2017 Project 52 - 1st Quarter by Mal Schulstad

Mal - How wonderful to see you back here on CiC. I'm sorry to read that you've been battling with depression. I hope this photographic project you're now into does help you manage it. It's a change to see your risk-taking activities on land instead of on (and in) the water :)

It will be fascinating to watch your mountain-biking photography develop (as I'm sure it will) over the life of this project. There will be so many options as you suggest - the all-out, adrenalin-rushing image such as this one below and the more landscape-type image that features mountain bikers. I look forward to seeing them.

I love this one.

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

Week 3 Photo 3
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/491/31...849f2ec3_o.jpg

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Thanks Donald. It's nice to be back and hear from friendly faces. I have to admit my first attempts at MTB photography were pretty mediocre and I almost gave up. But like everything in life persistence is the key and I eventually began to see what I could do.

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

Week 3 Photo 2
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/461/31...3bf47c7d_o.jpgNemesis Conquered by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

So many things wrong with this photo - poor lighting from poor settings, poorly processed, not sharp, out of focus... etc etc. But, from a journey perspective this is one of those ones where I began to change the position of how I was taking the photo to create a more dramatic effect with the shot. I had previously taken photos of people jumping from a distance (Week 2 Photo 4 is a good example). However I found that by getting up close to the subject while they were in action and getting down low (I was laying on the ground) and having the lens set to a wide zoom it creates a visually dramatic subject (I think... I could be wrong!)

Despite not being a technically great shot, the subject was ecstatic with the outcome.

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I like the work you are presenting in your P52 project! It is interesting to me to see why you try various shots and the outcome from your effort.

This one may have a bit of light issue but the reason I found it endearing is the expression on your friend's face as he makes his jump! It is one of those split second shots that is what it is. Some may have decided for various reasons not to keep the photo but if it had been mine, it would be in that "special folder" I keep for my treasures.

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

Week 3 Photo 2
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/461/31...3bf47c7d_o.jpgNemesis Conquered by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

So many things wrong with this photo - poor lighting from poor settings, poorly processed, not sharp, out of focus... etc etc. But, from a journey perspective this is one of those ones where I began to change the position of how I was taking the photo to create a more dramatic effect with the shot. I had previously taken photos of people jumping from a distance (Week 2 Photo 4 is a good example). However I found that by getting up close to the subject while they were in action and getting down low (I was laying on the ground) and having the lens set to a wide zoom it creates a visually dramatic subject (I think... I could be wrong!)

Despite not being a technically great shot, the subject was ecstatic with the outcome.

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Mal, I've just stumbled across this thread of posts and have thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos as well as reading your commentary. Like with Sandy, this image jumped out at me but there are a number of other good action shots as well.

To display my ignorance, I'd never heard of Gold Coast in Australia so googled it, only to find out it's a large city, not a state.

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Originally Posted by Cantab

Mal, I've just stumbled across this thread of posts and have thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos as well as reading your commentary. Like with Sandy, this image jumped out at me but there are a number of other good action shots as well.

To display my ignorance, I'd never heard of Gold Coast in Australia so googled it, only to find out it's a large city, not a state.

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Thanks Bruce. To be honest I wouldn't even call the Gold Coast a large city!

Week 5 Photo 1
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/483/31...7ab355b8_o.jpgDZ1_8655 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

This photo, while again not technically great (light isn't that exciting and subject is not the focal point and too close to the top of the frame) is an example of how important positioning yourself is for capturing a photo with maximum impact. This rider's jump isn't actually that high (relative to what mountain bike jumps can be like) but because I was laying on the ground the angle of the shot makes it look a lot higher (and more impressive) than if you had just seen this action on the trails).

To be fair, this rider did jump a lot higher than I expected resulting in why he's close to the top of the frame!

Week 5 Photo 2
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/672/32...c14437cb_o.jpgDZ1_8666 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Sometimes when you're doing these action shots and you set yourself up close to the track you can surprise riders who aren't expecting you - especially if they think they're going to land on top of you. I prefer to get a rider in their natural riding state but I've have more than a few staring at the camera in surprise as they do a potentially dangerous maneuver - so I try and let everyone in a group know what I'm doing.

