For the mountain bikers in the mix

[berrywise]

This last weekend a few friends and I drove up to Duluth, Minnesota to attend the Greenman Festival. Along with a bunch of national and local bands they also had a downhill mountain bike race which I took some photos with. Was even able to use my new (to me) Vivitar 285hv flash which worked like a champ for the most part.

Hope you enjoy!

[berrywise]

[mtbbrian]

Good Stuff!
Even if they are racing on hills, and not mountains.. ;)
I especally like the first one, great job with the pan! I like the crash sequence too, good presentation. The second one has good line, for your to follow.
Had you posted these in the Critique Forum, I just might have made them the next "Featured Photo"!
I posted a new photo of some dirt jumping over on the Critique Forum.
Brian
GO LANCE!

[Photo-John]

Those are really nice. Looks like the overcast skies worked out great for you. The flat light and super-saturated colors are really tasty. I like that last one a lot. It's not an obvious shot. But with the flamed-out jersey and that nice background, it worked out really nicely.

[berrywise]

Appreciate the comments. I think I got the results that I wanted and was pleased with my effort, hardes part is getting prefocused for the jumping photos and still having a shallow depth of field. My lens is pretty darn slow in focusing.

When I was up there it was so hazy and overcast I was a little bummed at first because I had envisioned some nice blue skies backdrops with the city of Duluth and Lake Superior in the background but the flat lighting did come in handy on getting some decent exposures and not a lot of shadows on the riders themselves.

Now to get my camera cleaned one of these days. The amount of cleaning little dust spots when doing the slower panning photos was horrible. Anyone doing that themselves on their DSLR or should I look for a place to do that locally?

[Photo-John]

I think most Canon users do their own sensor cleaning. I've heard that Nikon discourages their camera owners from doing it, though. I'm not sure why that is. Cleaning my 1d and 10D is pretty simple. I have a huge bulb blower and the camera has a cleaning mode that locks the mirror open so you can blow out the dust. Don't use canned air or a brush! Giottos makes a big, powerful bulb that should blast anything out of there without touching or damaging your sensor. You should probably check with other Nikon owners to make sure there's no technical reason to avoid cleaning the sensor yourself.

[natatbeach]

love the sequential shot...nice!