[Closed] If you could give 1 tip for better mtb photography what would it be?

Good riders.
Remote flashes.
Lots of practice.

Make sure the rider is wearing a neck-brace.

Make yerself an image stabiliser. There was a thread on here about how to do it.

Buy lots of flashes and remotes

Take the lens cap off.

More in terms of composition?

Riders with plenty of Gnarrrr factor help.
Remote flash (cheapo ebay triggers are fine if you're going fully manual)
Tilt the camera to make the ground look steeper than it really is.
edit*
Learn what the different settings on your camera actually achieve in terms of ISO settings, shutter speeds, aperture values & how they affect DOF etc etc.

[url= http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3215247995/mountain-bike-photography-technique ]http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3215247995/mountain-bike-photography-technique[/url]

On a fully manual SLR

Get a dslr.

or to make it look like the rider is laying it flat more than s/he really is

EDIT - 5th - sacrilege!

Regarding conveying speed; set a fairly slow shutter speed, say around 1/60s, and track the rider whilst pressing the shutter release. The back ground will blur whilst the rider stays in focus. Play with the shutter speed to get the best balance, it's quite nice when the rider is a little blurred as well sometimes.

Oh, and use a flash. Biggest one you can afford. Can get gloomy under the trees where good exposure becomes a problem.

Have a laugh at Jim, basic, but good advice.
[url=

Jim Flash[/url]
In terms of getting them to appear more flat (assume while jumping) Get the riders to improve.

agree with the get a dslr comment. The feedback loop is so much shorter it enables you to learn much quicker

Just one tip? Pan/track with the rider as smoothly as possible. This pic was taken with on-camera flash, with combination of wide angle lens, slow shutter speed, and a few other tweaks: http://zeus.shutterchance.com/theme/1-all-themes/image/2011/11/21/railing-berm-4/

Don't stand in the middle of the path

can't do this

[img] [/img]

or this

[img] [/img]

without a manual and attendant funky film

Or at least I can't

Both shots just need a rider flying through the air in them!

Get close, get low, shoot wide.

shooting side on is normally the best way to make an air look impressive. Think about the background. A lot of people deride the "framed against the sky" look, but I bet your riders like the results.

Thanks - that's helpful

On a drop-in/bombhole - fill the frame with the rider, or go for context - which is best?

love your first shot jhw

Why not photoshop a silhouette of a rider airborn in the sky between the two trees, result 😉

Leave the camera at home and just ride !

Bin it.

Get a dslr.

Get a film SLR, bigger "sensor" = more depth of field controll

Film means you can upgrade the 'sensor' to something super dooper or use cheep £1/roll truprint stuff.

I thought a dSLR would help with the instant feedback, in reality its just the composition you get feedback on, not much you can say about focus/depth of field/etc on a little 2" screen and you'd be relying on the histograms for exposure etc rather than learning to make a judgement.

And for the cost of a DSLR you'd geat a few years of ameture usage out of a (practicaly free they're so cheep, even see 'modern' cannon/nikons onn frecycle, and older SLRS actualy seem to be apreciateing) film slr paying for films and developing, or you could even sue the cheep film mentioned above, and a scanner and still be in the black over a new DSLR.

Wholeheartedly agree. Just bought an old Pentax K1000 (thread about it on here) for really not very much money at all and am totally in love with it. Takes some good pictures for the money (well under £100), latest are up on my flickr [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/57219258@N02/ ]here[/url], the Coniston ones taken with digital which follow look so flat by comparison

eviljoe - Member
Don't stand in the middle of the path

Anyone got the vidoe Pook shot on the pootle of exactly what happens if you stand on the path with a video camera?

doesn't need to be a *new* dslr though. if you've got lenses that'll fit on the appropriate body, a canon 300d is available used from about £100 - i expect nikon bodies are similar. That's really not many film's worth of purchasing\processing (unless you've got some way of doing it on the cheap)

Specifically how better to capture the scale and steepness of jumps and drops; how better to convey speed in the context of the landscape; and basically how to capture the full gnar of the situation!

On a fully manual SLR

If I could only give one, then it would be the use off camera flash. It gives the rider some pop, and seperates them nicely from the background. Without that MTB photos look rubbish.

To convey speed you need to practice panning, and capturing the scale is just about getting the right angle.

Make sure that the valve caps/tyre logos are in the correct position before pressing the clicky button.

I spent a couple of days, with a buddy, being snapped by Seb Rogers last week as he was doing a feature on my local environs.

Seemingly the answer is elbows out, keep closer together and can we do that again (and again) please.

Make sure you're looking in the right end.

If I could only give one, then it would be the use off camera flash. Without that MTB photos look rubbish.

Please don't tell me you're being serious...

My tips would be practice, make sure you show the trail and find interesting angles.

