I figured I would post up here to see if I could get any tips.

I only just got my first dslr (nikon d3000)and im keen to try my hand at some biking photography. I went up today with a mate and got a few pics and im curious what people think. Any tips for camera settings or maybe essential pieces of equipment.

Ive been using a 18-55mm lens for all the work so far and just the built in flash.

I mainly ask because I would like to go try take some photos at the nationals in Wellington and want to be as prepared gear wise as possible.

cheers

From Tuesday night Makara dig. Good fun and the track is even better

High Robbie

Is there such a thing as flash edict at sport events?
I have always wondered about it more so with DH when riders are travelling fast. In the few times I've ridden in events I've only had one bad flash* experience, wasn't any drama straight piece of fire road.




*That sounds rather dodgy.

I've witnessed good and bad "flashes" at music concerts. Do they count ?

Yachtage - handheld at 1/5 sec...

Great photo Tugboat!

Tugboat wrote:Yachtage - handheld at 1/5 sec...

Thats amazing! How did you do that? 1/5 second exposure? Sorry I know virtually nothing about cameras.

MTBChick wrote:

Tugboat wrote:Yachtage - handheld at 1/5 sec...

Thats amazing! How did you do that? 1/5 second exposure? Sorry I know virtually nothing about cameras.

Small aperture to slow the shutter (f22 if I remember correctly) try and brace as much as possible to counter the wave motion on the boat and then have lots of goes at it. That's taken really late in the day (8pmish). A stabilised lens helps too.

Tugboat wrote:Yachtage - handheld at 1/5 sec...

you has the steady handses

Tugboat wrote:

MTBChick wrote:

Tugboat wrote:Yachtage - handheld at 1/5 sec...

Thats amazing! How did you do that? 1/5 second exposure? Sorry I know virtually nothing about cameras.

Small aperture to slow the shutter (f22 if I remember correctly) try and brace as much as possible to counter the wave motion on the boat and then have lots of goes at it. That's taken really late in the day (8pmish). A stabilised lens helps too.

Yeah thats impressive, I haven't used an IS lens but still 1/5s is pretty slow so well done for managing that on a yacht!

shmoodiver wrote:
you has the steady handses

Must have been the couple of rums I'd had about that time.

Here's a Cape Palliser sunset from a few minutes later.

Bob_Jones wrote:I figured I would post up here to see if I could get any tips.

I only just got my first dslr (nikon d3000)and im keen to try my hand at some biking photography. I went up today with a mate and got a few pics and im curious what people think. Any tips for camera settings or maybe essential pieces of equipment.

Ive been using a 18-55mm lens for all the work so far and just the built in flash.

I mainly ask because I would like to go try take some photos at the nationals in Wellington and want to be as prepared gear wise as possible.

cheers

It looks like you're on the right track already, do you use manual or one of the automatic modes? For shooting bikes, shutter speed is really important so I always use manual so I can set the shutter speed fast enough to capture the action without being blurry. Around 1/350sec is plenty fast enough to freeze the rider but still blur the tyres a tiny bit, you can go a bit slower when shooting front-on or if you are panning with the rider. You may want to set the aperture small (bif f-number) or wide(small f-number) to change the depth of field but usually when you are in the trees you will need it wide (around f4 depending on your lens) just to get enough light in (remember that a small f-number/aperture gives a shallow depth of field so make sure you get your focus right). Then adjust the ISO high enough to expose the whole scene properly, it used to be a rule that you need the ISO as low as possible since high ISO's would look grainy but these days alot of cameras still look pretty good at an ISO of 800 or higher so don't be scared to bump it up if you need to.

I don't use the on-board flash on my camera at all for a few reasons-
1)They only really expose whatever is closest to the camera and the background is left dark
2)They aren't very powerful
3) Having the flash in line with the camera makes your subject look a bit flat and not as well defined

Ideally you need to splash out on a remote flash set-up with 1 or 2 extra flashes but that gets expensive, so if you do need to use your on board flash, do it with one of the manual modes. That way you can slow the shutter speed right down to expose the background but the flash will still freeze the rider. Then if you pan with the rider the background will often be blurred which can look pretty cool with a bit of practise.

As far as gear goes, I can think of lots of things that would help but unless you have a grand or 3 to blow on camera gear you are probably better off just sticking with what you have and practise as much as you can, playing with different settings.

Datsane wrote:High Robbie

Is there such a thing as flash edict at sport events?
I have always wondered about it more so with DH when riders are travelling fast. In the few times I've ridden in events I've only had one bad flash* experience, wasn't any drama straight piece of fire road.




*That sounds rather dodgy.

Not really, I just avoid having the flash directly in line with the riders line of sight, so if you're shooting front-on and close up, leave the flash switched off or use an off-camera set-up. Standing to the side of the rider doesn't seem to bother them too much though with the flash.

JohnnyC wrote:Ideally you need to splash out on a remote flash set-up with 1 or 2 extra flashes but that gets expensive

Yes to the first bit, not necessarily to the second bit... you can pick up a wireless flash trigger from ebay like this one (which has two receivers so you can fire two flashes) for about $50 delivered if you hunt around.

Then have a look on TradeMe for a cheap second-hand flash or two, which can also be had for $50 each or less. It may be a brand you've never heard of, and may not be all that powerful, and may not support TTL, but you can learn how to set the flash manually easily enough. I haven't had any problems doing it this way with an old SB-25 flash I got on ebay.

Bear in mind there is an element of 'you get what you pay for' here, they are nothing special but should be enough to give you a taste of what you can achieve with several hundred (or thousand) $$$ worth of 'proper' kit*. And it will give you the potential to light your shots much better than with an on-board flash. Plus you can always flog 'em on Trademe when you decide to upgrade, and won't lose much.

*At my level of photography, cheapo triggers and the SB-25 will last me a while yet before I can justify upgrading

I heard the sound, grabbed the nearest camera....checked no settings....it was coming in fast and low....just point and click.

about 5 minutes ago, landing at Paraparaumu

Are you back in the 'Nam?