Pearl Izumi road race series Canary Wharf - shooting advice

[seanoevil]

Hello all,

After some advice on what kit and or settings I should use for the road race that is taking place at Canary Wharf tomorrow evening.

Weather is set fair, much like today if the weatherman is to be trusted.

My kit that I am taking comprises a Sony A65, and a Tamron 70-300 USD lens.

I am certainly a beginner when it comes to taking fast moving action shots, but having watched the race last year, there are some good vantage points to try and get some decent photos.

So, really just after some advice or tips on settings to use in order to try and capture hopefully at least one good shot!

Many thanks in advance!
S.

 

[macs]

I went to a pro race in Nottingham last year and found that if you want to freeze the action in the shot then you need a fast shutter speed, say 1/250th. If you're panning then 1/50th will be fine.

I'd maybe try centre weighted metering so the camera isn't confused by light shining off buildings behind the riders as they are what you want ti expose for.

And an open aperture so as you blur the background and can achieve those fast shutter speeds.

My shots from last year are no where near brilliant but feel free to check them out on my Flickr page.

Have fun and don't forget to actually watch some of the race through your eyes not the viewfinder.

 

[huffy]

I attended this event in Colchester last week and had the focus on continuous setting and played with aperture and shutter priority.

The light was very poor at Colchester but check were the sun is coming from as if you can get caught out as the sun moves behind buildings and the light drops very quickly.

Kit wise I used a 18-135 and a 10-20mm zooms. if you are on the inside of a corner you will be almost touching the riders, if you decide to get the guys right on the apex of the corner you will need fast shutter speed and manual focus preset to about 1 metre.

The advantage of this event is that you can try something and then check the results and try again the next lap round.

Do not forget to duck down to get the riders at their eye level and also when the riders start to sprint or hit a uphill section the heads go down so all you get is the tops of heads.

I hope you have fun, those guys can move fast.

 

[seanoevil]

Thanks he advice guys, noted and much appreciated!

Will post the results in the relevant forum, if they are worth it