MX Racing

[jorgemonkey]

Well I decided to expand my sports horizon and I went out and shot a small MX race near my hometown. I ended up having a blast even though I was in the sun for 4 hours straight in 85-90 degree heat. I looooove water & sunscreen!

Well the cool thing about the race was they had a professional photog there, and he gave me his card and expressed an interest in seeing my images and if he likes them his company may (hopefully!!) hire me as one of their freelance photographers! That gave me an extra boost to get good shots.

Like my last few outings, I've gone out with a goal to try new things. I've been learning about shooting in manual with manual flash, and going to non-paid events like these give me a chance to practice what I've learned without really any pressure to get great results. Unlike last time I shot in manual mode, it was much easier for me to get my shutter, apeture, & flash power balanced to get the correct exposure. Here are a few examples, more on my site. Most of these images have just been resized & slightly sharpened, other than they are straight out of the camera.

All shot with either a Nikon D70 w/SB-600 and a D1h w/SB-800, and I was swapping a Sigma 28-70 F2.8 lens and a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens between cameras





These guys knew I was shooting, and wave or spray some dirt on me while they were smiling of course








Stupid cone, it got in my way...

[BLS439]

I'm not much of an MX fan, but I think your shots are pretty good. I like your MTB photo's better, but that could just be becuase MTB appeals more to me.

Sounds like may have just gotten yourself discovered! Good Luck!

I do have one question for you though. It sounds like to carried two bodies, but said you were changing the lenses between the two. Why? Or maybe, I misread and you kept changing cameras for shots.

--Dave

[jorgemonkey]

Thanks! It was my first time shooting MX and so I shot it the same way I shoot MTB.

I was doing both. For the most part I had the 70-200 mounted on my D1h since the autofocus is SOOO much faster. I try to use that one for the action shots, while using the D70 for more of the closeups of people or whatever, but sometimes (like with the panning shots) I want the autofocus of the D1h, so I'll put the 28-70 on it.

[SmartWombat]

Thanks! It was my first time shooting MX and so I shot it the same way I shoot MTB.

Knowing the sport is important in getting the right position for good photos.