Road Cycling Images

[jdanvers]

Is it ok to post links to external forums around here?? I ask because I suck with graphics software and can't for the life of me figure out how to get images small enough to post here (they have to be less than 300k or something like that?) Anyway...

These point to my flickr account and are some shots I grabbed at a bike race this past weekend. I'm still learning here... LOTS to learn and really just getting started with photography after nearly zero shooting for 20+ years. ( I used to shoot when I was in the Navy - but the equipment has changed so radically since then... wow! )

In a nutshell, I typically live in aperture priority mode, but decided to play with some of the images and set the camera to shutter priority to choke the shutter speed to (whatever) and then started shooting. Initially I went a little to slow (100th sec) and wasn't getting good results. I wound up getting pretty good results at around 160th - 200th sec shutter speeds and getting as smooth a possible panning with the targets.

Again - hope I'm not breaking any rules using my flickr links here... ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanver...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanver...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanver...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanver...n/photostream/


-=- jd -=-

[SmartWombat]

No, not breaking rules, but we do like to see the photos rather than links.
What graphics software have you got?
Do you use a PC or Mac?

Microsoft have a free downloadable image resizer in their 'powertoys' list.

[jdanvers]

Hey!! I figured out how to do it...

Actually, Paul, I saw another post of yours re: export from light room at 70% quality or something along those lines - so I went in and played a little bit. Viola! So... the images in question are straight off of the camera - no cropping, editing, nadda... They could have been tighter but thats what cropping is for. ;)

Now lets see if I can get them posted...

-=- jd -=-

[SmartWombat]

Your panning is looking good.

I like that second image, there is just enough of a a hint of the spokes.
The third one doesn't have enough spokes for me, looks almost as if the rims aren't connected.
First one I'm not sure about the cut off elbow.

The last one you posted on flickr looks good, partly the closer crop I think.


Are you using the centre focus point and auto focus?
I know the other focus points aren't as fast as the cross-type sensor in the centre, but you may be able to save cropping by using corner focus points to change the composition as you shoot.

[Photo-John]

I like the second image the best. the racer is sharp, the background is nice and streaked, and the wheels are blurred. I would actually like the background more smeared. But that's risky. I'm sort of a risk-taker as far as photography goes. The result is a lose a lot of shots. But the payoof is, when they're good, they're really good. A lot of my panning photos have some movement in the rider. This one I took on Monday. I took a whole bunch to get this one. It's not awesome. But I think it's usable. And it's got a nice feel of motion. If I had of shot faster I could have frozen her more. But then I would have lost some of the background blur.

It's always a game of compromises. Experiment, change settings all the time, and don't be afraid to break the rules.

The photo was taken in manual exposure mode with the Olympus E-520 and 12-60mm lens at 1/40th second.

[jdanvers]

Paul... oh yeah - your right - I posted the wrong image here (last one different than whats out on flickr... oops! lol!! ) I just checked my original and that is indeed a crop job. Auto-focus... yeah and while most times I'm ~relatively~ happy with it, a lot of times it frustrates the hell out of me because it isn't fast enough. Obviously I'm demanding quite a bit of it... and honestly, I'm not sure what mode I'm using - still learning about the various modes that the camera has. Sometimes I just think about reverting back to "the bad old days" of using my old Nikon F2 and just pre-focusing on a spot and waiting for the guys to cross that point... the AF can really spoil you. I figure that I'll continue to use this camera for the foreseeable future as I still have lots to learn and am having fun, but I do find myself sometimes wishing that I had spent the extra $ and picked up the D200 (the D300 hadn't been released yet when I got the D80 that I have). From what I've read the 200 & 300's both have faster AF (along with way faster shooting rates 5+ FPS vs. my 3... {sigh} ) Thats alright - this is proving to be a great little camera to learn on! ;)

Photo-John - 1/40th second 'eh? That shot came out really good! Regarding my panning and streaking the background - I moved from my original location on the course to put the trees into the background to try and capture the effect better as there wasn't anything other than very overcast sky and nondescript background when I first started playing around with the shutter priority mode.

Appreciate the feedback guys.

-=- jd -=-

[Photo-John]

Sometimes I just think about reverting back to "the bad old days" of using my old Nikon F2 and just pre-focusing on a spot and waiting for the guys to cross that point... the AF can really spoil you.

Pre-focusing is still your best bet. That's what I did for the photo I posted. Continuous AF has gotten really, really good. But I've found roadracing to be one of the toughest subjects to shoot. There's not much to focus on and the relative speed (because you're so close) is super fast. I think pre-focusing and timing them well is the best technique. Mountain biking usually a lot slower. 1/40th of a second would never work for roadracing. 1/60th might, though! I usually shoot all kinds of shutter speeds and check them on the LCD. That's the beauty of digital - you can check your results immediately!