic season opener, Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium.

In the meantime, I'll be enjoying some well-earned time off.

Francesco Moser

So I went to Italy on Wednesday to shoot a portrait of Francesco Moser. The snow was pretty awful. This was the scene when we landed.

You'll have to wait for Pro Cycling to publish the shots, but in the meantime, have a picture of Moser's little animal friends that run around his vineyard.

What you can see though, is this shot of the set up... Can't wait to show you the portrait.

As I sit here, the snow's now falling in London. I have a flight to Dublin booked tomorrow. Fingers crossed it'll manage to leave Gatwick.

PS Massive update to my website, here: www.tomsimpsonphoto.co.uk

Best of 2011

So yes, it's been nearly 6 months since I updated my blog. There is a reason for that, and that's that I've been working too hard. Want to see the fruits of my labour? Then check out the slideshow below. 2011 was a good year.

Best of 2011 Slideshow from Tom Simpson on Vimeo.

It's back!

This summer has been one of the busiest of my professional life so far, hence the scarcity of updates, so, to make up for that, here's a big bumper one.

First off was the Evans King of the Downs, shot for their in-store catalogue. I rode this a couple of years ago, a great route, although I binned it at half time due to some of the worst weather I've ever experienced on the bike. Not so this year: the sun was shining and a great day was had by all.

Following this, there was the Fred Whitton Challenge, the article for which appeared in last month's Cycling Plus Magazine. This was a beast of an event and a pleasure to photograph. Big respect to everyone who finished.

And there's much more to follow, including a gig shot in the pitch black with an infrared camera, and lots and lots of bicycles. Give me a moment to catch my breath...

Rest in Peace, Xavier Tondo

Yesterday, I heard the news that Xavier Tondo had died as a result of a tragic domestic accident. I met Xavi briefly at the Tour of Lombardy last year, where I was shooting behind the scenes at Cervelo Test Team's final race together, and he was to be their protected rider. I didn't speak to him for very long, but all I can say is that he seemed like an honest, genuine and likeable guy. Rest in peace, Xavi, and my thoughts are with your family and friends.

Interview!

You can read an interview with me right now on the Newsgrape site! Here's the link right here

Chris Pink, who wrote the article, is far more interesting and inspiring an individual than me. I hope I'll never have to go through what he went through, but he's come out the other side with an amazing positive attitude. Something which I'm not sure I could say about myself if I ever found myself in the circumstances he found himself in. More on Chris soon...

The Lion of Flanders

That's me in the purple t-shirt just there. I find it kind of hilarious that I'm sat there with a bank of photographers surrounded by probably not far off of half a million pounds' worth of camera equipment, and I'm there with the little Ricoh 35-S I bought second hand for £20. Loads of frames were shot that day, on both film and digi, and loads of people were interviewed for the article due in Pro Cycling. From speaking to the locals, I found out all sorts of interesting things, both about the race, the Flemish people and the town of Geraardsbergen. Look out for the article, but don't hold your breath, it may be some time...

Even got an upgrade on the hire car for the weekend. Sort of felt like a salesman in this thing, though. All I needed was a suit jacket hung up on a coathanger in the back seat.