Automagisk blog

Kreftforeningen (the Norwegian cancer foundation) arranged Oslo Grand Prix in August, and some of the world’s best cyclist raced a short circuit in the middle of Oslo. More than 60,000 people came to watch the race. I brought my camera.

Thor Hushovd
D300, ISO 1600, 70-200mm 2.8 @ 70mm, 1/250, f/2.8. SB-800 on camera.

The race

There race circuit was only 1km long, and there were people everywhere. I think the organizers had not expected such a big crowd, but everything worked fine. Just a bit difficult to get a good view. I tried a few different spots, and ended up balancing on the round edge of a garbage can to get a good view of the riders coming through a turn.

The organizers were Norges Cykleforbund, Oslo Cancer Cluster and Kreftforeningen.

Technical details

The 70-200 focuses fast, but with aperture 2.8 the depth of field is very limited, especially when the riders are as close as 5m. I took a lot of photos in series (8 frames per second) with continuous focus. If I got 6-7 photos following a rider through the turn, about half of them has the rider’s face in focus. It was tricky keeping the focus point on the rider’s face through the curve.

I had brought my flash too, and after trying a little, I ended up using the same settings as without flash (It had also gotten a little darker, so maybe it was really -1 for the ambient light). Since I was balancing on a garbage can, the SB-800 was placed on the camera, using a small reflector from Lumiquest to soften the light a little.

Since I knew I would only get one shot with the flash (it takes a few seconds to recharge), I prefocused on a spot on the ground and took the picture one I thought the rider’s head was in the right spot. Maybe one out of 20 images were in focus. The top one, of Thor Hushovd, is the best one. Even with manual focus and f/2.8 at about 5m, it is in focus.

Some of the shots

Lance Armstrong
D300, ISO 1600, 70-200mm 2.8 @ 70mm, 1/250, f/2.8.

Kurt Asle Arvesen
D300, ISO 2000, 70-200mm 2.8 @ 70mm, 1/250, f/2.8.

D300, ISO 2000, 70-200mm 2.8 @ 70mm, 1/320, f/2.8.

As mentioned, lots of people – and the Royal Palace in the background:

D300, ISO 2000, 70-200mm 2.8 @ 70mm, 1/250, f/2.8.

There are a few more in the Oslo Grand Prix Flickr set.

Notes for next time

• Find a good spot where there will be some action, and where the background is ok. Using more than one spot is probably also a good idea..
• Bring a step-ladder. Yes, really. It’s a lot to carry around, but it can mean the difference between getting a clear view of the riders or a close-up view of people’s heads.
• Take lots of pictures. Focus is tricky, and the ones that look sharp on the camera’s LCD screen may not be sharp when viewed on the computer’s LCD (even when you zoom in and inspect).
• If it’s dark, like it was here: Crank up the ISO. It’s better with a little noise than a little blur. The D300 works with ISO 2000, but with a D700 or D3(S) I guess ISO 4000 (and more?) would be fine.
• Remember to cheer!

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