A few points of emphasis to add to David's comments...
1. When shooting corners, get on the inside of the corner so you can
catch the bikes' leaning into the corner.
2. Focus on the eyes, as with any people shot. Usually more dramatic
with the lead rider in focus.
3. Get low, shoot looking up (as with the example he posted.)
As a race official, even when doing larger races, I was sympathetic to
photographers' requests to ride in one of the lead cars or chase cars.
If you can wrangle it, you can get some good shots, but it does have
the disadvantages that you can't choose your view angle, and of course
you would be shooting from a moving platform... Now that I have
started riding motorcycles I have stated thinking about the back of a
motorcycle as an interesting platform for race viewing. I officiated a
few races where there was a TV cameraman on the back of a motorcycle -
I thought the driver and cameraman were both crazy! Now I am not so
sure.
There are obvious differences depending on type of race. In the Time
Trials, you'll get shots of individual agony as the riders near the
finish line (one by one). In a "criterium", loops around a 1.0-1.5km
route, there will be lots of tight packs going around corners. In a
road race there is the chance for the shots of a pack appearing "out of
nowhere" as they crest a hill (best where you have some elevation
looking back on a series of rollers). Or shots of a pack going through
the countryside with a herd of cows looking on. It is hard to get in
position for more than one or two shots in a given race - you have to
know the route and know the alternates roads you can take that don't
impede on the route.
I have only ever seen one race as spectator and didn't have my camera
with me at the time; my few attempts at photography during races were
quick snaps I snuck in when I took a break from working the race as an
official. I envy your opportunity - hope you have fun with it.
Stan
On Feb 15, 2006, at 1:34 AM, David wrote:
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.
.
