On a bike shoot

By PA Team

01 August 2011 11:30

The alarm buzzed and rattled away. Slightly disorientated I got up off the floor. This was far too early to be getting up. Hang on a second, the floor? Where am I? Oh yes, I have a shoot today. Traveling to Bedford to take some photos for a bike review featured on thebikelist.co.uk. To make the most of the morning light I stayed at the journalist’s house so we could be off at the crack of dawn.

After breakfast, we cleaned up and I took my batteries off charge and put them in my camera bag, doing a quick inventory check in my head. Planning the kind of photos I want to take and the kit I’ll need to take with me always helps me relax before a shoot.

We loaded up the car with bikes, spare wheels, cameras, waterproofs, lunch, tools and repair kits, covering all possible scenarios. It was now half seven and after one last check that we had everything, we hit the road. I spent the journey going over ideas and photos we needed to cover for the review with the journalist, working out a plan of action to make sure we shot everything shot in one day.

Rounding the final bend, I saw our location; woods were spread over rolling hills and into a small valley, with brilliant morning sunshine spilling through the trees. There was no time to waste; it had taken us longer to arrive than we had hoped for so rushing the gear out of the car, we rode down woodland paths, hunting the light before it got too high. I was after those lovely rays cascading through the trees.

Oli the journalist, who was also our model, donned his helmet and hopped onto his bike for our first shot of the day. Blitzing his way down the slalom track he really was putting the bike through its paces. Joining up with a few other riders I saw the photo I was after but I wanted to freeze the action. Choosing a fast shutter speed of 1/640sec, which I knew would be quick enough to freeze the riders in place, I set the aperture high enough to keep reasonable focus throughout the scene but found I was under-exposed. Thankfully using digital I could crank up the ISO to 640. Bikes whizzing past, I snapped a few pictures on the camera’s motor drive.

Racing the downhill track
(Nikon D700, 50mm prime, f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 640)

Next, photographing the hybrid bike. Finding a quieter part of the woods, far from the screech of brakes and rattle of gears that was going on on the downhill tracks, I wanted a cleaner look so decided to use flash to pick out the rider. Setting my flash up on a wireless setting, I flicked it over to Manual and powered it down to 1/16th of full power to balance with the ambient lighting. Using the commander function of my D700 to fire the SB800, I snapped away. Using flash meant shooting on continuous wasn’t an option; it was all about timing the shot and picking the moment. A few tries, to get the bike in the right position, and I was happy.

Cross Country
(Nikon D700, 18-35mm on 18mm, f/7.1, 1/200sec, ISO 200, SB800 on wireless)

Having finished the incidental shots of the bikes in use, I could focus on getting the opening images for the reviews done. For the Voodoo Wanga, I wanted to have quite an energetic shot that looked fast paced. Choosing to pan the shot and move the camera with the subject to blur the background, I set my shutter speed to 1/60sec. This meant my aperture rose to f/14; no problems there. I placed my flash in front of the rider to fill in some of the shadows. Since my aperture had been stopped down to f/14, I had to power up the flash so set it to 1/8th power and moved closer to the action.

 Voodoo Wanga
(Nikon D700, 18-35mm lens on 18mm, f/14, 1/60sec, ISO 200, SB800 on wireless)

Next was the BeOne Chase, a hybrid bike. We wanted to show it to be a bit less aggressive but still capable. I decided this time to freeze the action and found a steep section of one of the runs so it looked more than a gentle pootle through the woods. The location was spot-on but by this time the sun was getting higher in the sky and our subject was backlit. I used flash off camera again, to fill in the photo from the front and left the flash on 1/8th power then snapped off a few shots.

 BeOne Chase Hybrid
(Nikon D700, 18-35mm lens on 18mm, f10, 1/200sec, ISO 200, SB800 on wireless)

By lunchtime the majority of the photos had been done. We ate our sandwiches, waiting for afternoon and evening light to fall, and planned what was left to do.

I then set about getting some close-up shots of different components on the bikes.

 Handlebars
(D700 50mm prime, f2.5, 1/1000sec)

 Back brake
(D700 50mm prime, f1.8, 1/1600sec)

Once the harsh midday light started to fall and the warm tones came back we headed out again. 

 Riders in the dust
(Nikon D700, 18-35mm lens at 35mm, f/9, 1/125sec ISO 200)

As the day drew to a close, the tracks been churned up by countless tyres. I noticed light shining through the dust clouds being left by the riders so set up and grabbed a shot as they came flying past – it always pays to give the client a few extra shots and having some stock photos is always useful. As the day drew to a close we loaded up the car with our gear and headed off home, satisfied we got what we wanted.