Action
presented by
Winner
Matt Rousu
Camera: Nikon D850 DSLR
Lens: Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 E FL ED VR
Focal Length: 75mm
Aperture: f/10
Shutter: 1/2000
ISO 200
Action photos are what we live for in mountain bike media. Our magazines and social media feeds are ridden with them, and we as riders can’t get enough. The Action category in the Photography Awards is the original and the most fiercely contested category; it consistently receives the highest number of entries, and each year photographers are pushed to submit something new and original.
It’s especially hard to produce unique action photos when this popular genre has been captured from nearly every angle in every location. All good photos are comprised of the following three components, and action photos no exception: composition, lighting, and editing. But it’s the context that can produce the most stand-out moments of action. A famously difficult track or memorable race run can force the riders into eye-catching positions, enticing the viewer to take a rider in their shoes.
The winning Action photo this year was taken by the highly experienced and widely known Matt Rousu. Matt has been capturing action photos for year around the world, from local clubbies to World Cups. By day, he paints houses; but by the weekend, he follows the country’s fastest riders while relentlessly improving his craft behind the lens.
Like the winner of the Women Who Ride category, Matt’s photo was taken at this year’s High Line Mountain Biking Festival in Mansfield, Victoria. Always one of the most humble in the business, Matt was quick to credit his inspiration. “I had the idea from a really old Damian Breach photo from Cannonball Festival. He got this really awesome dark silhouette of someone doing a whip. Everyone else was just so focused on getting a real clear whip photo and here’s Breachy being super creative – and that was the only photo he took of that whole event.”
Matt has certainly set himself apart with this winning photo, his silhouette in stark contrast the rest of the colourful entries. The rider, Luke Parker, is completely blacked out against the orange flare of the sun; with his breathtaking body position as the sole
