BUCS/BUSC Edinburgh Dryslope Championships

My first job with BUSC was the Edinburgh Dryslope Champs. The competition took place over two days, from 9am until 7pm both days. I was able to experience what it is like as a photographer at such a large and busy event. It was challenging as well as exciting to move around and cover as many of the events that were happening as possible. I decided to look at the schedule of events and pre plan where I wanted to be and at what time. I aimed to cover a variety of events such as racing, slopestyle and Big Air. I wanted to gain a little experience in each area in order to learn the best techniques and the best places to position myself in the different events.

The weather was rainy which made the slopes and the surrounding areas slippery and very muddy, which meant that I fell over a lot. So in addition to thinking about what I was photographing, I needed to do the best I could to protect my equipment in the conditions. Previous to this event I had never photographed in such bad weather so I was unprepared. To protect my camera from the rain I used plastic bags which worked well but made it difficult to change settings and focus the lens etc... My camera ended up very muddy but survived the weekend with no damage.

The media team were also required to cover the night time events, which were fun, and very fast paced. I have previous experience with nightclub photography so this was something I was very familiar with and found fun and easy.

The event as a whole taught me a lot as a photographer, as well as allowing me to learn more about the sport itself.

While I was there to complete a job, and capture action shots of the athletes, I also used the experience to document the crazy culture of the sport within universities and younger generations.

Skiing/Snowboarding was once seen as fairly middle class, so it is interesting to investigate the sport through photography and represent what it is today, which is far from middle class. These sports are much more available and welcoming to every body, as well as being hugely appealing to young people, with the drinking and partying culture surrounding snow sports events. 

I think the idea of documenting the culture of snow sport events today separates my work from typical sport photography, as the images represent far more than just the skills of the athletes involved. They represent aspects that we don't typically see unless we are directly involved. The images are relatable if you've experienced an event like this.