"stop drop and roll", brutal pageant vs smash malice, richter city roller derby (25 july 2010) »
Initial bout of the year for the Richter City Roller Derby. And what a bout!
First off, a simply amazing turn-out. At 7.30pm, when the bout was due to begin, Hadyn hops on the mic to announce to the approximately 3,000 people already in the auditorium that the bout will be delayed until the 800 people still queuing outside can get in. Whoa! And I thought the 1700 that came to last year's "Skate Highway One" was a good crowd. (Well, it was, but this one was out of this world.)
Second off, a simply amazing match. There wasn't much separating the teams all night, but in the end Brutal Pageant held on for the win against a gallant Smash Malice, 125–103.
Third off, I think I'm finally getting to the stage where I can see where the peak action might be taking place. Roller derby is a joy to photograph.
Other views of the night include Jed's awesome photos and Hadyn's write-up on Field Theory.
99 photos
practice night, richter city roller derby (19 july 2010) »
With only a few days until "Stop Drop and Roll", the first bout of Richter City's 2010 season, myself and Jed stole along to one of the practice sessions for a bit of practice ourselves.
14 photos
scrimmage practice night, richter city roller derby (11 june 2010) »
A Richter City Roller Derby scrimmage practice night enabled me to try a couple of different things out with my camera to see how well they might work during a proper bout. My main aim was to see how low I could go with my camera: the answer was pretty low, virtually resting it on the ground. I also tried a number of slow shutter speed panning shots. Here are some of the efforts. As usual, the available light pushed my camera to its limits, and even using the latest and greatest photo editing software, some photos show signs of noise.
19 photos
"2010: a skate odyssey", dead wreckoning v mascara massacre, pirate city rollers (15 may 2010) »
By a happy coincidence I was in Auckland at the same time as the Pirate City Rollers held their first bout of the 2010 season, "2010: A Skate Odyssey" (great name, and a great poster).
Feigning a light carry-on bag at Wellington's domestic check-in, I managed to get my camera gear up to the big A and along to Skateland in Panmure for what turned out to be a thrilling start to the Aucklanders' season.
In a re-match from last year's final, champions Dead Wreckoning took on Mascara Massacre. The match was pretty close all the way, and it came down to the last jam.
Behind 102 to 103, Dead Wreckoning showed their champion qualities to win the ultimate jam with 7 unanswered points to take the match 110–103.
A big thanks to Scheisse Minnelli and the rest of the Pirate City crew for letting me take these photos.
88 photos
"skate highway one", richter city roller derby v pirate city rollers (5 december 2009) »
"Skate Highway One" was New Zealand's first ever inter-league roller derby bout and was held at the TSB Bank Arena, Wellington, on Saturday 5 December.
The local Richter City Roller Derby "All Stars" hosted Auckland's Pirate City Rollers "All Scars" to determine which city out of Wellington and Auckland can boast the best skaters.
Unfortunately for Wellington, the Pirate City Rollers demonstrated too much skill, teamwork and speed and outmatched the Richter City crew 174-88.
Despite the Aucklanders' domination, the Wellington crowd never let up, applauding on their beloved Richter City right down to the final whistle. On the whole, the evening was an exercise in general awesomeness.
And I'm sure the Richter City league will be all the better for this experience, and will be back stronger than ever next year. The re-match will be a cracker.
Roll on (heh heh) 2010!
(Oh, and check out Jed's photos of the night.)
84 photos
"the big one", brutal pageant v smash malice, richter city roller derby (7 november 2009) »
Locked at one match all, the Smash Malice and Brutal Pageant teams lined up against each other for the winner-take-all last bout: the appropriately named "Big One".Smash Malice held a reasonable margin throughout most of the match, until the final few minutes when Brutal Pageant stormed back into contention. With less than five minutes to go, Brutal Pageant snatched the lead, 101 points to 100. It was anyone's match.In a final few minutes that was as intense as it gets, Smash Malice managed to prevail and take the inaugural crown.For another perspective on the night, check out Jed's photos.
84 photos
8 photos
"the big one" practice night, richter city roller derby (3 november 2009) »
The Richter City Roller Derby crew get their skates on to do some practice drills ahead of their deciding bout on Saturday 7 November at the TSB Bank Arena: the Big One! Be there!
24 photos
"civil offence", brutal pageant v smash malice, richter city roller derby (10 october 2009) »
Photos from the Richter City Roller Derby "Civil Offense" bout. Brutal Pageant won the first of this current best-of-three series, so Smash Malice had to win this second bout to keep the series alive.
On the back of a vocal crowd, Smash Malice managed to do so, comfortably winning this bout. So, it will all come down to the "Big One" on November 7. Be there!
(Oh, and in case you want a different perspective on "Civil Offense", check out Jed's photos.)
73 photos
"civil offence" practice night, richter city roller derby (6 october 2009) »
Photos from one of Richter City Roller Derby's practice nights before the "Civil Offence" bout on Saturday 10 October at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington.
The practice was held at slightly less auspicious surroundings: the Brooklyn Northern United AFC clubrooms in Brooklyn. The light wasn't that great for photography, and some of the photos are a bit grainy because of that. Still, they should convey some sense of what the skaters go through in preparation for their big evening.
38 photos
"skate of emergency" practice night, richter city roller derby (30 june 2009) »
Hadyn, Jed, Amy and I went out to Porirua's North City Indoor Raceway to catch the Richter City Roller Derby girls going through one of their practices in the lead-up to their "Skate of Emergency" bout. These are the best of my photos from the night.Although I took them all in colour, I've turned a few into black and white.Jed's photos are on his flickr site. Hadyn's article is up on Field Theory.
29 photos
"the grudgemaker", brutal pageant v smash malice, richter city roller derby (28 march 2009) »
Hadyn has written a piece on Wellington's first Roller Derby for his blog, Field Theory, on Public Address. He asked me to come along as his photographer. Here are my photos from the evening.
43 photos