City centre pro racing

I do very little sports photography, perhaps once year on average I get to cover cycle racing and Durham Regatta. They are both challenging events for a photographer, particularly the cycling because of the speed and the jostling crowds.
Please feel free to comment on these.
The DA*200 lens was used on the K3 for close action and long views while the DA*16-50 on the K5 for panning. This was an evening event with failing light so the K3 was at 2000ISO all evening and the K5 ranged from 640 ISO to 1000.
1 Roll out from the start



2




3




4



5



6



7


David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Men on bikes are not really my thing David, but I appreciate the good results here ... I note the careful framing and space in front of the riders in the wider ones, and the close ups make powerful use of the frame with the followers bunching up behind. The pan looks fine to me also. Very good set!

V difficult to get good bike racing shots (if my efforts are anything to go by!). These are a really good set.

Phil

Excellent set David. Particularly like the differential focusing with the DA 200

These are very good and demonstrate considerable camera skill. No IQ issues with the K-3 at ISO 2000 either.

Well done David, thanks for posting.

Regards
David

All very well executed. The shot that impressed the most was 6...great angle and well executed pan.

I hadn't clocked the exif until I saw David's comment. I would normally be hesitant about an ISO over 1600 but you clearly had no worries there.

Thumbs up from me.

Got to consider that it was decent light David. Note the shutter speeds and apertures

OK so we really need a set of men on bikes at night then.

Some well executed shots there David.

I note that your exposures seem pretty good, maintaining the colour of the shirts and avoiding shadowy faces. Perhaps you chose your locations well to achieve? Perhaps in evening light there is less contrast?

I will be posting my own attempts at this genre shortly.

You have managed much better focussing consistency than I was getting. I note that the leading riders in 2 & 3 are out-of-focus but their chasers are spot on.

I like the tight crops you have used on a lot of these shots too.

Although it stayed fine the light wasn't brilliant so a high ISO was essential to get any sort of shutter speed that was going to give me reasonably sharp images. Even the panning shots needed a minimum of at least 100th/sec because of the downhill speed and the closeness you get to the riders at this kind of event. Some panning speeds were much higher than that.
I had the K3 and K5 on continuous drive all the time and shot off hundreds of frames on each of the cameras with a high wastage rate. I wasn't alone in this; two mates from the camera club, both using high end Canons, also struggled to get a good percentage sharp.
It emphasised something I've always been aware of; in action photography you need to be like the athletes themselves, match fit. The more you do this sort of subject the better you get at it. That's why the pros who are covering events regularly tend to be much better than amateurs regardless of what gear they use.

There's been a lot of debate on here about the K3 being faster than the K5 at focus locking for fast action.
The K3 was slighter better than the K5 last night but I reckon that more about the lenses used - DA*200mm vs DA*16-50.


You've lost me Nigel - what's your point.

David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Your comments about panning shutter speed explain why my results were so poor - I was using f/8 or /11 at 1/45 or 1/60. I wasn't really sure how fast I could go and still blur the background. Trouble was I blurred the rider too.

I shot in the same way with high wastage.

Also agree with you about 'match fitness'. I should have written down my M.O. so that I will know what to do next time.

Peter, this was panned at 1/200th sec at F7.1, ISO 640 on the K5 with the 16-50mm lens at 50mm.
It was on a very steep part of the hilly course and they came down this section at terrific speed. Unlike some faster sports, motor racing for instance, competitors and spectators are much closer and distance from the subject is an essential element in an impression of speed.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout