Photographing the London Marathon

Raptor Mike

Raptor Mike

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Firstly I wasn't sure where to post this so please move if needed admin.

My wife is running in the London Marathon this year. She's running for a charity so I get to wait at a cheer station. I'd like to get some nice photos of her, if I even can, and some of the runners in costumes but have no experience in this genre. So I wondered what tips you folks would have. I have a Canon 60D with Tamron 17-50 f2.8, Canon 85mm f1.8, Sigma 10-20mm, Sigma 150-500mm, and a canon EX430II Speedlight.
Thanks in advance (y)
 
Getting a good place to stand is most of the battle, Canary Wharf offers the best opportunities IME, either on the main streets by Canada Square, where you can get two bites of the cherry by walking from the "down" to the "up" side, there's always a great atmosphere there but it can be crowded. Another good vantage point is Trafalgar Way, just as they clear the bend. Tends to be one of the least crowded areas and you can get a clear head on shot. As you can imagine, it is the bends that get bunged up because they provide the head on views, especially in the populated areas like Canary Wharf.

By far the best option, if you have a single person you wish to cover, is to use a bike to move from place to place.

Edit: just noticed you said you get to stand at a "cheer station" - I've never done that and wonder if that is actually your best option, you will almost certainly be side on, with a large number of other cheerers/photographers.

EATA: The other thing you will need to decide, especially if you'll only get a single opportunity is whether to use a fast or slow shutter speed, you are not likely to have the time to do both even if you have two bodies, and it is especially relevant if you are side on. Slow speed can add to the atmosphere but results are tricky, I'd stick with fast for your purposes.
 
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Ham said:
Getting a good place to stand is most of the battle, Canary Wharf offers the best opportunities IME, either on the main streets by Canada Square, where you can get two bites of the cherry by walking from the "down" to the "up" side, there's always a great atmosphere there but it can be crowded. Another good vantage point is Trafalgar Way, just as they clear the bend. Tends to be one of the least crowded areas and you can get a clear head on shot. As you can imagine, it is the bends that get bunged up because they provide the head on views, especially in the populated areas like Canary Wharf.

By far the best option, if you have a single person you wish to cover, is to use a bike to move from place to place.

Edit: just noticed you said you get to stand at a "cheer station" - I've never done that and wonder if that is actually your best option, you will almost certainly be side on, with a large number of other cheerers/photographers.

EATA: The other thing you will need to decide, especially if you'll only get a single opportunity is whether to use a fast or slow shutter speed, you are not likely to have the time to do both even if you have two bodies, and it is especially relevant if you are side on. Slow speed can add to the atmosphere but results are tricky, I'd stick with fast for your purposes.
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Awesome, thank you. She says the cheer station is 13 1/2 miles in and we get to see them towards the Isle of Dogs and back
 
I'd take the 150-600 and 17-50. Much of it will be where you can stand and how deep the crowds are. You need to bag your spot and then decide whether the 150-600 most likely the short end or the 17-50 at the long end will be the most useful. To reduce blur aim for a shutter speed of 1/640 or above.

If they're coming towards you both lenses may have uses, if panning, use the short lens.
 
OK, so 13 1/2 miles puts you on The Highway, it is straight so opportunities to highlight individuals or get full length images of any individual will be very limited. IIRC, there is a barrier down the middle to provide the two way running. Don't underestimate the size of the crowds (a) watching or (b) running. When thinking about the choice of lens remember that a long lens will give you shallow dof and so getting sharp focus on the person you want among so many moving bodies is a particular challenge. Personally I think I'd not worry too much about the images, as that will be constrained by the physical factors I've described, just enjoy the event. If your wife is carrying her phone, remember that there are phone location services you can use to let you track her progress which may help (test what you are going to use, some GPS tracking apps may drain battery - may be best to use the OS -Android/Mac- device location service).
 
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How competitive is she regarding her time?
If shes just fun running for charity theres nothing to stop her backing up and letting you take multiple shots. Just a thought.
 
Thanks for the help folks. I have to admit I think I'll be lucky to get anything decent due to the high number of people, and I hate being in large crowds, but I have to at least try. (y)
 
Shooting mass participation events is not as easy as it looks.
Thousands of people running past you so finding 1 specific person is going to be your first challenge so you say I will be at this point on the route so run on this side of the road and jump around looking a fool as you approach so I can stand a chance of spotting you or you will miss them.
Getting a decent spot, no idea with the London marathon but people start arriving early to get the curb side spots so you will need to be there before them to get the pick of locations, you don't want to be sat behind anyone as you just know they will block that one shot you are looking for.

