The 2019 Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards are more than halfway through, and the competition is as hot as it has ever been, filled with stunning and inspiring shots from photographers around the world. As you’re riding over the holidays, remember to take some photos to enter – there are categories for every type of photographer and equipment, and all entry fees go to a great cause.
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve posted showcases of some of our favourite shots – here’s the best of week three.
This week’s feature image is from Stephen Fitzgerald @velosteef in the Enthusiast category. The caption: “Everything I heard about Sea Otter Classic suggested that it was more or less an adrenaline fueled mountain bike festival. I was completely amazed to find that within a mile of the mayhem of the show was an endless network of singletrack trails and gravel roads flowing through verdant, foggy hills. Each day we were able to escape the chaos of the expo for a few hours of meditative paradise.”
The competition runs until January 5, 2020, at which point our panel of professional photographer judges – Pauline Ballet, Simon Wilkinson, and Chris Auld – will deliberate on who’ll take out the honours, along with prizes from our generous sponsors:
Professional category
Entry into the fiercely-contested Professional category is permitted for anyone who earns a living from his or her cycling photography. Entrants this year will be competing for the coveted title of Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year, with the winner taking home $2,500 AUD in cash.
Russell Jones @_bicicletta: ‘I am mainly a freelance writer, but have a Canon G16 to grab quick shots when I can. The Paris-Roubaix finish line in the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux is always pretty chaotic, riders finishing everywhere and media trying cover everyone and everything. Through the coverage we’d already seen how van Aert’s race had played out, and for him to persevere and finish was itself a pretty gusty effort. Like others, his first instinct was sink to the ground, his wife there to nurse him while he recovered.’
Rhode Van Elsen @rhode_photo: ‘Paris-Roubaix 2019 – “the media invasion shower scene” – Mitchel Docker (AUS/EF Education First) being surrounded by the media in the Roubaix showers post-race.’
Jean-Pierre Ronco @imagewriterphotography: ‘Luke Durbridge (Durbo) – Mitchelton Scott Team – taking the last laps instructions during the 2019 Cycling Australia National Championship on the Buninyong circuit with the support of the crowd.’
Albert Gallego @brazodehierro: ‘Work is done with bare hands, like the real men. Or that is what the mechanic of the Velodrom Barcelona, said to me while I was taking this photo.’
Enthusiast
For non-professional photographers using high-end cameras, we have the Enthusiast category. It’s a loose description including entries taken on high-end cameras including Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILC), mirrorless, film, compact, DSLR and other cameras.
The winner in the Enthusiast category will win a FELT VR Advanced road bike with Ultegra Di2. Second place picks up a Wahoo KICKR CORE, CLIMB Smart Trainer System and a year subscription to the Sufferfest training platform, and third place will win a Bontrager Specter WaveCel Helmet and XXX Road Shoe.
Gert-jan Warrink @gwarrink: ‘Nicole Steigenga during the Gouden Pijl in Emmen (NL). It’s August. The Tour de France is done. It’s time for the kermesse’s in Belgium and The Netherlands. For the elite men it’s a way to show off their jersey’s to the public. It’s a parade, but not for the elite women. As Nicole Steigenga, they attack every corner, sprint for every bonus, and treat the public some fierce racing. These criterium races are serious business.’
Greg Annandale @greg_a: ‘A rider of the inaugural “Further” race dismounts on one of the rockier sections of the climb leading up to the Port Du Rat; France’s border with Andorra (Further 2019 was a 550km & 15,000m+ self-supported 3 day race across the Pyrenees). Shot with a Hasselblad Xpan on Ilford film.’
Emanuele Barbaro @emanuele__barbaro: ‘ ‘’ Ride with a mission ’’ was a project that, through a fundraiser, provided drinking water in five Senegalese schools. In this photo, Riccardo Melandri, try one of the bikes that will be donated to the guys who work for Acra (Italian ONG) Ziguinchor, March 2019, Senegal.’
Sam Fritz @if_the_shoe_fritz: ‘In November I bike-packed with my mate Andrew from Auckland to Christchurch. Here Andrew descends the last gravel section into the Blenheim, first day on the South Island.’
Mark Geary @ogaram: ‘I took this photo of young Australian rider, Chris Harper, as he prepared for the Aussie ITT National championship race, in January. He is focussed. This angle shows the tension of the moment.’
Smartphone/action cam category
The SmartPhone / Action Cam category refers to still photos taken on devices such as iPhones, Android, Windows Mobile, etc, as well as still photos from devices such as GoPro, Shimano Sports Cam, Garmin VIRB, and drones.
The winner of this category will score a pair of Mavic Allroad Pro Carbon SL Wheels, second place will get the 88 piece Park Tool Pk4 kit and third will get a US$500 Castelli gift voucher.
Emily Alexander @eealxndr: ‘Riders, to the rail.’
Jim Klages @jimklages: ‘I was beaten down by a week of riding in the Swiss Alps. I stopped to take a photo of the hairpins of the old Tremola Road on San Gotthard Pass when the cyclist passed by.’
Rob Bradby @robbrad12: ‘Tour of Britain on one of my local training roads. The National team riders representing their country well in a strong international peloton. It was a blustery and chilly day on the hills of Greater Manchester, not that you can tell from this shot.’
Matt Fee @mattfee: ‘Crossing from Italy into France by biky, you get a great sense of the difference in road surfaces.’
Bizzy Butterworth @bizzyb70: ‘I love the adventure of exploring new roads, the contrast of scenery between one road to the next and not knowing what’s around the corner. This road was on a training ride up in Ballarat in the heat of summer with just my shadow for company.’
For more information and to enter, see here.
