photographing tips?

[Henk-NL]

I did make a lot of photos at a local bike race last week. I find it hard to make good composition of the riders and achieve results I often see at sites and in magazines.
Do any of you guys have some tips for me how to improve the shots?

http://henk.bottelierzonneveld.nl/thumbnails.php?album=34

My gear used here is a Nikon D70 and 300mm F4 AFS lens

Thanks

 

[MJtje]

You can ask a question on the site of Graham watson.......maybe he has some time to answer

I did make a lot of photos at a local bike race last week. I find it hard to make good composition of the riders and achieve results I often see at sites and in magazines.
Do any of you guys have some tips for me how to improve the shots?

http://henk.bottelierzonneveld.nl/thumbnails.php?album=34

My gear used here is a Nikon D70 and 300mm F4 AFS lens

Thanks

 

[Eden]

I did make a lot of photos at a local bike race last week. I find it hard to make good composition of the riders and achieve results I often see at sites and in magazines.
Do any of you guys have some tips for me how to improve the shots?

http://henk.bottelierzonneveld.nl/thumbnails.php?album=34

My gear used here is a Nikon D70 and 300mm F4 AFS lens

Thanks

I think your photos are pretty good, especially if you haven't done it before.
Your equipment is good, a long lens makes the riders look closer together and that is definitely something the pros do. I personally use a zoom lens (80-200) just to give myself some more flexibility. I think you could add more variety to your photos.
Some things you can try:
*Try some closer shots of just one or two riders faces, don't worry about getting the whole bike in the shot.
*Find a good corner and position yourself so that the riders are coming just about straight towards you.
*Find a good hill on the course, people working hard up the hills can be very dramatic
*Try some panning - move the camera to match the speed of the rider going by, this gives you a moving blurred background with a clear person in front of it. It is a technique that takes some practice.
*Experiment! your camera is digital so you wont' be wasting anything. I usually expect to get only 15 or 20 really good images out of every 150 that I shoot

Feel free to take a look at my photos, I have several gallery's (owner - Eden Palmer) posted here
http://www.nwracereport.com/gallery/
My background is not sports photography, but I am a professional photographer, so if you have any questions about a specific picture I can try to tell you how I did it.

 

[Henk-NL]

Thanks for the tips Eden, I just looked at your gallery WOW there's a lot of great images there! I'll try some close-ups next time, must try if my D70 can keep up with the focus though, I found closest subject AF-C to give me most "keepers". The panning stuff centainly makes for some good impressions of speed in bike racing. Maybe I should add a serious zoom to my gear to be more flexible.

Best regards,

Henk

I think your photos are pretty good, especially if you haven't done it before.
Your equipment is good, a long lens makes the riders look closer together and that is definitely something the pros do. I personally use a zoom lens (80-200) just to give myself some more flexibility. I think you could add more variety to your photos.
Some things you can try:
*Try some closer shots of just one or two riders faces, don't worry about getting the whole bike in the shot.
*Find a good corner and position yourself so that the riders are coming just about straight towards you.
*Find a good hill on the course, people working hard up the hills can be very dramatic
*Try some panning - move the camera to match the speed of the rider going by, this gives you a moving blurred background with a clear person in front of it. It is a technique that takes some practice.
*Experiment! your camera is digital so you wont' be wasting anything. I usually expect to get only 15 or 20 really good images out of every 150 that I shoot

Feel free to take a look at my photos, I have several gallery's (owner - Eden Palmer) posted here
http://www.nwracereport.com/gallery/
My background is not sports photography, but I am a professional photographer, so if you have any questions about a specific picture I can try to tell you how I did it.