Shooting bikes

Snowgirl

I've just been asked to shoot the local Ride for Dads event in June. This event, sponsored by local motorcycle clubs (all military veterans) operates like a poker run and raises funds for prostate cancer research and treatment.

As many as 400 or more motorcycles will be converging on our small town at a local park where there will be a show and shine, BBQ and prize awards.

These bikes are all unique custom jobs (think American Chopper) so getting good shots could be helpful to the charity and lucrative for me.

Another photographer has the contract normally to do this, but has a scheduling conflict and has asked me to fill in for her.

I want to do a good job but this is a whole other kettle of fish for me. The event will be outdoors and the shoot will take place in mid-afternoon, between 2 and 5:p.m. So - depending on the weather I could be dealing with high bright sun on very shiny objects.

Any suggestions? For gear (at the moment) I have a Canon 40D. Lens choices include the kit lens 28-135mm f/3.5; 70-200mm f/2.8 or the nifty fifty 50mmf/1.8 I also have a 580EXII flash, cord and bracket available and a mila grid diffuser.

Help please?

ziggy53

First thing I would do is take a look at previous images from past events that show how the contract photographer has handled the event in the past, and pick their brain for hints and tips specific to the event. You'll get a feel for what is expected as well as information you can use to your benefit.

If you'll be shooting in a situation with which you are not familiar, stage something similar before the event so you can practice.

If the event is outdoors I suggest choosing (or using) a simple background and controlled light as much as possible. Avoid direct sunlight if you can. If you can't avoid direct sunlight, consider using FP/HSS mode to help control ambient light. Flash diffusion would be preferred for photographing the shiny chrome stuff and be aware of reflections.

If the event is indoors you should potentially have a better time with light control, but it will probably be tough to get separation between the motorcycles.

vintagemxr

I've shot motorcycle pictures for fun for a number of years now. Ziggy's advice is excellent. I suggest you visit a motorcycle shop, tell them what you've got coming up, and ask if you can shoot test shots of bikes parked outside.


Some thoughts based on my both happy and painful experiences:

If you're shooting mostly people posing on their bikes it will be pretty easy. Sounds like that's what you got going.

If you're shooting anything and everything including parked bikes by themselves it gets a little trickier.

Wide angle (~18mm) works well if you want to get the whole bike in and keep some of the details that make motorcycles interesting. This is especially true of custom bikes with long front forks. Often times bikes are close together so you can't get much with a longer lens unless you're after and arty portrait shot of some portion of the bike or just the people sitting on it.

Lots of bikes are dark in color and have lots of dark details that matter to the knowledgeable viewer. Black t-shirts, black jackets, all will lose detail in a hurry. It's easy in bright sun to lose the all the interesting stuff because the dynamic range of bright sun and typical motorcycle is pretty wide and we tend to want the highlights and bright bits and don't realize how dark the rest of the machine is. I use fill flash a lot, even in our bright Arizona sun. I also normally shoot at low ISO speeds. I'd shoot at ISO 25 if the camera would go that low (showing my film roots there).

On the other hand, shooting in open shade means you'll lose some of that nice sparkle in the chrome or pop in the fancy paint. The tug o' war between blown highlights and dead shadows is never ending.

Doug

Snowgirl

Thanks very much for the suggestions. This will definitely be outdoors so I'm subject to the temper of the weatherman

Since everyone wants to see lots of chrome, I'm hoping for decent light and no rain so I can get onto the ground without drowning if necessary.

I'll definitely be looking at the regular 'tog's shots and the suggestion to visit a cycle shop is a great one. Will do!

Any other suggestions?

rdalland

vintagemxr wrote:

I suggest you visit a motorcycle shop, tell them what you've got coming up, and ask if you can shoot test shots of bikes parked outside.


Doug

If you can find a shop that is having an "Open House", or similar event, even better. There can be as many as a few hundred motorcyclists in attendance. It will be very similar to what you are being asked to shoot.

Snowgirl

digitalfarmer wrote:

If you can find a shop that is having an "Open House", or similar event, even better. There can be as many as a few hundred motorcyclists in attendance. It will be very similar to what you are being asked to shoot.

Good idea. this time of year I would expect such promotions to be underway - so I'll give it a shot. Thanks.:D

Snowgirl

Just invested in a set of Cameron radio triggers for my flash (580EXII) so I can position it appropriately depending on the circumstances.

One caveat - with Canon gear you ALSO need an adapter because the receiver's PC plug doesn't fit the Canon flash receptacle. Grr. An extra $16 plus, in my case, extra shipping because the nearest photo shop is 50 miles away and I was just there today. When I got home, got all my gear out to practice - and it wouldn't work. Called the photo shop and they said "oops - you need an adapter - which we'll happily ship to you for ....." Grr. Snarl. But, that's another topic.

Anyway - now I will have more flexibility (once I get the stupid adapter). Yay!

pathfinder

You are planning on using the 580ex II in Manual Mode, right?

Nikonic1

Do you know if you'll be photographing bikes one at a time, portrait style? If so, you might try to scope out the venue/landscape in advance and see if you could pin down a dedicated spot with a couple varied and good backgrounds that are in the kind of light you want in the given time of day. Maybe stick around for a few hours to see how the light changes throughout the day if possible. This will help you on the day of so you're not scrambling looking for good spots to shoot from.

It sounds like you might not be doing such a setup type deal though given the amount of bikes. Still, scoping out the location before hand would be very helpful to see what will work and what won't.

Snowgirl

Nikonic1 wrote:

Do you know if you'll be photographing bikes one at a time, portrait style? If so, you might try to scope out the venue/landscape in advance and see if you could pin down a dedicated spot with a couple varied and good backgrounds that are in the kind of light you want in the given time of day. Maybe stick around for a few hours to see how the light changes throughout the day if possible. This will help you on the day of so you're not scrambling looking for good spots to shoot from.

It sounds like you might not be doing such a setup type deal though given the amount of bikes. Still, scoping out the location before hand would be very helpful to see what will work and what won't.

I suspect that, once the hundreds of bikes arrive, moving them to a specific location to shoot probably won't be happening. The area where they'll be congregating is a drive-in theatre (YES! a few still exist and we have one!) lot - so it's wide open with no trees or other shade / shelter. Depending on the weather, in June, odds are I'll be dealing with high, hot sun making light control somewhat difficult. IF I can get them to stop on the road coming in, there is a spot with a line of trees that would make a decent background and provide some shade - at least from the overhead sun.

I really want to do a good job for these folks and show their custom bikes to best advantage.

Snowgirl

pathfinder wrote:

You are planning on using the 580ex II in Manual Mode, right?

That's the plan if I use flash - thinking fill light. I tried my triggers yesterday and couldn't get them to work. Aaaghhh! The trigger works on the flash when I push the test button on the transmitter. BUT, it doesn't work when I press the camera shutter. I've read my 580EXII manual to see what setting I'm missing but all it deals with is Canon's IR system, not radio triggers. Can anyone help or suggest what I need to change to make this work?

Thanks,

Snowgirl

Helpppppppp??????
PLUS - I've tried changing the 580's setting from Master to Slave and back again - makes no difference. Flash fires from the test button on the transmitter but not through the camera shutter.

So - the camera is not communicating with the transmitter. So - how do I fix that? Help, please?

Thanks.