Amgen Tour in T.O.

NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
edited February 26, 2006 in Sports
On Saturday Feb 15th Amgen Bike Tour (from Montery to LA) came to Thousand Oaks.

I decided not to go to the finish line, and instead have chosen an intersection of Moorpark and Lynn: about 5 miles from finish, great view, no parking restrictions and only 5 minutes from home:-)

The whole thing happened during less than a minute. I only managed to take a few shots of the pack, and it was all over. Of course, there were independent riders, escort cars, etc., so I shot those, too:-)

Here are a few pics:

Group is coming:

57671011-L.jpg


They are here:

57671159-L.jpg

Going into the turn:

57671270-L.jpg

One more of the same:

57671302-L.jpg


The official pack was chased by a number of independent riders and local athletes:

57671995-L.jpg

The rest of the pictures are here: http://nik.smugmug.com/gallery/1231109/1/57671159

Technicalities: I was shooting Canon 20D with a EF 100-400L on it, RAW, ISO 200, first shutter priority at 1/1250s, then at max aperture priority.

***************
During the waiting time I made an acquaintance with a fellow amateur photog Bob Kogen (sorry, no picture of him ) and a "wealth manager extraordinaire" Joe Alexopoulos:
57671565-L.jpg

This guy has ridden here all the way from his place in Beverly Hills (about 40 miles East from TO) and was planning to get back home (with a stop in Fillmore first) in the same manner, rounding about 120 miles per day as if it was nothing...

Joe independently manages other people's retirement money (IRAs, 401Ks and all that stuff), and what got me, for a small guys (like yours truly) he does it for free - simply hoping to spread a good word. As it turned out, he was also in need of some programming services, so naturally we exchanged the business cards:-)

Unfortunately, Joe had a double flat on his tires (California is famous for little sharp thorns), and he got only one spare. Me and Bob helped him a little, as did one of the passing support crews. I do hope he finished his trip without any more incidents...

Enjoy bikeshooting!:1drink
"May the f/stop be with you!"

Comments

  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited February 25, 2006
    nice pics!

    looks like some of the bikers could use one of amgen's products!

    george
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 25, 2006
    Thanks, George!
    gefillmore wrote:
    nice pics!

    looks like some of the bikers could use one of amgen's products!

    george

    lol :-)
    Cheers!1drink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • AnsonAnson Registered Users Posts: 207 Major grins
    edited February 25, 2006
    Nikolai..a few tries before they got to you
    Nikolai

    You captured some Nice Shots!

    I attempted a few in Santa Paula and then further along in the Santa Rosa Valley (the base of the last hill before cruising down into Thousand Oaks)

    You are so right, heavens to betsy, the darn thing is over before it starts.
    POOF, there gone!

    This experience sure gives me an appreciation for those who capture the Awesome shots in various types of racing venues.

    I definately need to get myself a 20D, for the Rebel did not give me the burst I needed to grab many more shots in a tiny space of time.

    472e927d.jpg

    Speaking of tiny, oops, my resizing is tooo small.
    ..back to the drawing board

    8cf584ab.jpg
    okay...thats a little better size
    this guy hopped of the BMW motor bike for a few snaps at a turn

    afc4a019.jpg

    1/20th of the road crews trailing the group
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2006
    Anson,
    Thanks for pitching in!

    I guess I learned some important lessons from this session:
    1. I wish I had chosen a slightly different position, prolly right after the turn, on the outside (in fact, probably right where this machine-gun-guy cameras were set). This way riders would be at the lowest speed, at an angle, thus making a reliable good image.
    2. Taking into account that all the shooting would happen within just under a minute I should have forgotten auto focus (I used AI Servo), and just pretend that I'm fixed camera - all manual, pick a point and shoot at it.
    3. I used RAW, while I should have been using jpegs. Just basically fire short series by 3..5, let it breath for a second, take another batch, etc. RAW filled up the buffer too fast, so I missed a lot.
    Well, there is always next time:-)

    Where is the rest of your piccies?

