Tour de France by an amateur

**Franglais** · 07-26-2009, 11:18 AM

You want to see the Tour de France - watch it on TV. The coverage is a work of art, especially the helicopter views.

Down in the field with no press pass it's a different story - crowds of people, the cyclists who flash past at 25 miles/hour. I decided to do the final day as an exercise with the D60 + consumer lenses.

I chose to cover the start at Monterault-fault-Yonne. The locals told me that just outside the town the route went up a steep hill with a hairpin bend - just what I needed to slow the cyclists down and break the usual group into a line where it's easier to pick out individuals.

It was a long walk (you walk a LOT following the Tour) but I found a spot with nobody else. When the group arrived - Contador was on my side of the road, he rode over the concrete hump in the road just in front of me and passed within 15 feet.

All pictures done on the D60 in Sports program with the Sigma 55-200 HSM.

**jetrim** · 07-26-2009, 01:54 PM

Love the second and third shot! I follow this race every summer and you're right, the TV coverage is generally spectacular.

**Photo-John** · 07-26-2009, 02:16 PM

Charles-
Thanks for sharing these! They're neat enough that I posted links for this thread on Twitter and our Facebook fan page. Like a lot of photographers who are also cyclists, someday I would love to shoot at least one day of the Tour - especially in the mountains. I don't shoot much roadracing, but I sure do love it when I do shoot it. It's impossible to comprehend the power and excitement of the peleton without witnessing it in person.

Your photos look great! Especially the one of Contador passing right in front of you. Very well done! I don't really know anything about the Sigma 55-200mm HSM lens, but you sure made it look good! Were you pre-focusing or using continuous focus? What focus point or points were you using? And what exposure settings did the Program mode choose? I'm sure other photographers would like to know this stuff as well. In my experience, roadracing is one of the toughest subjects there is to shoot. And your photos look great. Congratulations and thanks again for sharing them!

**Asylum Steve** · 07-26-2009, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by Franglais

I decided to do the final day as an exercise with the D60 + consumer lenses.

Heh heh, this year I was actually waiting for you to post these, Charles. Great shots as always...

**Old Timer** · 07-26-2009, 02:51 PM

It's one thing to follow it on the internet or watch on TV. But to actually witness and photograph the Tour, Priceless!

**Frog** · 07-26-2009, 03:38 PM

Great shots, Charles.
I usually watch as much as I can on television but it starts so early in the morning here on the West coast and I'm usually busy when they do the re-runs later in the day so didn't catch much this year.
They sure seem to pick scenic routes and I love seeing the different county sides and the unique french architecture as the roll through.
I'm afraid tv is the best way to watch and hate to admit it but live its like here they come and there they go or so I'd think.

**Franglais** · 07-26-2009, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by Photo-John

Charles-
Thanks for sharing these! They're neat enough that I posted links for this thread on Twitter and our Facebook fan page. Like a lot of photographers who are also cyclists, someday I would love to shoot at least one day of the Tour - especially in the mountains. I don't shoot much roadracing, but I sure do love it when I do shoot it. It's impossible to comprehend the power and excitement of the peleton without witnessing it in person.

Your photos look great! Especially the one of Contador passing right in front of you. Very well done! I don't really know anything about the Sigma 55-200mm HSM lens, but you sure made it look good! Were you pre-focusing or using continuous focus? What focus point or points were you using? And what exposure settings did the Program mode choose? I'm sure other photographers would like to know this stuff as well. In my experience, roadracing is one of the toughest subjects there is to shoot. And your photos look great. Congratulations and thanks again for sharing them!

As on spectator said - 3 hours wait for one minute of excitement. There are other things going on - there is a whole fleet of publicity vehicles from the sponsors that go along the route an hour before the race. And when things really get under way the tension mounts - cars and motorcycles rush past and when they get close you hear and see the helicopters.

Sports program on the D60 seems to do the following:

- Auto-aperture mode at full aperture. The camera is looking for shallow depth of field and a fast shutter speed to stop movement
- Auto-ISO starting at 200 ISO
- Continuous focussing mode (only way to get it on the D60)
- Subject tracking focussing (remember the D60 has only 3 focussing points)
- High sharpness, saturation and contrast normal

Perhaps better than I would have done myself. I chose the focussing zone - or rather I didn't - I told the camera to find the closest subject. The 55-200 is a little consumer lens but it performs just fine. The focussing is pretty fast - the camera chose to follow-focus on a motorcycle going past then snapped back just in time for the closest image of Contador.

**Mimi111** · 07-27-2009, 08:36 AM

Wow! Fantastic images! I love the buildings in the background of the first shot.
Thanks for sharing these.

***francois*** · 07-27-2009, 02:36 PM

More, more, more photos please!

Your second photo shows the quads of Andy Scheck (in white) and that's the first time I've really seen that. He finished second this year that photo is a glimpse into his physique and preparation.

Andy Schleck looks like a POW survivor when he has his shirt off. He has no upper body fat at all and it looks scary. That, coupled with those legs produced one of the highlights of this year's tour.

fc

**Franglais** · 07-28-2009, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by francois

More, more, more photos please!

Your second photo shows the quads of Andy Scheck (in white) and that's the first time I've really seen that. He finished second this year that photo is a glimpse into his physique and preparation.

Andy Schleck looks like a POW survivor when he has his shirt off. He has no upper body fat at all and it looks scary. That, coupled with those legs produced one of the highlights of this year's tour.

fc

OK. PJ was asking about the focus. Let's look at the sequence.

I used Sports program. From the start of the sequence to the end I keep the shutter release lightly pressed so that the camera continuously refocussed on the subject advancing towards me. I’m concentrated on framing and zooming out as they get closer. From time to time I squeeze off a single shot – there are lots of things that get in the way and usually I get one good shot at one precise moment.

0s The cyclists come into view. Warm-up shot
2s I can see the Maillot Jaune (Contador). Several more warm-up shots
9s Despite the traffic I'm locked-onto Contador and now they're head-on. First serious shot (first image this post)
9s The motorbike has gone and I have a clear view of Contador and Scheck. Shoot (second image this post)
11s Even better view. Shoot (original post)
12s Disaster. The motorbike passes right in front of me and the camera follows it. The motorbike goes out of frame and I do a shot that is completely out-of-focus. But you can see him looking at the conctere divider (third image)
14s The camera switches back to the closest subject – Contador. Another motorcycle is coming through but the camera is still locked onto the riders. Shoot (fourth image)
15s I hear Contador go over the concrete divider, the motorbike passes in front of me and just as it's going out of frame I get THE SHOT with the riders lined up. For the pixel peepers among the audience, this is a pixel-level cut of the original image with the consumer 55-200 at widest aperture..