Fluked out and landed my self a shoot with a professional Biker

isdilly

Hey guys,

Last month, while I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand I fluked out and landed my self a photo shoot with professional rider Steve Romaniuk. He was at my hostel and needed a photographer, looking to promote his biggest sponsor Vampt. Not only promote the sponsor, we were also looking for shots that could tell a bit of the story of biking in Chiang Mai (much more visibile through out the album).

The only gear (at the time) I had suitable for shooting was a Nikon D300s and a 50mm 1.4. I had the Sigma 18-200mm with me as well, but the aperture on that lens was to small to give me the light needed for a shutter speed fast enough. Leaving me with the trouble of trying to shoot high speed action on a fixed 50mm. Not so fun, however the Sigma isn't sharp enough for the intended photo applications anyways!

I have a gallery of 30 or so photos available on my smugmug from the day of shooting. But it would be great if I could get your thoughts on these shots. It was my first, but definitely not my last time shooting biking. And as always, I'm looking to improve!

bluesman graham

Hi Dylan,
congrats on picking up the gig!.

I haven't shot or competed in Downhill M Bking for a very long time!( 3 to 4" of travel on the bikes was really Pro stuff!!), but with your permission I've recropped a couple of images as I'd like to see them?. good luck with the project. Kind regards Graham

#1




#2 To me needed the faller in focus to work!



#3

isdilly

Dig the refocus on number 1! I don't think I cropped that shot at all originally.

#2 I wish at a 1.4 aperture I could have the depth of field to get them both in focus, but I had to go with the hopes of him nailing the hit and not falling when manually focusing the shot. Was a bit bummed when I saw him blurred! But for steves sake, it makes him pop a little more... Maybe this shot?


28392760_qNPgjg#!i=2404668552&k=S3CFVSJ&lb=1&s=A][/url]


#3 took these close ups on the helmet for a less artsy view. Thoughts?


url=http://dylanwyerphotography.smugmug.com/Other/RomoVampt/28392760_qNPgjg#!i=2404665347&k=ghkLJQG&lb=1&s=A][/url]

Ps. These days, 4-6 inches of travel on bikes is no big deal. Steve Romaniuk is a big name rider, but since the shoot is all the way in Thailand, we were Rodin on old beat rental kona stinkys!

isdilly

On second look I find the crop on #1 loses the feel of speed in the rider, as the banked corner and some dust is cropped out. Thoughts??

jmphotocraft

isdilly wrote: »

On second look I find the crop on #1 loses the feel of speed in the rider, as the banked corner and some dust is cropped out. Thoughts??

I like the crop better. The photo doesn't convey much speed either way because the shutter speed is too high so the spokes and tires are frozen.

isdilly

Appreciate the thoughts! I'll be keeping this in mind!

bike21

Way rad! I've been watching Steve since he was a junior! Congrats on the gig, he seems like a great guy.

isdilly

He is a great guy! A super easy guy to work with. Stay tuned at Capturingendlesstravel.com for a full story on how the photo shoot came up and went down! Should have it finished in a few days