Reading Racing pics (DH Mtb)

[dante]

Just a couple quick shots of the Reading DH race this weekend. am a bit bummed I couldn't shoot more, I didn't have time to shoot during practice, and my race was immediately before the Pros (and after all of the other Amateurs so I was stuck at the top for 2 hours). raced, almost threw up, then grabbed the camera for the last 15 or so riders. nothing spectacular, but hopefully not too bad for my first attempt. the tracking on the XTi (and Tamron 17-50) was amazing, can't imagine how good the better bodies and lenses must be........)

[Photo-John]

I just used an XTi for all of Sea Otter. I have a 1D and I never took it out of the bag. I think Canon may have done too good of a job with the XTi. That experience has made me decide to sell my 1D. It's just wasted money if I only take if out of the bag a few times a year. I'd rather have a second XTi. The 1D definitely has better auto focus and everyone knows about the frame rate. But I think 9 times out of 10, good technique will do the job. And I can buy 5 XTi bodies for the price of one EOS-1D. That's the key bit of data for me.

Your photos look pretty good - especially considering that you raced, too. That sunlight through the trees is tough to shoot in. It makes flash almost mandatory. I would recommend trying slower shutter speeds and panning for more background blur. Just smear that background to hell. It makes for fast-looking photos and minimizes the distraction of the hot spots.

[dante]

thanks, was using the built-in flash bumped up +2, 200 shutter speed, f5.6 and whatever corresponding ISO speed that was, usually either 200 or 400. under the trees it was actually the best shots I got, although I was able to shoot a couple riders before the race to get an idea of settings. also didn't help that this chute was STEEP and these guys were flying. I was panning just because I had to lock the AF, then follow them to hit the shutter. wasn't doing purposeful panning with a slow shutter speed as they would've been completely down the chute by the time the shutter closed.

any experience with using the High Speed Sync with an external flash? I understand that the power decreases, but I'm mostly looking to use it as a fill (under the helmet, etc) in daylight and don't mind bumping up the ISO. just looking for something faster than 200 (and here in the NE you have lots of fun issues with tree cover).

was definitely fun, and would've loved to just shoot the event, but that would mean missing it for racing... hopefully with the next event I'll have time during practice to get some shots in (was a loooooooong wait for the shuttle trucks), and during any nationals Experts race on Sat and Pros race on Sunday. perfect time to go shoot.

thanks again for your advice, between you and frasier I'm at least learning quite a bit.