Even though this rider knew I was going to be taking photos, he didn't know exactly where I was going to be and spotted me just as he launched between these two trees. The expression on his face tells the story - he thought he was going to land on me. But of course he didn't - he missed me by at least 3 millimeters :D.

Week 5 Photo 3
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/640/32...f7c8c345_o.jpgDZ1_8720-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

When taking a group self portrait of mountain bikers be mindful of a number of things:
1. Objects in front of the lens (it's amazing how often you fail to see grass and sticks when you're absolutely exhausted);
2. Sweat on the lens (see point 1 - carry a cleaning cloth in your back pack - very important!);
3. Make sure your DOF is enough - because ultimately the group will be several rows deep;
4. Make sure you turn the timer back to normal mode - because you will stop at the next photo opportunity, start taking photos and wonder why the hell it's taking ten seconds for the shutter to actually activate!

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Originally Posted by skitterbug

I like the work you are presenting in your P52 project! It is interesting to me to see why you try various shots and the outcome from your effort.

This one may have a bit of light issue but the reason I found it endearing is the expression on your friend's face as he makes his jump! It is one of those split second shots that is what it is. Some may have decided for various reasons not to keep the photo but if it had been mine, it would be in that "special folder" I keep for my treasures.

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To be honest Sandy there's actually a good story with this particular photo. Just over 12 months ago this young fellow had a particularly nasty crash taking on this very jump, damaging his shoulder in the process. He was off the bike for about three months and when he came back, he was pretty tentative at taking on any jump. This particular one became his nemesis.

This photo was the first time he reattempted it since his crash - that smile on his face is the realisation that he no longer needed to be afraid of taking it on again. I think knowing that someone was down there taking photos encouraged him to face his fears :)

Week 5 Photo 4
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/342/32...f4e2ce69_o.jpgDZ1_8730-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

This is one of those photos that I happen to like - partially because I know how difficult it is to do what this rider is doing (a slip on this log and he could easily cause some serious injury), partially because of the angle I ended up taking it on so it wouldn't feel so flat but also because of how it's finished.

The orange leaves and grass you see in the picture were actually green. This is one of the Nik Collection edits that I referred to earlier which is beyond the capacity of Lightroom. Yes, it could be done in Photoshop as well but Nik Collection does it a lot easier - a simple push of a button. The photo just with greens, blues and browns was a little bit dull. I feel that substituting the green with the orange just helps to add a dimension to the photo to make it a bit more interesting.

Week 5 Photo 5
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/744/32...1544021a_o.jpgSteep Descent Part 3 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Remember how I was talking about how difficult it is to portray how steep some of the trails that mountain bike riders are? This is one of those trails. Shot from straight on and with very poor lighting (it was pretty dark in this area of the forest) the image seems pretty flat. The only clues to how steep the trail is comes from the two riders at the top of the ridge looking down at the rider that has come off his bike towards the bottom of the image because it was so steep he literally leaned to far back and ended up sliding off his bike.

This is a challenge that I come across frequently - and most of the time I don't have a solution for (other than creating wacky angles which fails more than it succeeds). Hopefully I'll figure it out one day!

Week 5 Photo 6a
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/669/31...5e7566e7_o.jpgDZ1_8826 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Low light, high speed riders. I had slowed down the shutter speed below 1/500 when realistically I should have been shooting at least 1/800 because of the speed of the riders. You can see in the photo above shooting at 1/320 that the subject is a little bit fuzzy against the background However to shoot at a faster shutter speed would have pushed up the ISO to its maximum and under exposed the shot.

Week 5 Photo 6b
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/622/32...283db840_o.jpgDZ1_8824 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

The next photo is of the rider in the same setting. Purely by accident but you'll notice that the subject is much sharper than in photo 6a. In this instance I panned and followed the rider as he raced through the trail. This made the subject sharper against what appears to be a moving background to give the illusion of speed. Obviously another way of achieve this is using a flash - however in an environment where you're attempting to minimise weight to carry (for fatigue reasons) and you don't want to distract the riders with a bright light in case it causes them to crash, panning is the best option for low light.

It is however, very difficult to do well...

