Gorrick MTB: Tunnel Hill

schpleep

schpleep

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Lee
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I spent the day at the 2nd of the Gorrick Spring Series races. My intention was to go and use the "captive audience" to have a play with my new pocket wizards.

Unfortunately my 580ex went a bit nuts and was having none of it! Every time I put it on the hot-shoe adapter all the buttons on the back stopped working. It worked before and, since I've come back, it's started working again... "WTF?" springs to mind!

So, I was limited to having a play around with the Canon IR/Line of sight set-up. (580master:420slave) It's okay but the limited range sucks, and line of sight for the IR through trees is delicate game!

Anyways, here a few of what I got to see what you think:

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


All are master/slave lit except #5 which is on-camera only. All shot as jpeg with a touch extra contrast and saturation added in-camera (still a Velvia fan at heart ;o)

Your crits/comments are appreciated.

Lee
 
Nice pics, I was there racing with a couple friends and noticed these through google.

Don't suppose I could be cheeky and ask if you have any pics of riders 804, 895 & 847?
 
they look great on my screen, really like em with the forest well exposed and the riders nicely lit. Good effort
 
Thanks guys. Glad you like them.

In the interest of balance though; is there anything you don't like/think I could do better next time?

Thanks
 
They are all well exposed which considering your pocketwizard plight is good work. #4 and #6 attract because of the composition, the way the riders emerge from the dark background, and the framing of the foreground out-of-focus trees.

For the others, I'd say they were a bit static and distant. How about trying some close in wide angle stuff, with 2nd curtain flash to get some movement in there.

Tobers
 
Thank Tobers,

Nice to meet you last night. It's interesting to see which ones other people prefer too, my personal choice from these seven would be #7 for the colour palette and framing.

I know what you mean about the distant thing, and to be honest I probably did get carried away and spend too much time in the one spot. Normally I'd move around a little more, and change lens a bit more too.

For example and discussion; here's some (non-xc racing admittedly) I made earlier, wider, lower, flashed:


Criterium Racing, Guildford


Fort William DH World Cup
 
In the interest of balance though; is there anything you don't like/think I could do better next time?
Click to expand...

I personally don't like shots where the rider is looking straight at the camera. The rider should be looking where they are going.
 
Hi Lee,
I love the first and last shots - simply because theres more of the scene being set. I would love to be able to take images like that but alas have only just got round to getting a proper flash and have no money to get any triggers for it...

I'm interested that you shoot in jpeg and process in camera - why not go raw? Or is that too much like a faff to have to process each image manually etc...

If you're ever coming up Newcastle way (I moved away from Edinburgh) to take photos of bike races then it'd be good to meet up - you'll be amazed at how much of what Seb taught me I have forgotten!
 
I love no. 7. :love:
 
Thanks for the crit guys:

Richpips: I agree, looking at camera shots can feel "posed". It does depend on the individual riders too ie. you're less likely to get a fast rider at the front of the pack being distracted by a camera. Further back through pack, and race categories, the guys that are genuinely in it for the fun tend to be looking around (and even smiling!) a little more.

Scotland: Hey Stewart, I was shooting jpeg for the logisitics. Even batching in LR it's going to take a while to process 1000+ images. I set a Velvia-esque Picture Style with some sharpening in camera and they came out alright. I'd definitely shoot RAW for pretty much any other occasion though.

Newcastle eh? You been to Kielder yet? I've always fancied it but never stopped as it's too close to Scotland if you see what I mean.

Tobers: My Guildford shots are from the year before. When it didn't rain! The wet does add some extra "grit" to your set. I really like the rain/wheels shots on page#7 of you gallery (20080709-6W2D5340). I migth need to discuss you gallery set-up with you too...
 
Kielder is good and the route across the border to Newcastleton is supposed to be great - its being worked on at the moment. I'm hoping to get up there in the summer to take photos in the hills...

Most of my biking takes place at night at the moment - too cold to stop for photos!
 
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