    Cheers! 1drink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2006
    Time span
    Anson wrote:
    Nikolai
    You are so right, heavens to betsy, the darn thing is over before it starts.
    POOF, there gone!

    I guess I was too harsh on myself for not being able to take more pictures.
    I checked the time stamps on the files.
    The very first picture of the pack I took was taken at 2:12:18.
    The last one - at 2:12:38.
    Which means I had the whole whooping 20 seconds to take my 13 shots (2 turned up blurry, so I ended up with 11 images only). That included framing, zooming, shooting, and, most of all, waiting for the darn buffer to clear (why oh why didn't I shoot jpegs??ne_nau.gif )...

    With jpegs I could probably take twice or thrice that amount. So, roughly, better than a picture per second.. mwink.gif
    In any case - I can live with that :):
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • AnsonAnson Registered Users Posts: 207 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2006
    a few more
    a set of 4 shots in Santa Paula, turning onto to main street coming down of the mountain pass from Ojai
    mmm, virtually evry pro tracking the race was Nikons
    57777279-M.jpg

    57777266-M.jpg

    57777284-M.jpg

    57777290-M.jpg

    a set of three shots...about 5 minutes before the last (steep) hill before coming into Thousand Oaks
    57777297-M.jpg

    57777300-M.jpg

    (trying my wifes Smug Mug account for the first time..checking out the different posting sizes with this one)
    57784894-L.jpg


    Santa Paula...main street..these guys really stuck out
    57811739-L.jpg

    although these last shots are not the best, I got a kick out of the contrast of photographers expressions...BIG comfort level difference, both taking the same turn at pretty good speed
    (white knuckled-eyes WIDE open)
    57780322-M.jpg

    (darn near meditating)
    57781362-M.jpg

    For this type of event, I believe that I should have used Manual (spot) Auto Focus as opposed to Automatic AF...would have had much better control of subject ...it is funny because I rarely use Auto AF..thought that I would give it a try it at this event...

    I wonder what focus modes the hot shots prefer at fast moving events such as this?
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2006
    Nice shots!
    Anson wrote:
    a set of 4 shots in Santa Paula, turning onto to main street coming down of the mountain pass from Ojai
    mmm, virtually evry pro tracking the race was Nikons

    Thanks for sharing! You've chosen your points wisely!
    What equipment did you use?
    I was also thinking of getting closer to the end of that entering grade, but I guess I was too lazy to walk a mile:-)

    Cheers!1drink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • AnsonAnson Registered Users Posts: 207 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2006
    Nikolai
    I just transitioned over from the Sony 717/828 this past year...to the Rebel with a Sigma 70-300..

    My wife Marie and I were both using this Rebel to learn the SLR ropes, as she also sold her Nikon 5700 ..she just this month picked up a new Canon Elph (she loves the convenience of the point and shoots) ...I plan to keep the Rebel (with kit lens and Sigma 300) for rough stuff (rain, boating etc.) and get into a 20D. I am going back and forth on where to start lens wise...I am currently ever so slighlty leaning towards a 200/300/400 prime for starters, as I tend to favor photography that needs some reach..headscratch.gif

    http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=26662

    Nilolai, this was fun sharing our photos from the same event.
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2006
    I see..
    Anson wrote:
    I just transitioned over from the Sony 717/828 this past year...to the Rebel with a Sigma 70-300..

    My wife Marie and I were both using this Rebel to learn the SLR ropes, as she also sold her Nikon 5700 ..she just this month picked up a new Canon Elph (she loves the convenience of the point and shoots) ...I plan to keep the Rebel (with kit lens and Sigma 300) for rough stuff (rain, boating etc.) and get into a 20D. I am going back and forth on where to start lens wise...I am currently ever so slighlty leaning towards a 200/300/400 prime for starters, as I tend to favor photography that needs some reach..headscratch.gif

    http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=26662

    Nilolai, this was fun sharing our photos from the same event.

    If you have about $400 to spare, I'd say get yourself EF-S 17-85 IS USM. It's not L glass, but it is sooooooo much better than the kit. And maybe some tele prime.

    And I agree, it was fun:-)thumb.gif

    Cheers!1drink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
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