Week 5 Photo 7a
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/475/32...af0543cc_o.jpgDZ1_8806-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

There is a reason to shoot with manual settings - and that is to prevent the camera from doing something you don't want it to do. The photo above was taken with the usual challenging light conditions with minimal time to adjust settings before riders started crossing the log. In this case, everything worked out.

Week 5 Photo 7b
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/402/32...10f6e669_o.jpgDZ1_8810-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

For sports and action photography I have my aperture and shutter speeds set to manual while my ISO adjusts automatically, and with 3D continuous focus. In the case of the photo above having the ISO and focus adjust themselves caused issues. The focus shifted to the rider as he jumped onto the log causing the ISO to drop down from 280 to 160. It doesn't sound like much but it was enough under expose the photo to the point of not being able to recover enough detail, with the above image being the best that I could achieve.

I have since debated whether or not to change to a manual ISO setting however I decided that with limited time to prepare before riders entered a shot having to adjust aperture, shutter speed, exposure and focus is enough and I just need to keep an eye on the ISO instead.

Nice series week 5, good action shots.

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

To be honest Sandy there's actually a good story with this particular photo. Just over 12 months ago this young fellow had a particularly nasty crash taking on this very jump, damaging his shoulder in the process. He was off the bike for about three months and when he came back, he was pretty tentative at taking on any jump. This particular one became his nemesis.

This photo was the first time he reattempted it since his crash - that smile on his face is the realisation that he no longer needed to be afraid of taking it on again. I think knowing that someone was down there taking photos encouraged him to face his fears :)

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Wow! That make the pic of him all the better! Excellent! You can tell that he is thrilled. I'm glad he recovered and is able to enjoy the ride again. :)

Something else I've considered is that you have to be in superb physical shape to be able to get ahead of the pack, get in position for shots and then hurry to join them again before they disappear over the horizon! (I'd be flat on my back at the bottom of a ravine somewhere! chuckle) "Well done" to you! Thank you for sharing these wonderful pictures!

Thanks John and Sandy.

Actually, the fitness aspect of this is very, very true. It's not just the riding ahead and catching up that is physically challenging - but believe it or not getting on and off the bike and getting yourself into position (laying on the ground, moving around - sometimes running from one position to another as riders ride through) is also very exhausting!

Week 6 Photo 1
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/682/32...5aa80a83_o.jpgDZ1_8834 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

This is the young fellow that had issues with that jump - you can see that he's beginning to get his confidence back. This photo was taken at the end of a particularly challenging ride (one I actually called "The Hardest 20km Ride Ever"). It was a very hot day, we had done a lot of climbs, and the extra weight of the camera really had exhausted me on the day.

This particular stretch of track lends itself to the sunset with riders performing extreme looking jumps - it was the first time I'd set myself up at this time of the day to photography riders. Unfortunately as tired as I was I neglected to set up the shutter speed or shift the focus to where I needed it to be so unfortunately Kyle (the rider) is out of focus.

The other thing I want to highlight about this was my position relative to the rider. I was laying on the ground (on my front) taking this photo to get this angle of the rider. The only problem with this angle is that it can be challenging to capture the facial expression of the rider (something I've picked up that people enjoy seeing from some of the feedback in the forum).

Sitting on the ground is a way around this - from the slightly higher angle you still capture a great angle but usually manage to capture the face of the rider as well.

Week 6 Photo 2
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/512/32...b827d225_o.jpgDZ1_8835-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Right - well this is actually one of my favourite photos to date (not necessarily anyone else's though!). Taken at the same time as the above photo I began to notice in the distance the riders performing a jump and quickly snapped a shot - and this particular rider was captured in a rather unique spot in the photo. Not much else for me to say with this one - yes, you can get technical with it but for me I'm just really happy with it.

I have only just come to this set - what wonderful photography. Well done. And I bet your fellow riders love their action shots

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Originally Posted by Kaye Leggett

I have only just come to this set - what wonderful photography. Well done. And I bet your fellow riders love their action shots

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Thank you Kaye - and yes, I've made a lot of new friends over the last few weeks :D. Most people are so focused on enjoying their ride that even those that enjoy photography don't really stop to take too many photos... that and camera equipment is really, really heavy and tiring to lug around on a ride! (Did I say that already? :rolleyes:)