Category Archives: Photographs: Sports

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sports

Mark Cavendish, Stage One, 2010 Tour of California

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Mark Cavendish, Stage One, 2010 Tour of California
Mark Cavendish, Stage One, 2010 Tour of California

Mark Cavendish, Stage One, 2010 Tour of California. Nevada City, California. May 16, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pre-race photograph of Mark Cavendish at Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California

Mark Cavendish is arguably today’s pre-eminent professional cycling sprinter. This photograph was made in Nevada City, California as he emerged from the Columbia HTC team vehicle to sign autographs before getting on his bike and heading to the starting line for stage one of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California. He ultimately one the sprint in Sacramento over 100 miles and several hours later.

I posted yesterday about my photography in the team area prior to these races and the great opportunities this provides for getting close shots of riders, along with cycling equipment, spectators, and the general excitement before the start of a major professional race. My tactic here is usually to put a long lens on the camera, explore, and be ready to react quickly – often a rider may appear for a few moments outside a team vehicle or quickly ride by on the way to the starting line and you have to pick off a shot quickly or not get it at all. In this case I spotted a nearby stairway that would give an unobstructed view of anyone coming out of this team vehicle and gave me a clear shot at the path that riders were taking to the finish line. I decided to spend a few minutes here to see what would happen, and I got lucky when Cavendish emerged and spent a few minutes with fans.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/400 second

keywords: amgen, tour, of, california, stage, one, 2010, bicycle, road, race, pro, professional, usa, north america, sports, nevada, city, pre, race, mark, cavandish, winner, first place, sprinter, high road, columbia, htc, team, sunglasses, portrait, close-up, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sports

Mark Renshaw Leading Mark Cavendish to Finish Line, Sacramento

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Mark Renshaw Leading Mark Cavendish to Finish Line, Sacramento
Mark Renshaw Leading Mark Cavendish to Finish Line, Sacramento

Mark Renshaw Leading Mark Cavendish to Finish Line, Sacramento. 2010 Amgen Tour of California. May 16, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mark Renshaw leads out Mark Cavendish with J.J. Haedo in pursuit 200 meters from the finish line in Sacrmento – Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California.

I shot this photograph at about the 200 meter mark near the finish of stage one of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California professional bicycle stage race in Sacramento, California. While it is exciting to be at the finish line – though just about impossible given the crowds – bicycle racing fans can see a lot of amazing action before the finish line, especially this close to a group sprint finish.

I thought about calling this photograph “How It Is Done.” While Cavendish is a phenomenal sprinter, he is even more of a threat given the discipline and power of his Columbia HTC team. The end of this race was an object lesson in how this works. The Nevada City to Sacramento stage was viewed as a “sprinter’s stage” ahead of time. With only one climb of consequence on a route that was mostly downhill or flat, it wasn’t likely that anyone would get away and stay away until the end, and that turned out to be the case. The peloton rolled into Sacramento largely intact, which is a setup for a battle between the sprinters.

The race ended with four laps on a large loop around the capitol grounds before the final sprint. From the first lap it was clear that Columbia-HTC was setting Cavendish up for the sprint. The team was at the front with Cavendish drafting a paceline of five his teammates, each of whom was prepared to push until he couldn’t continue in order to deliver Cavendish to the finish line in the last 100 meters where he would be ready to jump. On each lap the HTC group became smaller as team members finished their pulls at the front and dropped off. When I made this photograph slightly more than 200 meters from the end, Mark Renshaw, head down, was pulling with everything he had to get Cavendish to the finish. A second later he began to pull to the side and Cavendish pulled through with J.J. Haedo (seen at far left) of Saxobank trying to overtake Cavendish… unsuccessfully.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 100mm
ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/125 second

keywords: bicycle, bike, pro, professional, road, stage, race, california, usa, north america, sports, amgen, tour, of, 2010, mark, renshaw, cavendish, lead out, sprint, finish, draft, pull, htc, columbia, team, sacramento, capitol, line, haedo, juan, jose, saxobank, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sports

Lance Armstrong, Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California

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Lance Armstrong, Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California
Lance Armstrong, Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California

Lance Armstrong, Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California. Nevada City, California. May 16, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lance Armstrong riding to the starting line for stage one of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California professional bicycle road race.

