[whitewash]

hey folks,

im going up some hills with the lads from my work at the weekend who are serious mountainbikers, they all race nationally and want some photos for creating some web presence and to help with publicity for there teams/sponsors so im going out to make them look good

i was wondering if anyone had any tips whos photographed mountainbiking before.

camera gear is.....
canon 20D
canon 50mm f1.8
canon 85mm f1.8
80-200mm (dont really want to use this as its a tad slow, i prefer to use my faster primes for most of my photos as i prefer to be close to the action)
i also have a few speedlites to allow to me use remote flash if light becomes as issue.

anytips for settings would be great. so far im thinking ai=servo to keep the focus, highish iso to keep the shutter speed within check and shutter prority which is what i used to good effect when photographing rallys.


any other tips would be brilliant


ill be posting my images for critique afterwards.


regards


jamie

[noah]

wide wide and wide, and in the light you'll need a flash - remote ones if you can.

your 50mm f1.8 will get you the shutterspeeds youwant in the light but will have to be used from a distance and the only problem with this is that the forest tends to get in the way.

see if you can blur movement with a bit of panning to give the effect of speed, but stationary images have their place too.

here's a couple of mine from the collection if you're interested:



edit: just seen you photograph rallys, in that case it'll be very similar just closer and therefore appear faster

[shiato storm]

'tch, there you go showin' off again

[SammyC]

... and you want second curtain synch on the flash!

[noah]

Originally Posted by shiato storm

'tch, there you go showin' off again

just illustrating my point

i like that arse smiley, not seen that before

[whitewash]

Originally Posted by noah

wide wide and wide, and in the light you'll need a flash - remote ones if you can.

your 50mm f1.8 will get you the shutterspeeds youwant in the light but will have to be used from a distance and the only problem with this is that the forest tends to get in the way.

see if you can blur movement with a bit of panning to give the effect of speed, but stationary images have their place too.

here's a couple of mine from the collection if you're interested:



edit: just seen you photograph rallys, in that case it'll be very similar just closer and therefore appear faster

getting close shouldnt be a problem, i was 3 foot away from some of those rallycars doing 100mph nose towards me so i dont have a problem with that, ive sat for a while working out how to use second curtain flash, and getting my 430ex to work remotely from my 580ex which i seem to have sorted!


im looking forwards to it, my panning technique isnt so good, i tend not to be able to pan smoothly as my hands shake, but i guess i need to learn!


thanks for the advice,. keep it rolling!


jamie

[shiato storm]

Originally Posted by noah

just illustrating my point

i like that arse smiley, not seen that before

yes 'tis good isn't it , like your mtb picks, very professional looking!

[Steve]

The key to panning well is to keep panning with the subject even as you press the shutter. Most people instinctivly stop panning as soon as they press the button and that ruins the whole shot and often loses the blurred background while intoducing a blurred subject,

It takes a little practice but is quite easy after that lesson has been learned

HTH

[whitewash]

Originally Posted by Steve

The key to panning well is to keep panning with the subject even as you press the shutter. Most people instinctivly stop panning as soon as they press the button and that ruins the whole shot and often loses the blurred background while intoducing a blurred subject,

It takes a little practice but is quite easy after that lesson has been learned

HTH

i hear that, thats what i kept doing, maybe i should just go to the nearest motorway and learn to pan as the cars go past!

[noah]

souded silly at first but actually not a bad idea that

just cars along your street will do, anything moving really

and cheers shiato, very flattering

[whitewash]

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/...36&postcount=1 a link to the pictures

[trip]

noah - what lens do you use? looks very wide judging by the perspective. i find my 24-84 isnt wide enough on a digital body and my cheapo sigma 18-50 doesnt focus quick enough.

[noah]

sigma 10-20 for the top one and the bottom left, nikon 18-70 for the bottom right. it's gotta be wide in my opinion, once you learn the field of view you can shoot from your ankle angled up and get the shot!