Any cycling photographers on here

cathald

Hi folks I was wondering if there was any cycling photographers on the site

I am a landscape photographer and do bits and pieces with the local rag eg
hen parties(it's a tough job) football and sports days.

I went out to shoot the all ireland 'b' championships last week and fould it pretty hard
when the guys were flat out to get a decent shot

So if there are any cycling photographers here any tips on getting these guys right
settings for camera and flash would be great

I could swap a few landscape tips in return

Cathal

cathald

here is a few of mine from last week end

downfader

cathald wrote:

Hi folks I was wondering if there was any cycling photographers on the site

I am a landscape photographer and do bits and pieces with the local rag eg
hen parties(it's a tough job) football and sports days.

I went out to shoot the all ireland 'b' championships last week and fould it pretty hard
when the guys were flat out to get a decent shot

So if there are any cycling photographers here any tips on getting these guys right
settings for camera and flash would be great

I could swap a few landscape tips in return

Cathal

Never done it with cycling but have done other sports photography (kickboxing and martial arts).

Stick the camera on shutter priority, matrix or center spot metering work better than simple spot if you have those options. Lower the ISO to around 400, shutter should be 1/250th if using a zoom that peaks around the 200mm. If any shots come out underexposed the lower iso should keep the detail and noise issues at bay on cheaper cams. Or convert noisey pics to monochrome for that edgy effect!

Focus manually ideally. Unless you have a great lens and a camera that tracks well. Its just practice really.

EDIT just seen your two pics. They work well enough to show the speed. Not sure I'd use flash myself as it distracts the rider a little and most cameras cope well outside not to worry.

colonel_mustard

I haven't done a great deal of cycling photography. My main experience was the final stage of the Tour of Britain in Liverpool last year.

Settings really depend on what sort of photos you want, but I used aperture priority and used the lens wide open (although the lens I had wasn't fast, 55-250mm, f/4 - f/5.6). I also used ISO 800, but really 400 should be more than enough.

If you want a bit of wheel blur to convey speed, then you're better off using shutter priority. I don't know what speed I'd use, but I'd guess that 1/125 should be low enough.

I used autofocus the whole time. The depth of field at f/4 was enough to account for the fairly slow AF system.

As for flash, I wouldn't use it for outdoor sports. I don't like the unnatural effect.

Finally, it's all very well getting the technical side right, but you still have to consider composition. I tried to give the riders in the photos a bit of space to 'move into', to give the effect that they were going somewhere, if that makes sense. Remember the rule of thirds.

If I think of anything else then I'll add it, but that sums up my thoughts.

In a couple of weeks I'll be going to watch the final stage of the tour this year too, although hopefully I'll have a 70-200 f/2.8 this time.

You can see a few of my shots here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33407880@N08/sets/72157614919644123/

bagpusscp

Interesting topic. I have found that timing is the main issue.To get the best i think a rapid shot camera is really needed for the best results.A few years ago I got some good pictures of the TDF time trial stage using a film 35 mm .No scanner yet so I cannot show them.For now this years TDF efforts see here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74418119@N ... 570593757/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74418119@N ... 570593757/

mrushton

Does Graham Watson, the TdF photographer have any info? Also, the Velodramatic website has some lovely pics and he is very forthcoming with his info.

www.velodramatic.com