Project 52: Week 32, European Mountain Bike Championships

[billtils]

No birds, no bugs, just bikes this week. The European Mountain Bike championships were held in Glasgow this week and I took the chance to try something different.

The location was several thousand feet short of being a mountain, but provided challenging climbs (and descents) in a mixture of terrain.


1: The riders are on a fairly gentle climb on a grass track:





2: About half way through and at the top of a not so gentle climb:





3: Parts of the track were bordered with wild vegetation:

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4: But the riders have other things on their minds:





5: Airborne at the end of a steep climb:

[JBW]

and you did it well

[billtils]

Thanks Brian.

[FootLoose]

Good set, Bill. I like the framing on the 4th and 5th although some of the impact is lost with the guy in the b/g showing up between the rider's legs in the 4th. The standout shot for me is the 3rd. That is not the kind of sports photo I see everyday.

[billtils]

Good set, .... some of the impact is lost with the guy in the b/g showing up between the rider's legs in the 4th. The standout shot for me is the 3rd. That is not the kind of sports photo I see everyday.

Thanks Greg

Ooops on the 4th - I had missed that!

I was indeed going for something different with the 3rd and it came out pretty well as planned, but it would have been better if the front of the rider's face had been in the clear.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[skitterbug]

Excellent series of documentation of the bike race! #1 appeals to me because it shows the uphill climb from the city in the background. Too bad there are pedestrians in the shot! <chuckle>
#3 is a panning shot, right? I want to learn how to do that! Looks good to me.
Nice photos!

[billtils]

#1 appeals to me because it shows the uphill climb from the city in the background. ..
#3 is a panning shot, right?

Thanks Sandy.

Yes they are "intruders" at least as far as the photography goes but in all fairness they are part of the overall scene and not too intrusive.

And yes, the third is a panning shot. I would have preferred it if the burst had caught the rider just a fraction sooner so that the front of his face wasn't behind the flower, but overall, years of BIF shots resulted in something I liked, albeit completely different in content.

There's a lot online on panning, but my personal key was to move to back button focussing + the AF lock feature. The rest is like the old NY tourist question and answer - Q: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" A: "Practice, practice, practice".

[billtils]

Nice series.

Thanks John.

[skitterbug]

Hi Bill - Yep, two spectators are part of the scene so it is realistic to include them. They had a nice place to watch the competitors coming up the hill.

A question - did you use a tripod during this photo work?

I have a lot of work to do to be able to pan. I have yet mastered the art of BIF. I tried all summer to capture martins that nest in a colony we provide for them. They've left now so I'll try again next spring. I probably need "slower" birds.

I also haven't tried the back button focus + AF lock feature that I think is on my Canon.....

Yep, I do agree with the part about practice. I find I never can do anything well if I don't follow that mantra! Nothing comes easy for me!

Thanks for the response.

[Donald]

Love this. The composition just works. The colour and tones work. And the panning works.

[billtils]

A question - did you use a tripod during this photo work?

Good question Sandy! The photography rules for the competition were: No commercial photography unless accredited, and to enforce that, no equipment over 30cm in length including tripods and monopods. Not that that mattered to me as I only use a tripod for studio work and I replaced my heavy and long 150-600 zoom some months ago with a much lighter and shorter 300mm prime (and 1.4x TC that was not used here).

[billtils]

Thanks Donald.