Just keep taking photos, you'll start to notice what works and what doesnt work and the photos will progress naturally. You can easily spend alot of money on flashguns, triggers, wide lenses, telephoto lens, and the like but these things arent some magical fix, it takes time.

Keep on shooting

(I also dont understand why everyone seems to love pan shots)

SRP

Please don't tell me you're being serious...

You won't find any decent photographer not using OCF, even on the brightest of days.

Clearly you have much to learn young grasshopper. When you do, then you may question me.

I also dont understand why everyone seems to love pan shots

Because they show motion and speed 😕

Take lots and reject most of them.

don't resort to tricks like angling the camera to make it look steeper

You won't find any decent photographer not using OCF, even on the brightest of days.

For some shots perhaps, but not all. Once your subject is a decent distance away (yes I know you can just move the flash away too) it doesn't work so well and either does nothing or looks fake/contrived.

And a tip - the oldest one in the book - "f8* and be there".

Again doesn't work for everything, but a half usable shot is always better than no shot.

*other apertures are available and may be used if necessary

Apologies.

TJ has an older and possibly even better tip.

Sorry mate you're wrong.

Go find your old MTB mags and have a close look at the photos. I guarantee 99% of them have used one or two OCF's.

If you still don't believe me I will talk you through the reasons why.

one thing for steep trails - google and understand what forshortening is, and how to use it to your advantage (hint, shoot with a long lens from a long way away)

OCF is just one of the tools that come in handy but is far from a necessity. Used well it can look good but used badly it can look awful. As for 99% of shots using it, that is nonsense.

My one bit of advice would be practice. Take lots of shots and see what you like from them and what you don't like and try to figure out what it is about the good ones that you like so you can repeat it.

Everything else about kit, styles etc is just a smokescreen. Good pictures don't depend on what kit you're using or what style you're using but whether people like them and that is the fundamental. You can take the most technically correct shot using tens of thousands of pounds of kit but if no-one likes it then it is of no use.

Clearly you have much to learn young grasshopper. When you do, then you may question me.

Gadz. Are you really saying that you without OCF MTB photos look rubbish?

Depends entirely on what sort of MTB photo.

Big mountains with trails snaking across them and a rider or two in the middle distance do not benefit from OCF.

Wheel in your face MBUK stylie probably generally does.

In between it is a mixture. OCF will give punch (provided it's well used) but it will detract from mood and atmosphere (in my opinion as someone who has never sold a photo and took his last shot on an iPhone - though I did do a couple of NVQs in monochrome a few years ago... those were the days, the smell of chemistry, the strange stains on your shirt sleeves... ahh)

too many pics i see with remote flashes have the rider all lit up un naturally. pics have to make me feel the way i feel when i ride when i look at them.

Take a course with [url= http://sebrogers.typepad.com/seb_rogers_blog/2011/01/seb-rogers-photo-courses-2011-news-very-soon.html ]Seb Rogers[/url]?

Thanks & that's an excellent article by Seb up above.

I agree with Jedi actually, but I appreciate that flashes have their uses. It's a tool I need to learn to use.

QUERY: I've never used black and white film before - are there any principles I should bear in mind when making the switch (i.e. anything I should do differently than with colour film?)

Thanks

J

OCF is easy to overdo, as is the dreaded HDR (high dynamic range) stuff. I hate a lot of that stuff, some of the shots in recent mags is just guff, I hate it.

Unless you are doing it professionally, or are not cycling and just spectating at an event, then hauling around loads of big DSLRs or SLRs, tripods, flashes etc is not easy or really desirable if you are on a group cycle.

If you are in a group, doing a ride, and want to take photos, you need to bet in front of everyone, and be able to jump off the bike, set up the shot, shoot everyone, then catch up and repeat. Not easy.

If you are looking to learn OCF, the check out: [url= http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html ]strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html[/url], it's a great resource for beginners onwards.

"If you are in a group, doing a ride, and want to take photos, you need to bet in front of everyone, and be able to jump off the bike, set up the shot, shoot everyone, then catch up and repeat. Not easy."

Especially when the only ride I can make is the Nirvana Cycles fast ride where they all go like bullets!

Last week Seb refused to use flash except on 2 shots - one was the test bike shot (which is because the sponsors grumble if there isn't flash) and the other was of us riding across a stream in the gathering gloom at about 4pm.

I got the feeling flash is starting to be regarded as a bit last year.

I got the feeling flash is starting to be regarded as a bit last year.

Doe that mean this year was sunnnier?

If your camera is poor at higher Iso's, your waether is grey, and you forest is dense i flash is a useful tool that doesn't have to cost the earth.

You won't find any decent photographer not using OCF, even on the brightest of days.

This is entirely untrue. Pros will use flash or not depending on circumstances/desired outcome/needs of client.