Thoughts?: Night photos at 24 hrs of Afton race...

[Thewavebb]

Last year I shot some night photos at the 24hrs of afton race and had some pretty cool results. I have a few posted in the gallery here.

This year Scott Haraldson and I are teaming up to do the photography for this race with all sales proceeds going to morc. I want to do more night photography since this is a very unique aspect of the mt bike racing and think racers enjoy those photos.

I shoot night photos out in the open areas so the riders can recover with minimal risk to crashing.

My question:

Does this type of photography really impact you as you race?

[mn_ultra_guy]

Just my 2 cents that it was kind of annoying to come out of the trees and get blasted by a flash right as you go back into a dark section.

Thanks either way for coming out!

[Ogre]

I've been doing sports photography on and off for several years.
I only use flash for people I know, NEVER for strangers;
as I too hate a flash in my face when riding.

You may find that most racers couldn't care less/or are annoyed
about getting their picture taken. At least that was the impression I got.

[Heuy]

I find a difference in flash in my perifreral vision and head-on.

Basically, its bad for your eyes to get acclimated to the light and then be blind for a few seconds until they dialate again.

Last year you dodn't bother me at all, depends on how its done.

[EDahl]

Ben,

As a guy who has raced that puppy many a year, I think it would be better if you stay out of the singletrack, and stay in the open areas.

On a second note, thanks for taking the pics!

[Thewavebb]

Last year I stayed in the open areas at night and kept the flash out of the eyeline of the riders...and it seemed to be fine for the most part. Durring the day, I will be going into the woods When I use flash, I use just a small amount of diffused flash in there and that shouldn't be too bad.

Scott and I are pretty stoked about shooting this years race and it could be a good fundraising opportunity for morc as well.

[badandyruh]

I'd agree with Eric, night photo's are cool but I think doing them in the woods could be a little startling. Open area's would be the best. Hey ED, you gonna do it solo this year or what?

[EDahl]

I'd agree with Eric, night photo's are cool but I think doing them in the woods could be a little startling. Open area's would be the best. Hey ED, you gonna do it solo this year or what?

Solo...I think not. You and Kyle looked like you were having so much fun!

[Ogre]

You shouldn't need a flash if you have good glass (daytime).

I mostly used a 2.8f 24-70 in the woods (daytime) with little need of flash
and with a 1.4f prime 50mm fast and clear!

Obviously it's much easier to get good focus with a head oncoming rider.
But my favorite shots are a side shot in the woods with the rider doing a technical maneuver or maybe a banked turn.

I had some panning with the riders on high speed banked turns that made them look like pros! I tried to get the eyes in perfect focus with the blurred wooded background.

It's a lot of fun, working the background and lighting, trying up angles to the face, down angles across the arms, sun splattered hollows in the middle of trees. You'll never run out of ideas at Afton.

A wide angle lens with the criss cross roads can make some cool shots with multiple riders facing all directions.

Have fun! but don't get too worried about making money. Most racers feel they already paid too much to do the race.

[Thewavebb]

Troy,

Durring the day in the woods, I use my flash as fill to lighten up the face. I prefer to not shoot my glass wide open as this give you a very thin DOF. Plus you have heavy shadows under the visor of the helmet, so a small amount of flash used as fill does the trick. This isn't a direct on flash, but shot off a bounce card or through a diffuser. This should not be a problem for racers.

My main concerns are with night photography. I will have my flash off camera and off to the side above eye level so it shouldn't be a problem. Shot in bulb with a Second curtain flash. This will all be out in the open like I was last year so people aren't in a tech area.

Regarding trying to make money. Scott and I are professional photographers and we are not trying to make money for ourselves. This is a way for us to donate our time and skills to raise money for morc since I know I don't have enough time in my schedule to do trail work. If people don't want to buy photos, they can still enjoy looking at the low res version online. Plus very few races allow people to get rockin night photos of them out racing in the dark...

If you see us out there, feel free to say hi and we can chat some.

~Ben