2011 Resume

Hi everyone,

We are nearly at the end of the year and I want to make a quick resume of about this crazy photographic year.

Year started in Sydney for me. I was finishing my studies there. 2010 has been great with the Swiss Rowing Team, so in September I took a plane for Sydney. After one month, I went to New Zealand for the 2010 World Rowing Championships, the week before I did some pictures with the amazing Aussie Rowing Team. Then December, blabla, new year and we are in 2011.

January was pretty low regarding rowing for me! I had to rest due to a (minor) back injury and anyway. I visited NSW and saw for the first time wild kangaroos. I was just like a kid… Great moment for me and funny pictures...

Rowing in NSW was amazing. I worked with RNSW as photographer, some good events that I covered. Has some great pleasure with seeing my learning curve improving. I rented a 300mm and just enjoyed the massive lens. This picture of Pat from UTS show just the perfect sculling that I saw in Australia. Golden

Time passed and I was at the end of my master. A last week-end in Canberra with the Australian Rowing Team. New angles, new ideas and great rowers to photography. Thanks to Cookie for organising that, I enjoyed it and results were just great. Something to do again:

Back in Switzerland I nearly stopped rowing. Training maybe twice a week, just going to regattas and being smashed. No fun but it was good to see my Swiss fellow rowers. I missed the Rotsee and was so happy to row on it again.

Two week-end at the Rotsee back to back. First with the Swiss Rowing Championships:

and the Rowing World Cup Luzern:

After that I that was a bit too much rowing pictures. I wanted something else, something different. So I contacted a few people. The first one was Yvan Lapraz. We used to be at school together, while I went to uni,  he was world champion and pro rider in BMX…

Then I shoot with BikeAttitude a free-ride association from Neuchâtel where I am from

Bike was great, I discovered a new approach of photography using the flash and hyper-focal technique. Again my learning curve just massively improved. The previous photo won the small photo contest organise by the association, great for me as I got a new photography bag. Thanks to Pascal, Brice and Céline for taking me one day with them and inviting me to events… I definitly loved BMX and Free-ride and think I’ll work on finding riders in Australia.

As I was changing sports, I covered as usual the Lifesaving competition of the Neuchâtellifesaving club. Great fun as usual, lifesavers are just nice people dedicated to a non-conventional sport. You can just see the intensity of the race in this picture. Lifesaving is huge in Aus and I got a contact with Red-Bull lifesaver and Ironman Matt Poole. I reckon I’d love to have a photography session with him. Matt if you read this…

After that I took a break of photography. Not for long as on the 1st of October I arranged to photography at the greatest rowing event of the year: The Red-Bull X-Row
Probably the hardest rowing race ever. 18km or rowing and 7km of running with an 100kg boat to carry. It was fun to shoot as I did not took a single picture of the guys on the water. Lot of respect to the athletes and my friend of the Swiss Rowing Team who won the race.

Thanks to Red-Bull for the organisation and hosting. Especially to Nathalie who drove me all day.

Here is one of my pictures of the day. These pics got viral, so many hits on this album, was nice to see my work featured in many blogs and re-twitted by Red-Bull AUS. Glad to be part of such a great event! I’ll be back…

I was definitely back to Rowing photography while covering head races: JREH, BaselHead and Langstrecke

 

The Langstrecke was the last race of the year. One day after I got the biggest new of the year. I have a visa to live in Australia. Yes I asked to come back in this amazing country and I am moving there on the 21th of December.

2012 will be just the beginning of a new area. I’ll bring my photography to Australia. Many opportunities, with all the lifesavers, riders and rowing events (World Cup Rowing in Sydney in 2013 & 2014)…

I am sad to leave Switzerland and all my fellow rowers but so happy to be back into the Australian rowing community.

A lot of projects are in preparation, something big of course… stay tuned

I would like to thanks all the people who gave me my chance and trusted me. To Christian Renford CEO of RNSW, to Sarah Cook and Rowing Australia rowers and coaches for accepting me during their training sessions, to the Sydney Rowing Club for inviting me at the Sydney Rowing Regatta, to UTS Rowing Club especially my coach Steve Lucker who supported me for my photography and organised my first exhibition. Of course to Sarah because nothing would have been happening without you, thank you.

In Switzerland, thanks to the Rowing Club Lausanne who accepted me as a temporary member, got a lot of fun with you guys. Thanks to Christian Stofer manager of the Swiss Rowing Team to consider me as part of the SRV family and inviting me to Sarnen. Thanks to Simon Cox the head coach of the Olympic Team, to Tim Foster coach at the Swiss Rowing Team and Olympic Champion (2000). Of course thanks to the Swiss Rowing Team, I’ve spent such amazing moments with you guys during these two seasons. Good lucks for the Olympics!

I’d like to thanks so many people here in Switzerland. Of course the lifesaving club of Neuchâtelm, Bruno from Coureur d’Ecumes , Yvan Lapraz who dedicated his last session of BMX before his surgery, good luck for the Olympics too buddy. Thanks to BikeAttitude especially to Pascal who is so dedicated to this thing that we call spirit.

Thanks to the Red-Bull Switzerland team for offering me such a good even to cover. Thanks to Sabine Horvath for the BaselHead, Beni Schmid for hosting in Basel, Max Pfister and Raphi Jeanneret for the JREH, and Beni Schmidt for the Langstrecke. Thanks to Paul from BatRowing, Also thanks to the Aurum team: Silvan, Mario, Katja, Olivia, Angelina, Flavio. I owe you a lot for giving me contacts with organisations of rowing events.

I have to thanks my family and non-rowing friend. I know I am always away for this regatta or that event, it is just the way I do things. Thanks for you guys for always being here even if we don’t see us often.

A massive thank you to my family. It is a hard thing to leave you. It is not just for 6 months and not going to study at 1h of flight form home. I won’t see you more and it is sad. I love you.

Finally thanks to you reader, rowers, lifesavers, riders, whatever you do whatever you like.

Chin-up for the new era…

Félix