Stu Ross, better known as Bikebot in mountain bike circles, has again taken out the 2025 AMB Photography MTB Direct Raw Reels competition – double trouble after he took out the 2024 competition as well.
The Raw Reels competition has become a favourite challenge. “I love the Raw Reels comp. Sometimes being creative is hard, or having endless options and time to work on something is daunting, it’s fun just to have someone say ‘go and make this type of video with xyz parameters and due on this date…go!’ I kind of love it, it really helps me reign in a pretty turbo creative brain and just go and shoot! So every year I look forward to putting something together, it usually always comes down to the last minute, but teaming up with the right rider always makes it easy.”
This year, the subject of the winning Raw Reel was Connor Griffin. “Connor Griffin is a longtime collaborator and an amazing all round bike operator, no matter the bike” Ross says. “He is one of the easiest dudes to film with, just good vibes, endless creativity and a super talented and steezy rider to point a camera at. I wanted to film something not high stakes, no crazy tricks, just a dude ripping some very familiar trails.”
As it often transpires, it all came together at the last minute, “after the usual dance of trying to line up regular work schedules and of course the Victorian weather mid winter, we finally landed on the week before the deadline and headed down to the Mornington Peninsula to visit some of the local DIY stuff that Connor has ridden for years.”
“After a day of a full day of shooting and nearly 10mins of usable full speed shots it was now the fun task of what to include and in what order to make up the 60 sec time limit. I must say, editing without a music track is very freeing and much more enjoyable, you don’t have to over analyse decisions and weigh up options as much, it’s almost like a holiday from regular editing. I’m into it!”
Stu is humble about his 2025 entry, “It’s not a ‘break the internet’ kinda edit but, there is something about i9 hydras at full noise that I love, and every time I watch it, I wish I was riding my bike…(or probably moreso, wish I could ride my bike like Connor).”
Stay tuned for this Sunday on AMBMag’s website where will be announcing our 2025 Photographer of the year!
