At the Races

I mention in the 'about me' section on my homepage that I have two passions. The first, and the reason for this blog is photography, and the second, and the reason that I remain sane, is riding bikes. I have been attending the Lincoln Grand Prix for a number of years, each time with camera by my side. The first year, back in 2007, I was lucky enough to be one of the official photographers for the event, complete with migraine inducing fluorescent, yellow bib. I loved the day despite the weather, and came away with some fantastic shots. I captured many great moments and witnessed Rapha Condor Cycling totally control and bully the race from start to finish. Dean Downing won that year, and I will never forget the commitment etched all over his face as he rounded the last corner to take the win. Road cycling is a brutal sport and not for the faint hearted. It requires total dedication to get to Elite level and plenty of pain and suffering. These really are hard men. I've trained on the famous Michaelgate climb, and while not particularly difficult, it's a 1 in 6 gradient, the fact that these guys race up there thirteen times in total, all the while having their fillings rattled loose by the slippery cobbles, deserves huge respect.



Left. 2007. Richard Wilkinson powering to the finish, his work done. Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300 F2.8
Right. 2007.  Dean Downing rounds the last corner on his way to a superb victory for Rapha Condor in the 2007 Lincoln G.P. Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300 F2.8 

2007. Maximum effort. Dean Downing about to win the Lincoln G.P. Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300 F2.8  

 This year, I wanted to try something a bit different. I'd been taking a big Dslr to this event for a number of years, so decided this time to pack light, firstly to enjoy the day a bit more, and secondly, so I didn't have to lug a camera and accompanying lenses around for several hours. I wasn't getting paid for this gig, so I decided to relax and soak up the atmosphere a bit. Step in, the Fuji X100. I really thought that this little camera would be well and truly out of it's depth on a day such as this. It's not renowned for it's ability to continually track an object or be as fast to lock onto a target as a Dslr. And guess what, it's not. But that made me think about the situation in a bit more detail. If you're not careful, with a modern Dslr you can become complacent, just shoot away and expect to get decent results. I believe that this can adversely affect the quality of your work. Quite a lot of the time I shoot in aperture priority mode at Weddings, this suits me and my shooting style well. I'm usually an F4 shooter, following in the esteemed footsteps of World renowned Wedding photographers, Damien and Julie Lovegrove, but I couldn't rely on this technique at the race. I decided to shoot in full manual mode, choosing a smaller aperture of F8-F11 and a shutter speed of 1/500 sec. This resulted in an ISO of 1600 which I knew would be well within the capabilities of the Fuji's sensor. This did two things. It gave me a correct exposure on the riders themselves and it also helped to freeze the action. By employing these settings I was able to portray the agony and torture these guys go through during the length of the race, and boy, do they suffer. The more I shot, the more I loved what I was seeing, and I felt as long as I got close enough to the action, the camera would deliver. As the race drew to a close the weather turned for the worse, and people started to dive for cover, trying to protect their cameras and themselves from the rain and wind. I decided to call it a day also, so I took the Fuji from around my neck, put the lens cap on, and tucked it away in my jacket pocket. Job done.  

  

2013. Early in the race and already the pain is reaching unbearable levels.

2013. One lap on and the same guy, this time on the far side, looks as though he would rather curl up and die than carry on. Strangely enough, the guy closest to the camera looks surprisingly chipper, or possibly psychotic.

           

2013. The sweet ecstasy of  pain... (and a nice bike).

2013. 'Comin' through' The lady in the pink jacket very nearly got a face full of agitated rider.