Help with tour-de-france (York)

Desmond

Desmond

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Desmond
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Hi I want to take a picture of the leader in the race and some following behind. I am trying to work out in advance a depth of field.
If I am 10 meters from the leader and I have F5.6 or 5.1 what would be a reasonable depth of field. There is a need for this because they will be traveling at a top speed of 5 meters a second and I will only have about 2 seconds to capture this ( assuming I don't get told to walk away by the French Gendarmerie who will be present).

Also can I edit the Exif file so that my name is attached to a digital picture. I have opanda basic free.


Thanks and I will post the results here if successful.
 
I can't give any technical advice as I am by no means an expert but I am in London for Mondays stage and I am more concerned with the expected huge crowds. In particular do I find a place on the route where there is less people or go to the finish line and fight the crowds for a brief view. It is difficult when people stick their arms out with point and shoot cameras or mobile phones to get a clear shot. I have brought my EF 24-105mm f4 and EF 100-400mm f4.5/5.5 and don't know which lens I should use!
I am sure you'll get some great pictures whatever.
 
Desmond I have been snapping the Tour today and I would not rely on being to technical as they will flash past in a matter of seconds but the huge parade that goes round before the cyclists is gives ample opportunities for pictures
get ther early (very Early) or you will be sat behind 5 thousand others
the crowds today have been totally mental (everwhere)
 
I was up at Masham yesterday. Crowded at Masham but a mile up the road loads of space. Get away from the "main" spots and there is loads of space.
 
Yes as Kev2010 puts it, there will be gaps. Going into London may not be a good idea. There are lots of villages between Cambridge and London ample car parking and if you are just outside a village few people. I think about 2 or 3 miles out as they will be still very close together and in single file. I noticed this watching Leeds. When they turn right onto a large stretch of road they will move over to the right for the turn so being on the opposite side gets a better view. There will be people standing up and leaning forward to take pictures but if you crouch down a bit you will be under their cameras and more at eye level with the bikers. Look for a website of trimmings and if you have a mobile phone with a radio and ear piece you can listen live to were they are. That's the idea I have. Also if I only have a few seconds to get the leader putting it onto repeat shoot will help. Good look and lets all see the results here. Desmond.
PS that website http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html looks good. I will try those values. I am a great believer in planning. Urgent last thing. Where is the sun going to be at that point?
 
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I went to Skipton yesterday and my first pro bike event, expected them to be quick but not 1st to last bike lasting about 30 seconds quick and that's it all over. I was going to go today to the Rochdale area but due to the stupidly early morning for skipton I over slept lol
 
Hi Guys. Unfortunately the sky was overcast and conditions were not perfect. I didn't want to go below F11 and I didn't want to go to ISO 1600 as this could be too granny. If idMouse is going to London. They close of the roads both sides an hour before so you can’t walk across the road. I would suggest just outside Saffron Walden as this is 20 miles from start and they will be more separated and that dam red car will be gone.
 
Desmond said:
Hi Guys. Unfortunately the sky was overcast and conditions were not perfect. I didn't want to go below F11 and I didn't want to go to ISO 1600 as this could be too granny. If idMouse is going to London. They close of the roads both sides an hour before so you can’t walk across the road. I would suggest just outside Saffron Walden as this is 20 miles from start and they will be more separated and that dam red car will be gone.
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I did a recon this morning and have chosen a spot near the Limehouse Link as they come out of the tunnel. Don't worry as I'll be there hours before they come through and I chose this place as I feel there won't be big crowds.
I hope you enjoyed the day even though the conditions weren't great for your camera.
 
kev2010 said:
I was up at Masham yesterday. Crowded at Masham but a mile up the road loads of space. Get away from the "main" spots and there is loads of space.
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But surely the whole point of pictures of the Tour de France is to capture the atmosphere,excitement & madness of it all. Most of the pictures I've seen posted on forums so far could have been taken at any local road race on a Sunday afternoon, the only thing that says TdF is the caption.

Take a small aluminium stepladder so you can get higher than the crowd or get up on something so you are, get chatting to someone who's house or business is on a crowded part of the route and ask if you can go in one of their upstairs rooms & get a shot out of the window. If you want shots of riders in a wilderness the best place to go is out to a rugged part of countryside & get a nice scenic with the peleton (nearly 200 of them if the scenic is early in the stage) complementing it.

The atmosphere has to come across in the pictures because it never will in the caption.

Stew.
 
Good point for an alternative opinion Stew.

I just don't like arms waving about in the image. :)
 
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kev2010 said:
Good point for an alternative opinion Stew.

I just don't like arms waving about in the image. :)
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And if you position yourself properly you won't get them. :)

You will get them to the side of the riders + the expressions in the crowd that give you the atmosphere of the event.

Graham Watson & other specialist snappers regularly go into upstairs rooms in peoples houses or somewhere with a bit of elevation to get a different viewpoint during the early classics like Paris-Roubaix (think of the shots you see along the length of the road with the peloton riding through a mass of supporters).

Great pictures rarely just happen, they just look like they did, normally a lot of thought went into them beforehand.

Stew.
 
Living in York and with local knowledge I put myself in Goodramgate which was on a bend. Knowing that Le Tour would have to ow down for this corner, I thought it would give me a better opportunity to capture the race leaders when they came out of the bend. I also used just a little bit of fill-in flash as the lighting was quite flat. I have posted a pic up in the Sports thread "Tour De France (stage two) - York" on iPhone at the moment so unable to post link.
 
Anyone see that rider in the Peleton smashing cameras and phones to the ground as he rode past people sticking them in his face, i would have done the exact same myself, the crowds were full of fecking idiots, how on earth the riders are able to race and overtake on those hill climbs like Holme Moss and a few others is beyond me, on numerous occasions the Peleton was forced to come to a halt, the whole race (except the leading 7 riders) was stopped for about 5 mins as a car couldnt get through with a spare wheel for a guy who had a puncture
 
Gary Coyle said:
Anyone see that rider in the Peleton smashing cameras and phones to the ground as he rode past people sticking them in his face, i would have done the exact same myself, the crowds were full of fecking idiots, how on earth the riders are able to race and overtake on those hill climbs like Holme Moss and a few others is beyond me, on numerous occasions the Peleton was forced to come to a halt, the whole race (except the leading 7 riders) was stopped for about 5 mins as a car couldnt get through with a spare wheel for a guy who had a puncture
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It's crazy! I saw the buttertubs pass section on TV and some of the spectators were lunatics, if it's not enough having to cycle up the long steep hill you have some nutter standing in your way supposedly encouraging you. Madness, I'm amazed there wasn't a collision.
 
Ah yes, all part of the madness that is Le Tour, never quite understood that level of fanaticism myself to be honest.

The riders have a saying about riding up the big climbs with all the fans then hurtling down the other side at lunatic speeds they 'take their brain out & put it in a box'. :D
Always makes me laugh that one.
 
I was up at High Bradfield and they opened the roads up to the crowd and there was still some stragglers and all the Police and Ambulances at the back of the peloton still to come through.
I rode in the Olympics road race (cheated, on a motorbike) and that was very very well stewarded. No one went anywhere until a police car right at the back of the race came through with a big Fini LED sign on it.
On a photographic side, had a 'mare with batteries so virtually no photos, although great time with the sprogs.
 
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