2017 Project 52 - 1st Quarter by Mal Schulstad

Week 7 Photo 4a
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/652/32...991ba815_o.jpg_DZ19167 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

A deliberate attempt to get some panning shots to get mountain bikes at speed. No flash used - carrying an extra half a kilo in weight on a 45 km ride would have just killed me. I think historically I've done pans at 1/60 but the riders were able to get a fair amount of speed during this section so I set the shutter to 1/100 at wide open.

Week 7 Photo 4b
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/638/32...1bb081dd_o.jpg_DZ19169 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

It's very hard to get two riders in in these types of shots.

Week 7 Photo 4c
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/743/32...c6f98a2b_o.jpg_DZ19174 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

I think when the rider was pretty much perpendicular to me the shot seemed to work the best.

Week 7 Photo 4D
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/515/31...9f658704_o.jpg_DZ19179 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr
But I can't say I'm overly thrilled with any of these - probably more due to the boring lighting in the scene throughout the series.

I think out of these last four photos "Week 7 Photo 4D" suits me best. The rider is sharp and clear and the DOF is interesting! And on top of that, the rider is having fun because you are snapping his pic and you caught his expression!

His choice of colors of his clothes also matches his bike! <grin> I haven't paid attention to this detail before now - is this something riders like to do? :)

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Originally Posted by skitterbug

I think out of these last four photos "Week 7 Photo 4D" suits me best. The rider is sharp and clear and the DOF is interesting! And on top of that, the rider is having fun because you are snapping his pic and you caught his expression!

His choice of colors of his clothes also matches his bike! <grin> I haven't paid attention to this detail before now - is this something riders like to do? :)

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Some mountain bike riders do like to colour coordinate - but it's people that bike road bikes that really do the colour coordinating thing! You'll generally see herds of MAMiLs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) wearing clothes that not only match the same bike, but each each other as well!

I actually have a problem with Maurice (the rider in 4D) wearing green because it's very hard for me to contrast him against the background when taking photos of him!

Week 7 Photo 5
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/587/32...75318fe3_o.jpg_DZ19425 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Out of the 200 or so odd photos I've recently uploaded to Flickr in the last few weeks this one has received a few random Favs. I've no idea why...

Week 7 Photo 6
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/722/32...07ecf294_o.jpg_DZ19406-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Probably a bit heavy on the clarity with this one and bikes are positioned in the wrong spot (but as they were left by riders) but there's something about this one I do like. I think the riders in this photo give you the sense that they're just very high up on the edge of a cliff.

Week 7 Photo 7
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/573/32...23cc6b00_o.jpg_DZ19353 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

And I've finally caught up! This one is one of those challenging scenarios which is comprised of the following:

- An interesting obstacle that's on the steep and somewhat gnarly (mountain biking term) side;
- A heavy canopy blocking any real usable light in the target area;
- A light canopy off in the distance that lights the light come through very brightly;
- Riders coming at high speed.

I didn't have a whole lot of time to get into a good position to create the feel of a difficult obstacle (two logs in rapid succession) so I don't think I succeeded on that point. I shot as wide open as I could (f2.8) and had the shutter speed at 1/500 which is slow as I could have had it given the speed of the riders. The ISO was still at 5000 - far too high for my liking for an action shot, but it its what it is. You'll see a fair bit of noise in this shot but to remove it further would have taken out too much detail I think.

I wonder what a fill flash would have done for the shot... I do know a fill flash would have killed me on this ride though!

Week 8 Photo 1
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/276/32...624b3a5b_o.jpgThat Moment.. by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Technically everything about this photo is not great - wrong position to catch the subject in the best position in the frame, shutter speed to low, poor lighting -etc etc. But, sometimes the capture of what is going on in the photo takes precedence - simply because I couldn't capture what is happening in this photo in another 10,000 shots.

Sometimes, you just have to go with it.

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

Week 7 Photo 7
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/573/32...23cc6b00_o.jpg

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Love that image. Brilliant composition. Wonderful light. Gorgeous atmosphere.

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

Week 8 Photo 1
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/276/32...624b3a5b_o.jpgThat Moment.. by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Technically everything about this photo is not great - wrong position to catch the subject in the best position in the frame, shutter speed to low, poor lighting -etc etc. But, sometimes the capture of what is going on in the photo takes precedence - simply because I couldn't capture what is happening in this photo in another 10,000 shots.

Sometimes, you just have to go with it.

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An interesting photo!

Something is happening at the right hand edge of the rear tire. I can't decide if the tire blew a hole or whether it's light flare.

Like Donald, I really like the image in post #86.

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Originally Posted by Cantab

An interesting photo!

Something is happening at the right hand edge of the rear tire. I can't decide if the tire blew a hole or whether it's light flare.

Like Donald, I really like the image in post #86.

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The tyre blew a hole. What you see coming out of the tyre is sealant - which is supposed to seal the hole so the tyre doesn't go flat... unless the hole is so big the sealant can't cover it up but instead comes shooting out like a fountain. The sealant is made out of a rubber latex compound and the guy behind this rider caught a mouthful of it.

Instances like this are rarely supposed to happen. Yours truly had it happen 3 times in a month....

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Originally Posted by Donald

Love that image. Brilliant composition. Wonderful light. Gorgeous atmosphere.

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Thanks Donald... you know that I have very limited control of the composition and having the subjects at the right place and time involves a little bit of skill... and a whole lot of luck!

Week 8 Photo 2
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/671/31...fb964302_o.jpgGCG_8581-Edit by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

An exercise in post processing. Three different colour gradients at angles of about 30 degrees on both corners, a touch of the detail extractor and some playing of the contrast in Nik Collection gave this photo a bit more drama and an almost painting like feel when compared to the original photo that was just PP'd in Lightroom.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/516/31...7b4719c2_o.jpgGCG_8581 by Mal Schulstad, on Flickr

Mind you, the rider does look a bit Ompah Lumpaish (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference) so I should have probably fixed the skin tones while I was in Nik Collection as well.

Impressive timing! Quite a short window to capture it with a hole that size.

I like your more processed version - you can feel the fun you are having with this project, pushing it onwards

Week 8 Photo2, nice capture of the action, timed just a hair too soon as the back tire still looks connected grounded and the figure in back could be cloned out. Nice effort on the processing.

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Originally Posted by AG64

Impressive timing! Quite a short window to capture it with a hole that size.

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Pure luck - I assure you!

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Originally Posted by Kaye Leggett

I like your more processed version - you can feel the fun you are having with this project, pushing it onwards

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Thanks Kaye - sometimes it pays to go back and have another look at a photo.

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Week 8 Photo2, nice capture of the action, timed just a hair too soon as the back tire still looks connected grounded and the figure in back could be cloned out. Nice effort on the processing.

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Absolutely right about the timing John. This is one of my earlier photos where I was still getting to grips with my camera buffer - in this case I was on the edge of it and the next button press resulted in no shot!

I do find sometimes it's a nice effect to have a rider in the background as part of the scene. It's a bit obtrusive on the Week 8 Photo 2 shot but with some distance I like having multiple riders to give the MTB photos more of an action feel. The best ones are when I can get two riders jumping off different jumps simultaneously.

Great action shot!

Actually my path recently has been similar - posting daily on Instagram and returning here for feedback. Folks here are incredibly helpful and patient - the latter needed in may case! Nice composition in "Stopping for Repairs."