The Bikes - Set One

I realise that a lot of people haven't got the slightest interest in the subject matter of these shots of the Tickhill Grand Prix Cycle Race Meeting that took place last Sunday 24th August, but some of you will be fans and I'm also interested in feedback on these from a photography point of view. I went to the meeting as one of the invited 'official' togs, but as I don't work for a media organisation and was doing this for fun and for free, I set out with the objective of doing things a bit differently. Hence the use of the DA*300 which was really too long for shots in a very tight space, but I knew this would make me work hard for the shots and think about some creative framing. As a result, I doubt if any of the other togs there on the day got shots with the same sort of look as these.

I really need some feedback on this set, I am quite pleased with the way they turned out and I am aiming to get some of them published by the race meet organisers if possible. All are with the K-3, ISO's vary between 200 and 800.

Juniors





Is the video right?





Peloton





The Top Bend





Enjoying the Last Lap





Ladies on The Street (!)





Breaking the Sound Barrier?





Behind the Motorcycle





The Joy of Coming Second!





Banter at The Start





By a Whisker





Watching the Winner's Interview





Going For The Line





Interviewing The Winner




Thanks in advance for looking and for your comments.

Regards
David

For a start I'd say you made the correct decision to use a long lens (300mm). I suspect you didn't have to do much heavy cropping so this means you have a better image quality. In many amateur sporting photographs the subject matter is too small in the frame, too far away. Here you've captured the drama of the action in a series of sharp, colourful images. In particular The Top Bend freezes the action at the most acute point of the lean into the curve. Perhaps its a little tight against the left edge of the frame but that's being picky.
The head-on shots of the precise moment the winners cross the line are very good. You couldn't do this without using a long lens.
Because cycle racing is such a colourful sport I prefer the colour images to the mono versions but the whole set is excellent.
I'm surprised that you used low ISO settings ranging from 200-800, especially with a 300mm lens. In a similar event in Durham earlier this summer I was using 1000-1600 for the K3+200mm lens if I recall correctly. Admittedly that was an evening event and light levels had dropped.
David

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

David

Excellent set - the long(er) definitely works here. 'The Top Bend' is a great shot even if it is a little tight on the left; also 'By a Whisker'. Lovely portrait of the winner. Personally, I also like the B&W ones.

Phil

Great set David. I like the 'Enjoying the last lap' - splendidly isolated.'Top Bend' is another great one although would agree with Phil that it is a bit too tight.
I do a bit of cycling myself (operative word is a 'bit') so was interested in coming along but was not to be. I'll definitely try next year.

Cracking set. Finish lines are great, love the colour too, I like juniors (nice composition) and top bend.
Watch out for halos from pulling up the mid tones(?)

Excellent David, I couldn't care less about any bike race, but I can appreciate your work here. Punchy colours and subjects well isolated are the standout features for me. The backgrounds are not distracting, thats a big plus.

Perhaps you needed a little higher shutter speed on the odd one (3,4,6,8?) just to give that tiny bit extra edge - would ISO 1600 or 3200 have made much difference to quality?

Anyway, here's one non cycling person who has enjoyed the images.

Nice set there David, with for me two outstanding images from the rest. No 2 is a great composition and sharp where it needs to be, showing great depth. Though if you were looking from a purely journalistic point of view. I doubt it would ever be taken up by an editor. No 11 is the money shot everyone wants to see, from an event. Here you have captured it perfectly. Super shot. As for the others I think No 1 is wrongly framed. By cropping off the rider to the left it shifts the eye to the riders on the right. Even though they have been blurred become more interesting. I would definitely be cropping the marshall from No 3. No 4 is a great image but needs more room to the left of the frame . Like No 5 really tells a story of the pain and toil of road racing. No 6 is a very competent image. Mono isn't a deal breaker but I would choose colour. For me No 7 needs more of the front riders wheel to give the image height. Not sure a square crop works on this one. No 8 I like but would tone done the yellow area bottom right, No's 9 12 and 14 are just fillers for me and carry no relevance to the occasion. Love No 10 Nowt wrong in this one. Which also goes for 13.
These are just my observations, and made with no accreditation as a sports photographer. I love to get out and shoot sport, and rarely produce anything of this quality. I think that despite your reservations you were totally correct in your lens choice. I really enjoyed looking through this super set.

Lovely, David! The sharpness of your images is stunning. I didn't see how the DA*300 could work at an event like this - thought it would be too long, but I stand corrected! I agree with those who have said they prefer the colour shots - a lot of the attraction of cycling from a spectator viewpoint is lost for me without the colourfulness. The action shots are great and the only difference I would have liked to see would have been in the group shots - it would have been good to see one or two with a longer tail stretching out round a bend, perhaps. I'll bet you have some like that still to come! And you did say you were looking for something a bit different, so shouldn't carp! I don't know if I dare post any of mine now! After the lord mayor's show ...

Best wishes,

Nice control of depth of field with the long lens. Always a brag of the larger sensor mob that they have such at their disposal and APS C can't cut it. Wrong i think!.

I personally would have used TAV mode rather than AV so I had more of an eye/control over shutter as well. Then you only have to watch out for a flashing ISO number for your chosen range. As it happens doesn't matter much as it's a very good set telling the story well to a high standard. Thanks for sharing.

Great set David. Can't see any reason the race organizers shouldn't use any of them!!

Very nice set David, which I enjoyed looking at. As has been said, you didn't have enough room with the 300mm for The Top Bend. You unfortunately also ran out of room for Peleton, this time at the bottom of the frame. Maybe would have been better in portrait mode.

Excellent set and on the whole the 3oomm worked well for you, except Top Bend which others have picked up on. The B&W - Last Lap and Joy of Coming Second work well too. Nice and sharp where they need to be!

Hello everyone, thank you all for the valuable feedback; so many comments to digest! I can't acknowledge all of them, but there are a few 'common themes' in here which I will speak about.

- Tight framing - I agree there was a lack of room with the DA*300, but in fact this was the number one objective, i.e. to get some tight and edgy compositions that no-one else was shooting. The first image 'Juniors' is an example and one that I'm particularly happy with as the effect is exactly what I was aiming for. I know it divides opinion and this is fine!

- Top Bend - I had the same thoughts as everyone else, it has run out of a little room on this one. I have more like this that don't have the same problem, shot with the DA*50-135. Also, the guys that were there will know how fast they were hurtling around this bend and I could not see them until they emerged, so timing was difficult with the 300 to say the least!

- Black and Whites - I like to do a few BW images as I think it focusses the mind and the eye on the action and the composition of a shot. In some the colours were a distraction to me, like the first shot for example where I was hell bent on getting this specific look and composition.

- Shutter Speed - I think it's a fair and well made point that higher speeds could have been used on some of these shots. I've always liked my images clean! I will routinely use the DA*300 at speeds of 1/80 to 1/40 if required, on still subjects. I agree that some of the faster moving ones would have been sharper with a faster shutter, but overall I'm happy with the results.

Thanks again all, if anyone else has any comments please post them!

Regards
David

PS: A few of these were taken from viewpoints that only the 'official' togs had, but the majority are from public vantage points freely available to anyone on the day.

A good set David,
'Going For The Line' is my favourite, great perspective here and I like the composition and the way you've just caught the leader as they're entering the sunlight, isolating them from the 'pack' in the shade.
One small point.....the pole just above the central rider is a little distracting, but that's being picky really