Need some advice on photographing mountain bikers!!

[nanomatic]

Hi,
I'm due at the weekend to photograph my local downhill mountain biking guild at work! Obvisouly they're going to be going fast! And could do with some tips on where to position my flash, what sorta lens to use in fact anything you think will be relivant and will help me!

Thanks guys!

[copycat]

To be honest I would say don't use flash if at all possible (there is a rider safety issue there), use shutter priority on a fast (f stop) medium (length) zoom, use a higher iso to compensate the lack of flash, shoot raw, track smoothly, shoot on burst mode.

Most important of all:

Have fun!

[BarryM]

Totally agree there, these guys are coming down a hill pretty controlled but ellefa fast, and suddenly a flashgun firing in their face could 1. put them off 2. cause them to end up going off the side of a mountain.

Reasons speed camera flashes are behind us not in front of us i assume too.

As said, fast shutterspeed, crank up iso if needs must, and find a spot with some decent light hitting the area ur photogrpahing.

[chortler]

My advice, would be to just watch for a few minutes, rather than jumping in starting taking photos - You'll then learn where you need to be rather than just endign up in the first spot you pick.

[nanomatic]

When you say medium length what do you mean in mm?

[copycat]

would say up to about 200mm. try to avoid zooming in too much, crop it in ps afterward if needs be.


get there early so you can look at the course and pick a spot (pick more than one and move if you need to) fire off some test shots so you can dial in your iso and shutter speed. once you pick your spot allow enough space so you can pan with your subject into the spot you picked then click.

remember there will be another bike along soon after so don't check your shots on the lcd plenty of time for that later.

[Kenny]

Hi Guys

Ive been watching this thread with great interest and was going to post a similar question myself. Ive been asked by my Bro-in-law to take a photo of him on his humongous 1500 Goldwing he just boughtHe wants a shot of him in motion with a blurred background.we found a nice stretch of unused road(its part of an industrial estate thats being built in Atherton) thats blocked off from traffic so no cars will come down it to spoil the shot.Could some of the tips and tricks mentioned in this thread help me? Ive never taken moving bike shots before and would love to know what steps to take..

PS...at the mo I am cameraless but soon hope to remedy that LOL

Bessy regs

Kenny

[copycat]

Kenny

Most of the above applies. wide aperture. fast shutter. pick your sweet spot. pan with the bike into your sweet spot and click.