Last Sunday we had 'The Milk Race' in Nottingham; street circuit racing centred on The Old Market Square. I offer a selection for c & c.

In view of comments on David Trout's thread, I present only the Ladies Race.

1. Fun in the Market Square



2. Fancy a Pint?



3.Doing it with style (Community Ride)



4. Start of the Womens Elite Race



5. Pretty in Pink



6. Pursuit 1



7. Enjoying the Ride



8. Pursuit 2



9. Panned by the critics

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.

I like the head-on shots with the riders coming towards the viewer. I would crop those quite close to try and convey the tension and story of the race - 3,6 & 8 are good in this respect. The out-of-focus chasers are essential to these shots and are done well. The low viewpoints get in the face of the riders and also work well.

I would have cropped the winning line shot a bit closer to focus on just the winner and the flag.

I think the composition loooks a little jumbled where you have gone for the s-bends in 7 & 9.

I like the side-on shots where you have focussed on a single rider. You have executed the panning well. Where there are multiple riders, I found the out-of-focus riders distracting.

The exposures are pretty good on the whole and don't particularly suffer from shadowy face/chest/logo which can happen if the riders are head down. I sometimes use a little exposure correction to overcome this.

Did you feel your telephoto was quick enough, although I note that you used it on your K3. When I have done cyclo-cross for some friends, my 55-300 was disappointing but my 50-200 was better, but still have a high reject rate (I used AF-C and Auto Select AF point).

I think you may be right Barrie.

I have sent this link to the OP.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/24513837

Perhaps K100 Super users could supply a link for that camera's firmware upgrade?

The link I posted above seems to be for the K100 original.

OR, where they the same?

Hi Richard,

See the link below:

Best tips are to have a fully charged battery and DO NOT switch off the camera until the upgrade process has completed.

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/20060808e.html

Likewise I took the liberty with this one:




I applied 'Lighten Shadows' & 'Darken Highlights' corrections of 20%.

Number three is a delight.

However to my taste, two and four might benefit from a little PhotoShop trickery. I think the front of the locomotive is too dark and the steam is too light. Therefore I would lighten the shadows and darken the highlights. A difficult balancing act because other elements of the picture are nicely exposed.

DOH!

Thank you David. I hope you and Nicky enjoyed your lunch?

I have enjoyed looking at yours & Neil's offerings and await Andrew's with interest.

I think we all have a slightly different emphasis: Neil picking out some bold colour, you capturing the decay and me trying to pick out the funny or ironic.