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Trials Spectators


Andy
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Please, please, please DON'T wear those dayglo flourescent safety jackets, particularly those with reflective strips on them. You have no idea how much they bugger up photos :wall:

post-20-0-15627600-1368037228_thumb.jpg

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Andy - Looking at your photos from the event, I have to compliment you. They're all excellent. :icon_salut: Whatever fill flash setup your using is very natural yet adds nice pop. Maybe you care to share some tricks?

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I use a little-known and highly secret technique known as "buggering about with the settings". It's so hush-hush, I can't really say much.

This is still a relatively new camera to me and one I've not had nearly enough time using. I had major problems on Monday, as the photos show. Some were coming out light, some dark and some in-between. I went through the settings and so did Kitch and we couldn't find anything wrong. Eventually spotted bracketing was switched on. Once that was turned off all was fine. Next problem was it was set to use single focusing rather than continuous. Now that's sorted I'm really happy with the results, but I'm on Ken Rockwell's site every evening looking for other things I can tweak (and probably break it again) :)

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  • 3 months later...

Hi, Andy,

Lovely shot - as I would have expected - but the one 'gem' to come out of it is to explain to the world in general that, on the whole, modern cameras are tending to make good trials photography harder to achieve - why? - because YOU STILL HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING !!!

I know I live in the past, but when I decided to take the plunge and create my own magazine, I was already a keen amateur photographer and Mary, my wife, was keen to join in and proving to be a dab hand with a camera.

I decided to update our kit since it was obvious that decent images were going to be the most likely road to success, so off we went to our friendly local photography shop to see what deals could be struck. I opted for Canon kit and the dealer was keen to sell us the very latest innovation, an EOS with Autofocus. I wasn't sure, I had never seen autofocus before, Mary immediately spotted a potential problem; "What if you decide the prime point of focus that you want is not the one the camera chooses?" - "Tough" was the dealer's answer, "but don't worry all the images will always be in focus."

We weren't sure, so opted to take a pair of manual focus T90's, and two sets of lenses. They proved to be a near perfect solution.

Knowing that many typical sections are in woodland, in dark streams, we immediately added separate flash guns, choosing Metz units with an effective throw of up to 45 feet and the capability to measure the flash intensity off the surface of the film in the camera, so perfect exposure of the main subject matter even when working deep in the woods and on a bleak winter's day.

Then we concentrated on watching a few riders through our viewfinders to make sure that we were in a good position to see as much of the bike as possible, as much of the detail of the hazard as possible and, vitally, as much of his face from under the peak of his helmet as possible. When all of that was right, then we could press the shutter.

Nowadays with modern digital cameras, most have removed the option of manual operation, there's no cost of film or developing to worry about, and they have marvellous flash built-in - just point and shoot, they say. They don't point out that the tiny built in flash has an effective range of between 8 and 10 feet. They also don't highlight the fact that all the close shrubbery will be highly illuminated, so the automatic exposure will take it's guide from that, and the rider will likely be in the dark murky shadows beyond that, with his face in the shadow of the helmet peak..........

Sorry, but the answer is if you want to take good trials photographs, learn about photography first, then check that you have equipment that let's YOU be in charge of the whole process, then go out and enjoy yourself.

Some handy tips? If you want to take 'record' pictures of your machine, the ideal position for the camera is directly at right angles to the bike with the centre of the lens fairly close to the same height as the spark-plug - that way the perspectives will be right and the wheels won't look egg-shaped. Another useful one, action shots work well when you are about three-quarters on to the face. Most important, never, ever, stand in the eye-line of a rider and use flash.

Like I said, enjoy your photography and let the rider enjoy his ride.

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