Equipment, I use the canon 70-200 f/2.8 and wouldn't try to use anything wider. Give you the length so you can shoot them as they approach but 70mm you can get them pretty close too. So I would go hire something for this one unless you are confident you can get her with the 150-500 but at 150 you will probably have someone between you and her so miss the shot. If your not up to hiring then I would go with the 85mm.

Set up my go to settings are F/4 and 1/640 or faster just depends on the conditions. too slow a shutter speed and you get blurred photos, you can get away with down to 1/200 but faster the better to freeze the shot. you will have plenty of time to play with settings as the many thousand people run past you. Flash? if you have a battery pack it can work but normally recharge rate is not fast enough for mass participation running on batteries. I do use flash occasionally but only when its a multilap event as they will pass me a few times so no risk when I swap flashes due to overheating.
 
I’ve photographed my wife in several large participation events and, as above, finding a good spot is vital and if you can move about to other parts of the route to get other opportunities it helps.

When I arrive at a spot I take a number of test shots of entirely random participants to get my eye in and check I haven’t fluffed the camera settings.

Don’t know where the timing mats are for the London Marathon but they do help in tracking someone and calculating when and where they are likely to be.
 
I think (?) the marathon works on GPS tags, but I might be wrong.

As you might have guessed, I have rocked up there once or twice. Can I share one of my favourites? This one takes a slightly different approach to the hustle and bustle of the marathon

S0220747.jpg
 
Ham said:
I think (?) the marathon works on GPS tags, but I might be wrong.

As you might have guessed, I have rocked up there once or twice. Can I share one of my favourites? This one takes a slightly different approach to the hustle and bustle of the marathon
Click to expand...

London Marathon, like most, work on what is effectively RFID chips built into the race number. Runners cross ‘timing mats’ positioned around the course and the back end software then gives a guide to a runners position between timing points based on average pace.

Works reasonably well though there are limitations, such as those who run a ‘negative split’ race. They then will arrive earlier than expected at a specific point and you may miss them.
 
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SteveRob said:
London Marathon, like most, work on what is effectively RFID chips built into the race number. Runners cross ‘timing mats’ positioned around the course and the back end software then gives a guide to a runners position between timing points based on average pace.

Works reasonably well though there are limitations, such as those who run a ‘negative split’ race. They then will arrive earlier than expected at a specific point and you may miss them.
Click to expand...

Ah, that makes more sense, thanks.
 
My wife ran the London marathon a few years ago I dropped her off at the start then I made my way to the Victoria monument in front of Buck house on the mall and stayed there. Think I arrived there about 0730, plenty happening from that time onwards and lots to photograph .. I pre arranged with here which side of the road I wanted her to be at once she went under the 275 yard sign and I managed to pick her out and got some nice photos of her and the day plus all costume and celebrity runners
I used my 70-200 stood my ground for over 5 hours and didn't move,a very memorable day
 
Take a light plastic step with you, in a backpack if you can for ease, I've done a few Ironman events and when on the track taking shots is easy, if you're relegated behind the crowd-line because you don't have a photo pass you need to be tall, lucky (at the front) or on a step!

Also, try and find a spot where there's some good distance on a straight and go long with a monopod, this'll improve your DoF if you shoot as wide as you can with your longest lenses, isolating your wife and giving some nice bokeh.
 
andrewc said:
So...

How did she do?
How did you do?
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5hrs 40mins 13secs :D:banana:

She absolutely loved it. I managed to get shots of the runners on their way to and back from the Isle Of Dogs. The pavement was higher up than the road which helped a lot . I used the 85mm for the outgoing runners and the 17-50mm for them on their return. Unfortunately I didn't see my wife till quite late on her way out so that image wasn't very sharp, but got her on the way back. I've got loads of others, in including a couple of nice sharp Mo Farrah shots but I had a small op on Tuesday (hence the late post) nand wanted to get the Weldmar Hospicecare runners done first which are in my Flickr Album here (my wife is Mel):
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmc4GokP

Thanks everyone for the awesome help (y)
 
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andrewc said:
Well done both.

Two friends did it. One was 4m01, the other picked up an injury and finished in 6m30.
A third friend has entered next years ballot.
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My wife has entered next years too. She did it through a charity this year but I think she'd like to do it without so much fundraising pressure next year.
 
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