Road Cycling Shooting Help

mattnuge

So I'm headed to one of the stages of the Tour De California this year (in week) and I wanted to get some good shots of the cyclists. I'm a bit new to photography, finally just ordered my first DSLR after borrowing a friend's for a couple weeks. Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks
Matt

JSPhotography

Pick a down hill spot where you can get the light coming from over your shoulder and practice your panning from the opposite side of the street. Play with your shutter speed until you find your balance between sharp rider and blurred background. Find a fast corner and try to get some lean. Get low on the edge of the road and shoot as they are very close. Those are the shots I did when I shot bikes and the riders seemed to really like my stuff.

budman101

Does the stage you are going to have a finishing circuit of a few laps, or is it just a straight point to point finish? If its a finishing circuit, get down low just past the inside apex of a corner. You can catch the riders as they power up for the straightaway. If the lighting is not quite right use fill flash to open up the helmet shadow. A straight point to point stage does not allow many opportunities as they will only pass you once, unless you are on a moto.

mattnuge

Thanks guys. The stage starts in the downtown area (San Jose) and goes through the streets to the outskirts, then heads up one of the hardest climbs of the entire race. My parents live within 5 minutes of the base of the climb, so that would be the easiest place for me to set up. But getting downtown isn't that hard either, I figured I would do that because it's fairly flat and I can get the major portion of the Peloton.

jimqjr

I wish I would have read your post before I went today.
You are right if you are out on the back roads as they pass...where we were they were at +40mph one pass long lens and that was it......

It was quick and exciting and then they were gone