p.2 #1 · EPIC Cyclocross racing...mud, mud and more mud
Harry Hoffman wrote:
Quite stunning images. Some of the best D700 captures I have seen.
#10 and #11 are an advertisers dream
If I could be negative at all it would be #2 #3 and #5 are a little too centered
Harry (and all), Thanks for the super nice comments.
To reply directly to your centering comments, I agree - not what I strive to do (I'm usually pretty good about the rules of 1/3rd) - sometimes when shooting 2000 images of an action sport, it gets tough
#2. Agree, the bettter placement would to have the lead subject on the right 3rd and the crowds showing up on the left 3rd like in image #8. This was a tough section to shoot. Using the 300 I didn't have much wigggle room, plus a lot depended on where on the hill the runners decided to run up (left, right or center). I was actually running out into the course (when there was plenty of time), taking the quick shot and then back behind the course tape to get out of the way. Not a ton of time to get set up so a lot of these were taken quickly.
#3 - Agree, Prefer in the lower left corner with some empty hill space on the upper right - win some you loose some Even in #4 where I was able to get the rider off center, I would have preferred to get a bit more bike in the photo. This section of the course was tough to catch these "wipe outs" Wehn someone was down, the rst of the race was still going on around them so it becomes quite tough to get a clean shot without other racers blocking the clear view.
#5, though not planned to be centered (I'll need to think about that more next time out), was planned to fit the rider inside the triangle of tape and marking sticks. I thought it looked pretty cool catching the rider inside these lines. The "lines" in this image pretty much designated where the rider needed to be. Plus most if not all of these images are either not cropped on have very little cropping done so cropping to place the rider in the 1/3rd of the frame probably can't happen.
bikinchris - #11 has no crop to it, that is the exact way I shot the image. With a muddy race like this, you always have to take plenty of "muddy legs/bike" shots. Shooting with a 300mm, pretty much you'll always get those tight shots. Sometimes too tight though, they don't crop well to 5x7 - 8x10 prints.
p.2 #4 · EPIC Cyclocross racing...mud, mud and more mud
mlenny wrote:
Very nice, I shot cross for the first time last weekend, and I now see that shooting low is something I need to try....thanks for the inspiration mike
When you think your low, your not low enough I pretty much shoot most of the time either sitting down or laying down on the ground. I'll scout around and find ditches to hide in, to get even below ground level. But at times you need to see "the big picture" and go high...especially if your shooting riders coming up a hill. Shooting low in this case will just cut the riders off and you loos the perspective of the hill they are climbing. I shot a road race earlier in the year where I parked my car across the street from the climb and stood on the roof of my car trying the get high anfd shoot down into the hill to get the climb perspective and not cut the riders lowers off:
...again this is all just shooter specific and everyone has their own different styles that they like.
