I'll switch lurking mode off for a moment and try to offer some advice.
</lurk mode>
Short version:
Road cycling is a lot like car racing. Shoot from the same spots you
would in a car race (exits of corners, etc) with a fast shutter speed
and shallow DOF. The only difference is the lack of a windshield and a
full face helmet makes it easier to see the emotion of the participant.
A lot of otherwise average photos of bicycle racing are made great by
the emotion expressed by the rider. Fast shutter speed (although motion
blur works too), shallow DOF, emotion are the basic elements (IMHO) of a
good cycling photo.
Long, detailed and specific version:
My first bit of advice is finish line photos generally suck unless
you're able to get some head on shots of the final sprint or the solo
winner's victory celebration. This is easy to do at most smaller races,
you just have to talk to the race promoter first to get permission and
have a long enough lens to have time to get out of the way. You tend to
get some really good emotion on the face of the riders at the end of
races. Shoot with a long (200mm+) lens with shallow DOF (probably the
same thing you do with race cars, right?).
Being that the Tour of California is the biggest cycling race in the US
it won't be that easy so unless you're able to get access you'll most
likely be shooting from the sidelines almost perpendicular to the
action. Shooting from this angle doesn't leave much emotion to be seen
and it makes it look like a bunch of people riding their bikes. If you
get stuck here, shoot high shutter speeds as the come at you then switch
to slow (1/60th) as they go by to blur the background (helps a lot to
have 2 cameras, one wide lens, one long or just get good at changes
lenses fast).
You might want to head down a few blocks to the final 2 corners and sit
right at the exit of the corner (cyclists use the same lines that a race
car would) and get some head on shots there. At that point there will be
a lot of fighting for position going into the final sprint. This is
probably your best bet, people won't think to go down a few blocks away
from the finish. You can shoot lower speeds to get some motion blur if
you want but I try not to experiment when they only come by once.
The time trial is a better opportunity. See if you can wander around the
pit area and take shots of riders warming up, getting interviewed by the
press, etc. Most races I've been to have allowed you to wander around
the pit but each team has it's own fenced in area that you can't enter
so don't expect any close ups with Floyd Landis or anything.
As for photos on the course it's better to be positioned later in the
course when the riders are starting to show some pain. If you're going
to be at stage three, check out the map because the start is fairly
close to the finish so you might be able to switch back and forth to
catch the riders you want to get. As with the finish line photos, go for
a longer lens with shallow DOF and look for emotion.
All that being said, this is my best example of emotion in a road bike race:
http://www.nwracephoto.com/PhotoGalleries/Portfolio/images/Focused.jpg
David
<lurk mode>
John Francis wrote:
The (cycling) tour of California is coming to San Jose next week,
so I thought I might take the opportunity to pop out and try my
hand at photographing something moving a little slower than the
racecars I usually shoot.
I'd appreciate suggestions from anyone (?Frank?) used to this kind
of subject as to what is a good shutter speed and focal length to use.
I'll probably be at or near the finish line for one stage, then see
if I can get close to the start of the next day's time trial stage.
.
