Tag Archives: peloton

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“We interrupt our regular programming…”

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… for photographs from the 2010 Amgen Tour of California.

I know that at least a few visitors to this site might wonder where the natural and urban landscapes and related photographs that I normally post every day have gone, and what the heck is going on with all the bicycle racing photographs. A few thoughts about this follow:

I’ll continue to post photographs from the Tour during while the tour is underway. It ends this coming weekend in Southern California. (No, I won’t be there, but I still have a good number of photographs from northern California to post.)

If you are looking for landscape, urban landscape, nature and other more typical subjects at this web site, you can still find these subjects. Today there are still a few lower down on the home page, and you can click the navigation buttons at the bottom of the page to find such photographs that were posted recently. In addition you can find them using the text search box or by visiting the gallery via the link in the sidebar. And once the Tour ends, even though I’ll still have more cycling photographs to share, the main subjects at this blog will once again be those that visitors may be more familiar with.

Every time I photograph the Tour I am reminded that sports and landscape and nature photography are not completely separate and independent worlds. The day before I photographed the first stage of the Tour I went to the California coast and photographed pelicans and other shorebirds in flight. I can hardly imagine a better way to tune up my vision and technique for tracking and photographing moving cyclists! And, though I wasn’t at the Tour on that day, the peloton passed by the very spots where I photographed those pelicans just a couple days later. As I watched the broadcast coverage of the Tour that afternoon, I was surprised but very pleased to see that that the cameras in the peloton turned away from the riders… and toward this very landscape that I shoot so often.

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

Photographs: Sports

At the Front – American Velodrome Challenge

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At the Front - American Velodrome Challenge

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

Two track riders at the front of the group and coming out of a turn in front of the stands – American Velodrome Challenge, Hellyer Park, San Jose, California.

I’m curious… there were quite a few other photographers at this event. Has anyone seen any other photographs from them yet?

This is yet another in the recent “motion blur photographs of bicycle track racing” series. To add one note to this series – it occurred to me today that these are a type of night photography. I do quite a bit of night photography, though it is usually the more typical tripod-based stuff. However, these images were made in lighting conditions not all that different from some of my urban night photo 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, two, rider, racer, competitor, sprint, bank, curve, turn, santa clara, county, hellyer, park, night, pack, group, peloton, american, challenge, stock

Photographs: Sports

The Sprint – American Velodrome Challenge

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The Sprint - American Velodrome Challenge

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

The pack in the sprint at the night races of the American Velodrome Challenge at the Hellyer Park Velodrome, San Jose, California.

Here is something a bit different – nighttime elite-level bicycle track racing. On Friday I went to the evening events of the American Velodrome Challenge at Hellyer Park Velodrome in San Jose, California. I had a flash, but I decided that it would be more interesting to play with motion blur and shoot the pack close up at high ISO (up to 3200) and slow shutter speeds.

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, santa clara, county, motion, speed, blur, rider, racer, cyclist, pack, peloton, sprint, sports, bissel, helmet, fixed gear, fixte, stock, action, speed