Hi, I'm off to the velodrome in August to see some track cycling
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.
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!
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,
Stew.