Shooting photos for Warringah Triathlon Club at their iconic North Head started as a way for me to expand my photography repertoire. It has now turned into a permanent fixture that allows the club to offer every competitor a set of race-day photos as part of their entry fee. This is how my race-day experience plays out.
Pre-race
Race-day for me starts the day before the race. Gear is checked, batteries are charged, memory cards formatted, and my bag is packed. For the photography geeks, below is my go-to triathlon photography kit. I keep it as light as possible so that I can be mobile around the course.
- Primary body, Canon 5Dmk3
- Secondary body, Canon 7Dmk2
- Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS II
- Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 G2
- Sirui monopod with ball head
Race Day
4:20 a.m. alarm, yuck. Quick coffee, and on-site by 5:00 a.m. to get set up and start capturing volunteers going about their business on the edge of Sydney Harbour. This is the part of the race that the vast majority of the competitors will never see….the volunteers at North Head in the cool morning darkness setting up one of the most scenic triathlon courses in NSW and arguably the world.
Competitors arrive from 5:30 a.m. I love capturing the pre-race nerves and the obsessive fiddling with bikes/shoes/helmets. By 6 a.m. I’m on my bike to get down to the swim start.
The Swim
Before nearly every race I have a fleeting thought of bringing my surf housing and shooting some photos in the water. Then my disdain for swimming wins-out, and I shoot from the dry comfort of the beach. I shoot a wide shot of each wave starting, and then a tight shot of each competitor coming out of the water. My main aim throughout the day is to make sure I shoot each competitor once on each leg, and that starts with the swim exit.
As soon as the final competitor leaves the water, I am back on my bike get back to the transition area. Hauling a 12kg camera bag up “The Snake” on a mountain bike is a stupid idea, yet I still do it every month. It is a rather humbling experience to have competitors run past you when you are on a bike!
The Bike
Cycling is definitely the most photogenic of the three triathlon disciplines, and the multi-lap format of the WTC bike course is a photographer’s dream. At many triathlons, you will only see each competitor once or twice on the bike course, whereas at North Head I see them a minimum of 5 times. I usually start with a wide shot on the inside of a sweeping corner where I know the competitors will be down on their aerobars and travelling at speed. After I’ve got the wide shot, it’s then onto some tight telephoto shots. A long shot down a straight section of road is my favourite shot here.
The Run
This is where the race starts to get messy and more difficult to shoot. Short course competitors are already about to finish, so I can’t head out onto the run course. The rest of the race is spent trying to dodge the harsh morning sun in the finish chute and making sure I get a finish shot of each competitor. For the first timers, this will be the photo that reminds them of their first ever triathlon. The post-finish reactions, getting a hug from family members, or standing around telling war stories about their race always make for some great photos.
The Fourth Leg
By 8:30 a.m. everyone has finished and my shooting for the day is done, but there is still plenty of work to get the photos online for the competitors. When I get home the photos get dumped onto my computer (coffee number 2 for the day) and culled using Photo Mechanic. I usually end up with 350-400 culled photos, which then get imported into Lightroom for some minimal processing and application of the sponsors watermark, before being exported in their finished form. By the time the competitors have finished their post-race coffee and smashed avocado breakfasts, the photos are up on the WTC Facebook page and my day is done.
After every race, I look back at the photos I’ve shot and they remind me of why I’ve stayed involved with WTC long after I stopped racing. The joy of racing with club mates, the camaraderie out on course, the friendly competition…it’s a culture that makes the Warringah Triathlon Club the most successful club in New South Wales and I never tire of capturing those moments on camera.
