London To Brighton Cycle Ride

[oldgreygary]

This set of images was a first real attempt at trying to capture action/sport pictures. The event is an annual charity cycle ride organised by the British Heart Foundation. It goes from London To Brighton and is around 50 miles in distance. I think that's around 80-90km? There are around 25,000+ cyclists taking part.

I set the camera to shutter speed priority and used 1/30, 1/60 and 1/125. The first two, to capture some of the movement and the last to freeze the action. I was using a Canon G2. All handheld shots. I was not sure about the slower speed shots especially the 1/30.

Lots of things learnt and problems encountered. Among these being not happy with the clarity of the images. A problem I have found with the G2 is the speed it process's Raw files. This became even more apparent while taking these images as things happen quickly and I felt that I couldn't respond to things that happened in front of me. I also felt that getting tighter images made better shots. Taking shots of the bigger picture didn't to me have the same impact. Again that might be the limitation of the G2. Some of this sounds a bit like 'bad workman blaming his tools' but I don't think so. I think that I have found were some of the limits are.
It's a very dynamic situation and you have to be prepared for that moment to get the image. Anyway, these are four images and would appreciate any comments and/or advice.

Cheers for now

Gary

Shutter speed 1/60




Shutter speed 1/125




Shutter speed 1/125




Shutter speed 1/30

[acsky]

Hi Gary

I see that you were trying to give a sense of movement to the pictures. IMO the subjects in this set could look better if they were sharp and the background blurry and not the other way around. Try to pan with your camera and follow the subject while you press the shutter button. 1/30 s should give you good results.

Toño

[oldgreygary]

Thanks for your reply Toño. I agree about the sharpness. I will have to try the panning technique as I wasn't happy with the results of the slow shutter speed images. When I was there things evolved quickly so I think that you need to build up an array of skills so that you almost automatically switch to that mode as you know it will work best. That will only come with more experience. It can sound so easy when you read about different techniques but it is only when you begin to try them that you work out the negatives and positives of a particular technique.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Nomadr]

hi Gary i quite like the last shot, its not to everyones taste but it appeals to me, if you want to try panning then set your camera on continuous focus,shutter should be anywhere between 1/30th and 1/60th,follow the action as if your camera was a clay pigeon gun,once you have pressed the shutter keep following the action for a little longer (just as a clay pigeon shooter would do),
you can practice on cars,the best time to hit the button is when they are straight in front of your camera,
you dont need flash but rear curtain sync can add if the light is low, cheers martyn