Fun at the Marathon

[Stagecoach]

Here's a few from my marathon shoot on Saturday.

No 1 5:30am the full marathon starts


No 2 6:30am the half marathon gets underway


No 3 Blimey, the Grand Pacific Hotel, my car and a willing model all in one shot


No 4 Keep it up


No 5 Team work


No 6 We started together and we will finish together


No 7 And one of many portraits


Grahame

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Stagecoach]

Thank you John,

[chauncey]

Running a marathon with a phone in your hand...what a class act.

[Donald]

Everyone of them is a strong composition, they're very well exposed and there is lots of movement and action. On top of which there are good, vibrant colours. They really do tick all the boxes, I think.

[Stagecoach]

Running a marathon with a phone in your hand...what a class act.

There were quite a few, could be motivational speeches, music or even facebook

[Stagecoach]

Everyone of them is a strong composition, they're very well exposed and there is lots of movement and action. On top of which there are good, vibrant colours. They really do tick all the boxes, I think.

Thanks Donald,

Exposure is quite a challenge with the very harsh sun and dense shadow in places so I aim to get the subject reasonable and ignore blown out areas. It's one of those times I let the camera take control.

[IzzieK]

Thanks Donald,

Exposure is quite a challenge with the very harsh sun and dense shadow in places so I aim to get the subject reasonable and ignore blown out areas. It's one of those times I let the camera take control.

I agree with Donald so +1 to his comment. In my opinion, the midtones looks great on all of them, a few highlights but not so bad, not bad at all...the first two would have been hard for me but you did very well there too. My favourite is your trifecta showing you green car and of course the last one. #3 because she is a pleasant woman and #7 because he is one of your odd shot. Both are well exposed like the rest of them. Well done...

[Stagecoach]

I agree with Donald so +1 to his comment. In my opinion, the midtones looks great on all of them, a few highlights but not so bad, not bad at all...the first two would have been hard for me but you did very well there too. My favourite is your trifecta showing you green car and of course the last one. #3 because she is a pleasant woman and #7 because he is one of your odd shot. Both are well exposed like the rest of them. Well done...

Hi Izzie,

Thank you for the encouragement.

The first two of which are both images from burst sequences with flash were pre-planned by knowing what camera settings and flash power I would use. I had also experimented with the flash to see how many fires it would do at a certain frames/sec rate at the power level. Bill (WW) had assisted me with the planning

So all I had to do was sit on the pavement, pre-focus at the point I wanted and as soon as the hooter went keep my finger on the button. The sequence of No 2 had 15 shots all well exposed, with a basic SB-600 speedlight.

Exposure with the D800 really is a doddle as it handles the harsh light and shadow so well with the DR it has. There is no time to regularly chimp and look at histograms because if it's wrong it's too late and a few blown highlights really don't matter with sports shooting in my opinion. If the image is going to be used for publication a bit of PP soon rectifies things

What I did find a pain was lugging the D800 plus the 80-400mm around for hours although I do spend most of my time kneeling or sat on the ground, and some people think I'm strange



Grahame

[bnnrcn]

Nice set Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Nice set Grahame

Thank you Binnur, I enjoyed shooting all 400 that make up the days work

[george013]

Nice shots.

You toke them from a rather low position?

George

[Stagecoach]

Nice shots.

You toke them from a rather low position?

George

Thanks George.

I tend to take the majority of shots of the race from a low position for a few reasons;

a) because many of the runners tend to be looking downwards so that they can see both others in front and any obstacle in the road (this is Fiji) and there's a better chance of getting eye contact with them.

b) the angle gives more impact to the image and makes it different from the other 99% that are shot.

c) I love to get in close with the zoom and frame tight for max IQ so sitting or kneeling gives me that extra support and control of the heavy rig. Supporting a D800 and 80-400mm becomes very tiring after a few hours in the heat

d) I have no problems with access anywhere or crowds so it's easy to do.

[Donald]

b) the angle gives more impact to the image and makes it different from the other 99% that are shot.

This is very good lesson for those who may still be testing out and learning the various ways in which to get your best shot.

Getting low down can work very well in a variety of situations. For example:-

[KimC]

Nice images Grahame! Love the DOF used on #4 and 5!

[Stagecoach]

Nice images Grahame! Love the DOF used on #4 and 5!

Thanks Kim