Thames Velo Road Race 2008

[dakid]

First attempt at cycling photography. Have learnt a lot, and will do several things different next time. Good fun though, although you gotta be damn quick to catch 'em!

Would be interested to know which out of photos two and three, and four and five you prefer; same pictures with different crops.

As usual, please offer any tips, advice or criticism you are able; I'd like to improve as much as possible! :)

No.1
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2382/2410296292_7b858e28d4_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2410296292/)

No.2
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2409463403_03e62f5dbb_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2409463403/)

No.3
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2227/2410296564_c300eccb1a_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2410296564/)

No.4
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2013/2409463733_48159572f2_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2409463733/)

No.5
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2157/2410296836_f3edfde35e_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2410296836/)

No.6
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2070/2409464499_bb20e29df2_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2409464499/)

No.7
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2409464843_a8fcd8ea03_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2409464843/)

No.8
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2409465017_a677261d2a_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindoyle/2409465017/)

[Byrhtnoth]

Great shots there dakid :thumbs: nice and sharp with nice colour.
I presume you used your 70-200 f2.8 L IS USM lens, as the more I see shots from this lens the more I am tempted.

no2 and no5 are the better crops imo, with no5 my fav :thumbs:

[dakid]

Thank you :D

Yeah, all with the 70-200, apart from panning shots which I got with my 24-105. I do love the 70-200, although I know I'm not really using it to its full potential! :)

[sbowler579]

Dont see much wrong with those, some great shots, the last one I like a lot and also number 3.:clap:

[P-E]

Great set of shots :thumbs:

[ekimeno]

Fantastic shots - very impressive. I like the cropped versions better because they're simply closer in on the subject.

The 70-200 is on my lust list.

[Magpie70]

Great action shots, like them all.
Mark:thumbs:

[tarmac_chaser]

Great shots, 6 & 7 are my faves nice contrast in 7.

I'm going to take some at a road race myself sometime, being a cyclist myself!

[Diego Garcia]

Lovely work. 3,4 and 7 are great for me.

[dakid]

Thanks guys .... very kind of you all to say such nice things! :)

[NorthernNikon]

No. 2's best for mine. I love the distance between the main subject and the blurred riders in the distance. Compositionally, I also think it works better as a landscape format than the portrait version.

My only criticism, and it's very minor, is that some of the out of focus elements look either like a bad cloning attempt or the bokeh isn't as nice as it could be. At first I thought that the effect was caused by heat coming off the tarmac but I noticed it further up the frame too. This is as I say minor and wouldn't stop me printing it out if I were you.

[whiteflyer]

A very nice set, you have there, #2 and #5 are the best crops to my eyes

[JPS]

Some really good photos on this thread. Really nice DOF and I prefer the portrait versions of the shots you mention in your opening post.

[dakid]

My only criticism, and it's very minor, is that some of the out of focus elements look either like a bad cloning attempt or the bokeh isn't as nice as it could be. At first I thought that the effect was caused by heat coming off the tarmac but I noticed it further up the frame too. This is as I say minor and wouldn't stop me printing it out if I were you.

That's interesting. Wonder why that'd be. Canon 40D with a 70-200mm L IS ... can't think why there'd be anything wrong with the bokeh, although I can kinda see what you mean. Must've just been atmospheric :)

[dakid]

Just thought ... it might be my sharpening I routinely apply. Might've done something to the bokeh ... will investigate when I get home tonight :)

[stanegg]

Great shots, i think shots 1 and 7 are the best. All of them are good m8.



http://www.markbowdensphotos.com

[Iain MacIntosh]

Hi, you done very well for a first time shoot.

1: good capture
2: crop some of the space on the right and and the bottom
3: crop just below the bottom of the wheel
4: crop which you did in 5
5: looks kind of 'fuzzy'
6: perfect
7: good capture, nice motion blur and face in focus. would try a lower angle though for the shot
8:angle again, would have went for the low inside shot squating to their right with a shortie, makes it more dramatic.

All in all though a very good set of images.

Iain

[dakid]

Thanks, stanegg and Iain, and thanks for the useful critique, Iain ... all sound like good points :)

WRT cropping, I did choose a 7x5 ratio for all of them to try and control the cropping a bit. Makes you think a little more about how you crop, I find. Dunno if it's always a good thing though!