London Prepares, Olympic Test Events.

Great shots Stew, love them all really, and can't wait for the Olympics proper to start. What a shot of Hoy and Bauge, with Bauge nearly coming inside the sprinter's line (illegal of course;)), and Hoy using his strength to muscle him out. The first shot of the swimming is awesome.
Any idea which events you will be covering in July?
 
canvasideas said:
Love all the photos.....amazing.

Russ.
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Cheers Russ, thanks for taking the time to comment. (y)

andy700 said:
Great shots Stew, love them all really, and can't wait for the Olympics proper to start. What a shot of Hoy and Bauge, with Bauge nearly coming inside the sprinter's line (illegal of course;)), and Hoy using his strength to muscle him out. The first shot of the swimming is awesome.
I must admit I miss the good old days of track sprinting with all the elbowing & other shenanigans that went on, it's been tamed down a lot now (spoilsports) :D
Any idea which events you will be covering in July?
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None probably! :LOL:

Stew.
 
What a great set, this is something I aspire to, to get a set like this (y)
 
Many thanks Kelly :)

Makes things a whole lot easier when you're shooting top class athletes I think. Just point the camera & press the button. :)

Stew.
 
I think they are all very good Stew, but for me I think No4 has a special quality...Thanks for sharing.
 
teggs said:
ouchy at no9
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Hi Rich,
Ouchy indeed, they certainly do take some skin off when they slide along the track.
Not really sure what the cause of this crash was, the string of riders had gone past me following the derny (pacing motorbike) when I heard him going down, his back wheel must have hit the track with some force because the tub has been ripped off the wheel but is still inflated (not sure if you're familiar with track racing but tubulars or tubs for short are very lightweight outer tyre covers with an innertube sewn inside & glued to the rim) normally a real job to rip off the rim even when deflated...unless the mechanic didn't stick it on properly of course (unlikely) but slapped wrists if he didn't I bet. :D
It didn't stop Matt Crampton for long he was up & racing in the re-run & although he didn't win, looked none the worse for wear riding wise. :)

Tugster said:
I think they are all very good Stew, but for me I think No4 has a special quality...Thanks for sharing.
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Thank's Tug,
Yes I always like an elation/despair shot myself. It's the way of the world I suppose, for every winner there has to be a loser & great if you're lucky enough to get both sets of emotions in the same frame. :)

Roland200 said:
Stunning shots, the Velodrome set are outstanding.
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Cheers Paul,
The Olympic velodrome is a great venue, nice & bright & the quality of the riders in truth made it fairly easy to get some nice shots. :)

All the best,
Stew.
 
Hi, I'm off to the velodrome in August to see some track cycling :D

I would like to take my DSLR with me:

1. Do you know if I'll be allowed in with my camera if I'm just a regular spectator? Hadn't thought that I wouldn't be but then I saw reference to being accredited in your posts.

2. What are your top tips for shooting in the London velodrome? Apertures/shutter speeds etc? It actually looks quite good light in there?!

Thanks, Adrian.
 
adey_g said:
Hi, I'm off to the velodrome in August to see some track cycling :D

I would like to take my DSLR with me:

1. Do you know if I'll be allowed in with my camera if I'm just a regular spectator? Hadn't thought that I wouldn't be but then I saw reference to being accredited in your posts.

2. What are your top tips for shooting in the London velodrome? Apertures/shutter speeds etc? It actually looks quite good light in there?!

Thanks, Adrian.
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Hi Adrian,
I think I read somewhere that camera equipment can be brought in to the Olympic venues by spectators providing it fits in a bag no bigger than
30x20x20cm.

When I shot these pictures at the London Prepares events spectators were shooting from their seats & from the first balcony walkway right next to the accredited photo positions that were on the 1st balcony (about 6 or 7 rows back from trackside), don't know whether you will be allowed to stand there during the actual Olympics (I suspect not):( so you will be limited to shooting from your seat I guess.

Bit difficult to give any exact tips regarding shooting the cycling as not sure where you'll be sitting or if you'll be allowed to tarry awhile anywhere whilst innocently walking to the toilets around the balcony with camera in hand ;).

I suppose the best thing to do from your seat is to try some side on panning with varying shutter speeds (the slower shutter speeds in the piccy's here were around 40th.sec) but you would still get a bit of movement in the wheels at 500th.sec for a more guaranteed sharp rider, also you could try going even slower than 40th. for some really creative blur, I saw some great pictures taken at very slow shutter speeds (1/4sec or slower I would guess) that were just a sweep of swirling colours, (you do need to shoot quite tight for this kind of shot to work well I find) ..really arty & really beautiful I thought. Another thing from your seat is to shoot some crowd reaction shots, the brit fans will be going crazy every time a Team GBR rider is on track so you will get some great pictures that show what the atmosphere was like.
Also I quite like shots taken from in the crowd that show all the fans on their feet at the end of a race giving their hero a standing ovation, if you time it right you can get the rider in sharp focus on the track with a sea of out of focus waving hands & cheering fans....very dramatic! :D Also don't forget a wide angle shot if you have the lens for it showing the whole velodrome with riders on track.

Light levels were good at the velodrome around 640th.sec at f2.8. ISO800 & there was talk that they would be better for the Olympics. Lighting was daylight balanced although you do get a slightly yellowish caste on the riders reflected from the track, I found a colour temperature setting of 5200k to be about right.

Luck, (y)

Stew.
 
Hey Stew, thanks for the response. I got AA tickets so guess I'll be somewhere near the front/finish line - I'm a cycling nut as well as a tog :D

I've been looking around and whilst I can't find the Olympics spectator photography policy I did see reference to "large photographic equipment (including tripods) on the prohibited items list. Other photography sites report the camera bag size you do, so I think I should about squeeze my 70-300mm VR in there - glad the lights good as its only f5.6!

General principle is that you don't ruin things for people sat near you, which is fair enough I guess! Really looking forward to it so don't want things to be spoiled by worrying about if my kit will get confiscated!

Cheers,

Adrian
 
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