NASS in the Rain

Another festival over for 2009.

NASS bills itself as Europe's largest extreme sports festival. By day you are entertained by skateboarders, BMX, FMX, mountain bike trials, old skool slalom skating, inliners, streetboarders and just about anything else dangerous on two wheels. This year saw the introduction of the Goliath ramp. With an 8 metre drop in its not one for the faint hearted. Sadly this year NASS was blighted by the traditional British weather which meant most of the outdoor events were severely curtailed. I did find myself on top of the Goliath ramp at one point though perched on a ledge 25 feet in the air clinging onto my new 300mm F2.8 prime lens photographing the skaters as they came down the ramp. To say I was concerned about my £3.5 k investment was an understatement but I did manage to get some great close ups of the skaters as they popped up over the jump. The lens has some fantastic features and its no wonder it has become the lens of choice for most sports and action photographers.

This years music was kind of split into two genres over two days with dance/drum n bass the order of the day on the Friday and rock music on the Saturday. As you can see from the images here and on my flickr site the rain does nothing to dampen down festival goers when it comes to their music. Within hours the front of the stage was little more than a mud bath with the photographers pit not fairing much better either. I used my 24-105mm lens to photograph much of the acts but again decided to try out my new 300mm for some really close up shots of the vocalists. I even managed to hand hold the lens which was a huge bonus as I fear my monopod would simply have disappeared into the mud had I decided to use it.

The shots above are not what you would call "exhibition" standard shots but they do show what it is editors are looking for when it comes to photographing at these events. I was simply tasked by sportvision and littlepress to capture what was going on. I dont think too many shots will make it to press this year as NASS clashed with T in the Park which is Scotland's answer to Glastonbury or Reading I suppose. They will be used to promote the event next year though and hopefully NASS 2010 will be a sunny affair.

Next stop for LemonSplash Photography is a quite different festival....Camp Bestival in Dorset, lots of live music, stand up comedy, theatre and even a knitting tent. Watch this space and my flickr pages for images and a write up of the event.