Salford Quays Triathlon - warning image heavy

[Steve]

Recently there was this years Manchester Triathlon which took place at the Salford Quays.

The event ran throughout the day starting off at 7am with three main events, the men’s open, then the women’s open and then the elitists which contained many international athletes. Due to time restraints I only had chance to shoot some of the men’s swim and cycling plus the cycling section of the women’s event.

Below are a few of the shots that I think show the atmosphere of the event.

All pictures shot with Canon 20D and 70-200L lens, some with the addition of a Kenko Pro 300 1.4X converter. All in .jpg and post production done using Adobe Photoshop CS.


Waiting for the start.
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3146.jpg

The mad dash.
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3177.jpg

On to the bikes
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3242.jpg

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3285.jpg

There was plenty of determination
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3310.jpg

Some stuck in packs.
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3316.jpg

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3325.jpg

While others raced alone.
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3441.jpg

[Steve]

The women where not any less determined.


http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3359.jpg

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3630.jpg

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3488.jpg

Love the reflections in this shot.
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3623.jpg

After the bike ride they still has the run to come, I wonder if that’s what she was thinking?
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3679.jpg

Finally the sun came out and the lighting fell just right for this shot.
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/steve/pics/Triathlon/IMG_3694_01.jpg


I’ll spare you from the other 250+ pictures ;)

I hope you enjoyed them and thanks for looking :)

[petemc]

Great shots. I'm sure that woman was thinking, "Did I leave the oven on?" :D

[Marcel]

If she wasn't then she damn well should have been :D
Cracking shots sah, Not too keen on the first three. Much prefer the close ups of the riders.

Loving the reflection in those sunglasses. Very envious of the detail there.

[matty]

good stuff steve, as Marcel says, great detail!

[CT]

I like no 863. There's a great interplay of angles in that shot.

Good thighs too! :icon_cool

[IanC_UK]

I like no 863. There's a great interplay of angles in that shot.

Good thighs too! :icon_cool

Agree with that ! ;)

Number 236 looks like she is wishing she hadnt started ! lol

As usual excellent shots though :)

[fingerz]

Nice shots.

Was it cloudy or sunny when you took these? I ask because some of them look like it was cloudy yet the pictures look like ISO 100 and in my experience clouds + ISO 100 + Action shots (and therefore high shutter speeds) = pitch black frames.

I seem to constantly suffer from not being able to get high enough shutter speeds to use ISO 100 on typical 'British' weather days.

So basically what I'm asking you is... Could you tell me what settings you used for a few of those shots (preferably the cycling ones) please? :)

[Steve]

For the majority it was either overcast, raining or cloudy. Towards the end, mainly the last few women pictures the sun did pop out.

Most shot at iso 100 or 200, at apatures between f5.6 and f11. Shutter speeds from 1/125 upwards. All shots underexposed by between 1/3 to 2/3rd's as I was shooting in JPG and didn't want any blown highlights. This also allows me to maintain slightly faster shutter speeds.

The last tip to using slowish shutter speeds with zoom lenses is to practice your panning technique. Its definately a skill that will improve the more you do it.

Hope that helps answer some of your questions? :)

[fingerz]

Cheers Steve. Much appreciated.

Just need to find an event to practice at now.