Monday, April 09, 2007
USOpen Recap
Lots of stuff going through my weary brain after the whole USOpen experience.As usual Mike at GamJams has some great links to many reports on the race.
Check the Love2RidePhoto blog to get links to some of my pics. More are going up as we speak .....
Also be sure to see the DailyPeleton.com for 2 great writeups - WITH some awesome photography by myself (a rookie) and Kurt of Action Photos (a real pro). Had the chance to work next to Kurt off and on all day and was totally impressed by his professional style, his friendly attitude, and his results. He was one of the few (not me) that was totally ready for the elements. He got some fantastic shots while sitting on the back of a moto with the peleton on the way in. Don't think I'm quite ready for that move, ............ yet.
Being a photog on that level was harder than I expected. Not just the added pressure to be sure you had your camera settings spot on so you don't miss the shot, but the amount of work going through the files after the race to get them into the publishers fast. Been relying more and more on manual settings, including focus. Seems like autofocus works great until you really need the shot, then it reads the wrong point, or the rider is closing too fast for the camera to adjust.
Found myself falling asleep in front of the computer Saturday evening many times. I did learn a ton, and will be better prepared next time. It seemed like EVERYONE was taking pictures out there, and there were no shortage of pro photogs. I was really pretty pleased with my results, but need to streamline my post processing a bit to save time and get more sleep.
Going through hundreds of photo after a race certainly isn't something new, and as usual, comes with nice surprises. Every race has many, many, moves, but only one ends up defining the outcome. It's nice when you see that you were in the right place at the right time to catch it.Pat McCarty (far left) made that move with just over 3 laps to go on the way up the Main Street hill. I'm probably 1/4 mile away, using my longest lens all the way out, on a monopod. Libby Hill got all the publicity as "the hill" of the race. With it's cobbles, great views for spectaters, and a Jumbotron TV, it deserved it. But it was the long climb up Main that led to another longer one past the Governers mansion that really tested the riders.
The production end of things was awe inspiring. What a mountain of logistical details just running a race like that. Then throw in "live" (delayed) coverage by NBC. Bobke, Al, John, and crew on site in a tent (and on the Jumbotron) doing what they do best. Add in the weather on top of that. With the start delayed 90 minutes the NBC TV race coverage actually started as the live race was finishing. Even more impressive was that it was Red5 Sports FIRST race. Richard Durishin, the principal, doesn't even consider himself a cyclist. The day after the event he told me, "I just really love the sport and think everyone should have a chance to watch it". WOW.
The roads on the way to the start 
and on the way back to Richmond.
It really was heart warming to see some Cities and an entire State open their arms to professional cycling like that. From the looks of things the event will go on next year, and for years to come.RideOn
JB
Comments:
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depending on what post processing you really need to do:
http://secsup.net/index.php/shaded_grey/comments/so_you_say_you_dislike_gallery_yappa_your_favorite_gallery_program/
is a quick and easy way to upload all the raw images (by raw I mean jpg right off the camera's mem-stick-thingy) and get them both sized reasonably and available on a webpage for viewing... it's not to tough, really :) and I think I've got it mechanized to the point now where I just copy up all X of the picts and run the script to auto-generate the pictures. example:
http://email.ops-netman.net/picts/leader-bike-maiden-voyage/
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http://secsup.net/index.php/shaded_grey/comments/so_you_say_you_dislike_gallery_yappa_your_favorite_gallery_program/
is a quick and easy way to upload all the raw images (by raw I mean jpg right off the camera's mem-stick-thingy) and get them both sized reasonably and available on a webpage for viewing... it's not to tough, really :) and I think I've got it mechanized to the point now where I just copy up all X of the picts and run the script to auto-generate the pictures. example:
http://email.ops-netman.net/picts/leader-bike-maiden-voyage/
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