The 2010 Amgen Tour of California started this weekend with a road stage traveling from Nevada City to Sacramento, California. I made the ridiculously long drive up and back to shoot the stage, starting in Nevada City perhaps three hours before the start of the race, later making an abortive attempt to intercept the peloton just south of the town of Auburn, and then making it to the finish in Sacramento, where I found a spot about 200 meters from the finish line.

Since I’m not photographing the race officially – now that would be a kick!* – I take my own idiosyncratic approach to photographing the event. I try to shoot the start of the race, an intermediate point (if possible), and then the finish. But shooting actual racing from the sidelines isn’t an easy thing. With this in mind I also photograph a lot of other “stuff” that surrounds the event of the race. Today I first shot some of the crowds in the middle of old Nevada City, then walked the portion of the course that looped through the downtown area before it heads out onto the open road. But my main plan was to spend the hour or so right before the race in the team area, where it is often possible to grab some good close shots of many of the riders. One of the strange and wonderful things about pro cycling, at least in the United States, is that you can more or less walk right up to some of the biggest names in the sport, and right before the race they usually ride through the crowd to get to the starting line.

I picked a few likely team vehicles and hung out, eventually getting a good series of photographs of sprinter Mark Cavendish, the eventual winner of the stage. (I’ll post some of these photos later.) Then I picked out a spot at the lower end of the team area, knowing the eventually just about all of the riders would have to pass by within feet of me… including Lance Armstrong.

I have a number of photographs from previous Tours and other cycling events posted in my gallery.

* Believe it or not, this landscape photographer (and ex-cyclist) sometimes fantasizes about photographing a stage from the back of a motorcycle. Yeah, hard to believe. :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2000 second

keywords: amgen, tour, of, california, stage, one, 2010, bicycle, road, race, pro, professional, usa, north america, sports, nevada, city, lance, armstrong, radioshack, team, starting, riding, line, smile

Photographs: Sports

Paceline – American Velodrome Challenge

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Paceline - American Velodrome Challenge

Paceline – American Velodrome Challenge. Hellyer Park Velodrome, San Jose, California. June 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The pack is strung out as the pace increases in a bicycle track race at the American Velodrome Challenge, Hellyer Park, San Jose, California.

The paceline in the late stages of a miss-and-out race at the American Velodrome Challenge at the Hellyer Park Velodrome in San Jose, California. Yes, another “blurry bike racers” shot! And it won’t be the last.

I was having great fun shooting this series. There are a few tricks that I use to make this work. Before I make the exposure I decide where in the frame I want the relatively focused rider to be – in this case I wanted him closest to me on the right side of the frame. I selected a single autofocus point on the camera and made it the one furthest to the right from the center. I used the AI servo mode on my Canon 5D II since it continuously adjust the AF and since it attempts to predict the position of moving objects, thus tending to keep them in focus… as long as you can manage to keep the AF point on the target as it moves by very fast and very close. So the trick was to begin to follow the riders around the far end of the turn that you can see at top left, and then to work carefully to keep this AF point on the lead rider – not as easy as you might think – while also keeping a watch on the positions of the other riders. Making this even more “fun” is the fact that I had absolutely no control over what the riders would actually do when they came around. Sometimes a rider might come up the bank and block my shot; sometimes a single rider might be too far separated from the others to make the composition I had in mind. Generally – but not quite always – I shoot anyway, and I’m more than willing to admit that there is a certain element of luck in making this work.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: bike, bicycle, racing, track, velodrome, national, professional, san jose, california, usa, pack, group, peloton, rider, racer, competitor, participant, cyclist, biker, helmet, red, blue, orange, white, blur, motion, speed, santa clara, county, night, stock