Tour De Palm Springs

Nikolai

Saturday Feb 10 was the day of the 9th Annual Tour De Palm Springs.

There were two things that made this event very special for me.

First, I was (for first time in my life) officially hired to cover "the spirit of the event" part. :clap
Second, I was shooting it with two bodies, not just one. :wink :deal :barb

I was long contemplating getting a spare and when the offer to shoot this event got on the table I finally made a decision and get myself second 30D (got it LNIB for $900 at FM). It arrived just in time for the shoot.

So I had one with the EF-S 17-85 IS USM and 580EX, and the second with the EF 70-200L f/2.8 IS USM.
It worked like a charm.:ivar I would not get half of the shots without it,
I would be too worried of changing lens in the dusty environment, besides, the shot simply would have been gone by the time I get the lens changed.

It also allowed me to leave my backpack in the car and only step out with two bodies (and the jacket that DavidTO kindly lent me for this weekend :bow). I can't express what a relief it was, not to lug extra 10..20 lb.

Here are few samples from this coverage:

#1 Lot of riders:



#2 Start:



#3 Down the 100 miles loop:



#4 Friendly help on the road:



#5 Dead tired:



#6 Festivities aftewards:



A few more pics are here: http://nik.smugmug.com/gallery/2456454

Nikolai

A couple of panos from the same trip
Both made in PS CS3 from RAW files, black and white points adjusted afterwards.

01: 3 horizontal shots:



02: 8 vertical shots:



Canon 30D + EF 70-200L f/2.8 IS USM, handheld, AV mode.

Skippy

Nikolai wrote:

Saturday Feb 10 was the day of the 9th Annual Tour De Palm Springs.

There were two things that made this event very special for me.

First, I was (for first time in my life) officially hired to cover "the spirit of the event" part.
Second, I was shooting it with two bodies, not just one.

I was long contemplating getting a spare and when the offer to shoot this event got on the table I finally made a decision and get myself second 30D (got it LNIB for $900 at FM). It arrived just in time for the shoot.

So I had one with the EF-S 17-85 IS USM and 580EX, and the second with the EF 70-200L f/2.8 IS USM.
It worked like a charm.:ivar I would not get half of the shots without it,
I would be too worried of changing lens in the dusty environment, besides, the shot simply would have been gone by the time I get the lens changed.

It also allowed me to leave my backpack in the car and only step out with two bodies (and the jacket that DavidTO kindly lent me for this weekend ). I can't express what a relief it was, not to lug extra 10..20 lb.

Here are few samples from this coverage:
#1 Lot of riders:
#2 Start:
#3 Down the 100 miles loop:
#4 Friendly help on the road:
#5 Dead tired:
#6 Festivities aftewards:
A few more pics are here: http://nik.smugmug.com/gallery/2456454

Congratulations Nick, gosh they got a good turn out for the event,
Hope the temperatures were not too bad for the riders, they hold events here on rediculously hot days and why they don't cancel them is beyond me with the amount of casualties they get from the heat maybe they think a race is more important than a life dunno.

You sure got a sea of colour with the riders nice work.
...... Skippy
.

saurora

Congratulations Nik on being hired to do this event!!! You did a great job....like Skippy said, a virtual sea of color!!! I imagine the weather was probably pretty decent this weekend, too. Usually pretty nice this time of year.

Frog Lady

hey Nic, sure looks like you got the "spirit of the event" Nice job and congrats on the hire. How did the PS organizers come across your work to give you this chance?

cheers,

C.

PS - great panos too.

Nikolai

Skippy,

Skippy wrote:

Congratulations Nick, gosh they got a good turn out for the event,
Hope the temperatures were not too bad for the riders, they hold events here on rediculously hot days and why they don't cancel them is beyond me with the amount of casualties they get from the heat maybe they think a race is more important than a life dunno.

You sure got a sea of colour with the riders nice work.
...... Skippy
.

Thanks for looking!
Yeah, the turnout was pretty good, I heard the numbers like 5,000...

Temperature: it's winter here in Norther Hemi, remmeber? They were afraid of the rain, but we only got a few drop after the sunset (i.e. way after the whole thing was over). It was a bit chilly 52F in the morning, but it came to pleasant 75F during the day. The place is essentially a desert, you know...

And yes, colors were very nice, I'm glad how they came out:-)

Cheers!

Nikolai

Saurora,

saurora wrote:

Congratulations Nik on being hired to do this event!!! You did a great job....like Skippy said, a virtual sea of color!!! I imagine the weather was probably pretty decent this weekend, too. Usually pretty nice this time of year.

Thanks! Yeah it was very nice weekend. I bit of haze, and almost no wind during the ride time (all those colossal windmilss stood dead still), a lightest breeze only picked up after noon, when everybody already finished.
Cheers!

Nikolai

Colleen,

Frog Lady wrote:

hey Nic, sure looks like you got the "spirit of the event" Nice job and congrats on the hire. How did the PS organizers come across your work to give you this chance?

cheers,

C.

PS - great panos too.

Thank you for looking and commenting!

It was not event organizers per se, it was the studio that provided the event coverage. I met the owner last summer during similar event, we met afterwards for a drink, chatted for a couple of hours:-).
Now the new riding/racing seasons starts, he needed the "spirit guy", so he called me:-).

Seneca

Really cool shots.

Nikolai

Seneca,

Seneca wrote:

Really cool shots.

I'm glad you liked them, thanks a bunch!
Cheers!