Help with DH/FR Mountain biking

suggs

suggs

Messages
2,045
Name
Harry
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all

Im taking D200 out with me a lot more recently on the mountain bike as im fortunate to get to ride with some talented riders and in between riding myself im trying to come to grips with taking shots of fast moving riders..

Bellow are a few from the weekend, was struggling with the lighting going from sunny to a flat silver/grey every other min:thinking: im using a D200 with a 18-70, set to full manual mode in Raw with no flash and editing on Lightroom 3 on a Mac.

Keep beating myself up a bit as dont seem to be able to get the rider pin sharp and would also like to get the riders to "pop" at bit more and i keep thinking the pics are not bright enough and not convinced by the white balance in some shots either, am i waisting my time without a flash ?..

any advice most welcome and feel free to have an edit if you so desire (y)

1

DSC_3614 by harrylessman, on Flickr

2

DSC_3584 by harrylessman, on Flickr

3

DSC_3569 by harrylessman, on Flickr

4

DSC_3437 by harrylessman, on Flickr

5

DSC_3421 by harrylessman, on Flickr

6

DSC_3223 by harrylessman, on Flickr
 
I think these have great potential. Ill try and offer some help..

Do you know much about off-camera flash? That's how you'll get them closer to the ones in the mags. Fill and separation lights.

Your timing is good but you're right they aren't sharp enough. What are your settings? ISO, aperture and shutter. How do you focus?
 
thanks for reply, currently only have onboard flash :(

i have the focus set on continues shooting so tend to fire off 2 or 3 shots at a time, focus point is set to the diamond shape on the D200 not sure of the technical name..

all no flash

1st shot
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/4.5
Focal Length 22 mm
ISO 800

2nd
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 27 mm
ISO Speed 500

3rd
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 22 mm
ISO Speed 500

4th
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 320

5th
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 320

6th
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 320
 
Are you panning with these shots, or trying to catch them mid air ? ? ? You have exposed for the scene but not the dark riders. You need fill flash to illuminate the riders without blowing out the highlights in the background.
 
Don't be afraid to get that ISO up more often, 800/1000 will give you that all needed increase in shutter speed. It doesn't look like 1/200th is fast enough for these guys. Have you tried pre focussing on the ground and grabbing the shot when the riders fly through your point of focuse?
 
Yes I'm panning, I pick up the rider as the approach the jump and follow them through taking a shot or two before and after my target area. So I guess i really need a flash gun to light up the rider ? Could I spot meter for the rider ?, although would that result in to slow a shutter speed ?

Thanks
 
Ryan, I'm planning on pre focusing next time I'm out to see what I get with it, will try cranking the iso up but the D200 dosent do to well above 6-800

Thanks
 
How are you focusing your shots? I find myself using Al Servo pretty much all of the time when shooting DH. Not sure if its the same for Nikon but its the "tracking focusing" setting. Takes a while to get used to when some of the speed demons are caning it down the tracks but once you've got the hang of it you should see a massive increase in your work.

I would try and get a couple of cheap flashes and some eBay slaves/triggers if you haven already. A lot of the time your shooting in the woods where the light isn't great at the best of times.

Good job on the shots you've posted. Liking the style of the rider in the last shot. Keep at it and keep posting!

Dave
 
thanks

yep same as you i have it on the tracking mode, i do need to try some flashes etc and will look into getting some, as im also a rider im limited a bit on how much kit i can take with me. Think i need to have a few days where i dont take the bike and just get on the camera all day. Hard choice when i love both hobbies although combining the two is great..

hers another shot of Joe, im lucky to be able to ride with some very talented riders just i need to up my skills with the camera (and the bike lol)


DSC_3687 by harrylessman, on Flickr

and one of me


DSC_2641 by harrylessman, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Some good photos suggs but your last one would definitely have benefited from a bit of off camera flash to highlight the rider and make him stand out more.
 
yeah defo, the last one above in red ^ is me that someone else took on my camera, now and again i do get s shot or two of me riding, have been trying to teach my riding buddies to use the D200 :)
 
suggs said:
Ryan, I'm planning on pre focusing next time I'm out to see what I get with it, will try cranking the iso up but the D200 dosent do to well above 6-800

Thanks
Click to expand...

Noisy, sharp images are better than blurry ones. You need that shutter speed!
 
ryandavid__ said:
1/500th and up, I'd say. Someone more experienced at shooting downhill biking might be able to tell you better.
Click to expand...

And obviously if you start using off camera flash you can go way lower than that.

I'm typically at 1/200th to start with and then get down as low as 1/40th with some panning shots! Lots of trial and error though according to riders speed and ambient light.
 
Without off camera flash for now so shall have the lens wide open, set speed at f1/500 for starters and then adjust ISO to suit ?

With off camera flash do you place the flash on a stand close to the action and fire with a trigger?

Thanks all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top