Red Bull SteepleChase

I tend to go to a lot of running events and take pictures. Not the sort of thing I'd normally post on here but last weekend the weather was nice and I went with the family to Castleton in the Peak District for the Red Bull Steeplechase. The total race distance is 21 miles, but not all runners will get that far

In Summary...

The race format of Red Bull Steeplechase is a unique knock out format. Competitors are split into two categories, male and female. All runners in each category are set off together making it a head to head race against the rest of the field where race position is important not time.
There are four steeples to reach and at each of the first three the slowest section of the field will be eliminated. Only 40 runners will reach the final steeple at Castleton.
This makes this race a unique format and will challenge runners both physically and mentally as they have to pace themselves not only to cover the distance and challenging terrain but to ensure they stay in a race position that prevents them from being eliminated.

A few pictures from the day...

No 1



No 2



No 3



and some of the runners...

No 4



No 5



No 6



No 7



No 8



No 9



No 10 (the first hill they climb - Mam Tor !)




If you like them, a lot more can be found here
link

All taken with K5ii and DA 18-135

Regards

George

There are some nice crisp shots of the runners in this set which, having tried, is not easy. However my favourite is number 2, for the silhouettes, swirling mist and atmosphere

Hi George, love these what a good block of photographs in the hills close to my heart. BTW that gear matches mine but I don`t get such sharp shots in action mode. Bear in mind I am very much a learning novice so not expecting it all to happen. However, can you outline PLEASE the general SETTINGS EXIF for the runners shots and whether your post edit much on them. Gives me faith in my choice of Pentax again for my first SLR . Cheers, Patrick

Hi Patrick, the weather was good for me that day. Had it been dull I doubt I could have taken the shots as good as these. I normally shoot running events with the Sigma 70-200 2.8 but was travelling light and was aware of the weather forecast so confident I could use the 18-135.

Since getting a K5, K5ii, K3... I tend to use TAV mode and auto ISO as I find as long as I keep an eye on the ISO this is the best mode for making quick changes.

The shutter speed was 1/640th @ f8, this was quick enough to freeze the action and provided a good depth of field ensuring reasonably sharp shots even if the focus was slightly off. I would only shoot wide open if I had to due to light or for artistic effect. I don't think the ISO ever crept above 400 and was generally lower than this.

I shoot running shots in jpeg now, used to shoot in DNG (raw) but found it was taking too long to process 3-400 images ! I also tend to underexpose by a 1/3 or more to help with shutter speed and to keep highlight details. With runners coming towards me I generally relied on the autofocus(use centre point) of the lens, for the side on shots / lots of background I prefocused on the stone path and then re composed waiting for the runners to hit the spot before taking the picture.

I find with general running shots I like to have a shutter speed of 1/500th or quicker otherwise you can end up with a bit of blur, using these shutter speeds I tend not to use shake reduction as I find the delay in it coming into effect can cause minor issues. I think this was more of a problem on the original K5 though.

I post process in lightroom, although I tend to keep it minimal unless the image looks like it would benefit from a bit more effort. First I look to crop to achieve a better compositon, maybe straighten the image, lighten shadows and reduce highlights as appropriate. Occasionally will increase clarity slider slightly. One thing I did with each of the side on shots was to lighten the shadows using the adjustment brush on the runners face to allow more detail to come through. I generally do not spend a lot of time with each image and will then batch process similar images.

I find I'm using the 18-135 a lot more than I anticipated for general use, especially if the weather is nice. My 17-70 doesn't get much of a look in nowadays despite it having slightly better IQ.

I forgot to add I do not use autofocus tracking, I prefer to lightly press the shutter to regain focus between shots as I find this to be far more accurate.

Hope this helps, if anything doesn't make sense then feel free to ask for further info.

Regards

George

Hi George,

Thanks for taking time to set out so much detail on how you work to get these results. I am trying to pick up these bench mark settings for different situations especially when I am out in action modes. The mind is thinking , checking settings & shots whilst reacting to action events. Sometimes, it frustrates me but gradually know it comes more intuitively.

I am contemplating right now about adding a Tamron 70-200mm for sharp IQ and extra range , would you encourage that ? How do you feel the 18-135 and that Lens fit in these or which scenarios do they work best ?

I am very new to photo edit and just exploring some on trail but was going to get PSE 12 to learn more.

BTW one or two images I took recently in a low light dance setting
, again tough environment to learn properly. I went B&W post , as was not happy with my flash light results yet tended to see too much exposed in the ` face eye line` not enough depth of added light - need to master these.


Thanks again and appreciate the help / advice.

Cheers,

Patrick

PS not sure if the images I added came out or not ?

Hi Patrick,

Your images are there, there are members on here who will be able to give you far greater advice on flash use / low light indoor shooting than me. Unfortunately flash will tend create a darker background and expose the subject, the closer you are to the subject the more they are likely to be over exposed.

The Tamron 70-200 seems to be a good lens, if you are looking at shooting indoors more then a 17-50 2.8 (17-70 ...) would be far more flexible and allow greater shooting without flash. the Tamron 17-50 can be picked up fairly cheaply 2nd hand on here usually. Alternatively a fast prime if you're happy to zoom with your feet. The 18-135 I like as a general lens, I wouldn't expect great results from in in a dimly lit dance hall.

Some members will use the Tamron for sport (I've only ever had the sigma) and the IQ is supposedly excellent, not sure how quick it is to focus but would guess its pretty quick. The Tamron would certainly help at sports events.

It depends what you want to shoot as to which lens would benefit you the most.

As far as editing shots go, I use lightroom for 99% of my shots, I have PSE11 but hardly ever use it.

Regards

George

Thanks George,

The shooting info is really useful, for some of us who are still newbies finding out feet.

Thank you George,

I know use of flash in these settings is another learning curve to explore. btw took these with 18-135 not my 50m prime , that was too tricky to manouvere in dancing for me, may be next session will do both. Quite keen to go next 70-200 then add 17-50 gear and sell the 18-135 later. Sigma or Tamron, why did you chose the former if you mind me bothering you once more ?

Cheers, Patrick

Hi Patrick, I originally picked up the mk1 Sigma 70-200, this is screw drive rather than HSM so works with their teleconverters (1.4 + 2x). I had a number of other Sigma lenses and was happy with their performance so kept with them.

This (mk1) was also supposedly better optically than the later 'macro' versions. I have have not been disappointed with its performance and recently purchased the current HSM version (non macro) which is supposed to match and maybe exceed the performance of the original screwdrive lens. From my experience i believe it is sharper wide open but as you stop it down a bit there's not a lot in it.

I currently have 2 copies (mk1 screw drive and current HSM) and am debating if I should keep the screwdrive as a back up. (I shoot with the 70-200 most weekends at my local parkrun event - I believe there's one in Derby (Darley Park ?) Excellent place to hone your skills at running events )

Regards

George