« Some more photos. | Main | Football »
Wheels keep on turning
December 23, 2006How about a few cycling photos from my "Best Of" series.
One from the HHH100 and one not.....enjoy.
Three cyclists ride past a windmill on Hwy. 79 along the 100-mile route of the Hotter-N-Hell 100 Saturday, August 26, 2006 around Wichita Falls, Texas. (AP Photo/ Jason Palmer, Wichita Falls Times Record News)
One of the yearly challenges the photographer's up here face is coming up with something different every year during the Hotter-N-Hell 100 bike ride.
The problem is this....you've got four photographers (myself included) who cover a section of the race. This year, we only had three photogs....one of the guys somehow had the day off.
So usually four of us are out there...and turning in an average of 20 or so photos each. You'd think there are only so many ways to shoot a bunch of cyclists....and there are. The trick is to find something unique out there and make it work.
I've always had the section that is the main stretch of the longer routes. Between 30-70 miles on the 100-mile route. Lots of straight roads and slight hills.
So, the trick for me is to find a nice background to frame the cyclists with. Stuff like road signs, fences and the occasional windmill. This was the first year for me to find a good windmill that would work with the angle of the sun and several cyclists at the same time.
Once you have your background...you just have to sit and wait for the right group of riders and the right spacing between them.
Steve Barnes, Ultramarathon participant. (Jason Palmer/Times Record News)
This guy, Steve Barnes, is in pretty good shape I'd say. I mean, anybody who can participate in a marathon is usually fairly healthy.
This guy does an Ultra-marathon. Anytime you add the word "ultra" in front of anything...its pretty impressive.
That's like saying that I'm not just a photographer...but I'm an Ultra-photographer. How cool would that be?
Well, the reporter wanted a photo of Barnes training for one of these ultra-marathons. There's really no good way to get a shot of somebody training...it doesn't look any different than them actually riding.
So...I took the liberty of shooting a portrait instead. I just needed to find a location. I had the idea in my head, and it was basically a silhouette of the bike...but Barnes lit up with a flash. It was a concept that I had seen done for a magazine shot before.
What I needed was a wide-open sky.
You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to find a clear sky in the city....and in a place that I can set up a photo shoot.
Power lines...light poles...houses...a lot of things can clutter a background if you aren't paying attention. The sun was sinking in the sky and I needed to find a place quickly.
Sure enough...I found a spot in an empty cul-de-sac where there hadn't been any homes built yet in the neighborhood. It was perfect. Facing west, I only had to get the flash at the right angle to put most of the bike in a silhouette.
The entire shot only took about 15 minutes....and pretty much worked out perfectly.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Comments
Jason
These two are great along with the others you have been posting but these are my favorite so far.
