This past Sat race and the coming week.

I always look forward to shooting under an epic weather condition. It brings out so much dramas and struggles. This past Sat race, Tour of New York, was no exception, missing the heavy downpour. Unfortunately, such weather condition brings along low light and low visibility. This makes photographing the race a big challenge. Special care must be taken to ensure proper exposure. The flash could only do so much. It can't light up the whole area of the park. Live and learn. I would probably shoot the similar condition differently next time.

This coming weekend is going to be busy. Back to back races. And not just any other races. It is the annual Harlem Crit. A full day event. I am still thinking about my shooting strategy. What gear to bring? Where and when to shoot. And how complete I want for the coverage. Whether or not I can post process all the shots in time.

Shooting a time trial, Floyd Bennett Field.

I kind of miss shooting Prospect Park races. You get the early morning sun and light. Not too strong. It was certainly an interesting experience shooting a time trial. Frankly, I have never done one or maybe because there aren't that many available around here near NYC. Of course, how do you effectively capture the riders in a time trial? I believe shooting with my 500L has solved this problem very nicely. I have to say the focal length is a bit too long. It becomes suspectable to atmospheric (UV and heat) distortions. A lens that big isn't easy to handle. I do wish I was using a 400L or maybe even the 300L. In any case, few things can certainly be improved next time shooting a time trial.

Seeing all the riders on their time trial bikes makes me want to have one too.....

Team United Thursday Night Race series...

Last night was my first time actually shooting the race series. Although the course is the same Floyd Bennett Field, there is a slight course variation. 3 turns and with the 3rd turn with a very tight corner leading up to the finishing straight. It was windy too at the finishing straight. With a large field, that turn can allow breakaway riders to gain time on the field. Of course, from the photography perspectives, you can some crazy leaning angle shots of the riders. The twilight color gave me some issue. It makes everything growing red. As if the riders' jerseys aren't colorful enough... Shot with my 70-200L markII last night too. Very impressed with the lens.

Got to pre up for tomorrow time trial at Floyd Bennett field. It could be a long day with total of 170 riders registered.

June 4th FBF Time Trial...

This would be my first time shooting a time trial. Is a whole new different beast here. Personally, I am a time trial feint, as a rider. It is about your pure fitness level, the size of your engine, and level of your threshold power. Much is going on during time trialing is internal, inside the mind of the riders. It will be a challenge to actually shoot one.

Of course, being a smaller rider, although I don't have problems doing a 40k time trial, I lack the speed. Since the course is in FBF, I have to shoot the time trial with the high noon sun. Another challenge is that there will be multiple riders on the course time trialing. There will be riders lapping the slower ones. It will get confusing, even for the riders since they may lose track how many laps they still need to do. Obviously, as a photographer, there is no way I can keep track how many laps the riders are doing.

Still thinking about if I should sign up and do one myself. 11 miles. I think I can complete it under 25 minutes on my regular road bike.

Some gear restructuring...

So, I found out that the Empire State Olympic game has been canceled all together. There would be no qualifiers in NYC. Is a shame. Apparently, NYS is too broke to sponsor it. The game isn't attractive enough to lure more corporate sponsors. Looks like a slow month of June in NYC. I have some times to restructure my gear. The Sigma lens isn't working too well as I expected. Auto focusing is too slow for races. Just working out some gear replacements before late June. The next big race is the Harlem Skyscraper Criterium. I need to workout some logistic issue to shoot this race. I may actually need to bring out my BIG GUN, 500L, for this. How do I get around the race course carrying a 8lb lens?? I may not need to if I will have the gear that I need.

Shooting Race for the Wine and Tour de Parc...

It was certainly a somewhat crazy weekend for me. Shooting both races and get the shots processed and uploaded in time. Well, I survived. On one hand, with the Race for the Wine, I was shooting with a bright sunny day. Most of the times, I was shooting with a backlit sky and somewhat with the sun facing me. It got so bad that my finishing shots for the cat 4 and 5 were barely usable. Years of bird photography taught me how to deal with such situation during the shots and in post processing.

For the Tour de Parc, it was cloudy for the entire day. It was a long coverage for me, from 9am to 3pm. You know I am a flash person. However, my high voltage external batter for my 580ex II was running low on juice after 1k shots. I knew it would happen and I have couple of spare AA batteries. Obviously, it was not as good as my high voltage battery pack since it can't keep up with my 1dmark III burst speed.

Another challenge is how to effectively shoot and cull shots from a criterium. You have riders doing the same turn maybe 10 to 20 times. They don't look or ride any different than the 5th lap to the 10th lap. I took a lot of shots that day but I was only be able to use few in order to avoid repetitions.

I have some doubts about my new Sigma 70-200 OS lens. It does the job but I wish it could auto focus faster. Maybe more sharper at wide open. The weather wasn't that great on Sunday. Maybe I am demanding too much from my gear. Looks like in the month of June, the NYC racing calendar is somewhat slow. The next big race is the FBF time trial. I actually think about signing up.

Back to back races this weekend.

On Sat, we have the Race for the Wine at Floyd Bennett Field, early morning. It should have some good turnouts. The weather seems to be cooperating. Hopefully, there is a blue sky so that I won't have to deal with the white/gray overcast sky. On Sunday, we have the Tour de Parc in Long Island. It would be my first time shooting that race. Just looked up Google map, the finish has a long stretch of road. Maybe I could use my Canon 500L for the first time. I normally use it for bird photography. With this lens, I could capture some of the dead head-on shots of the peleton speeding down the stretch, without worrying about the safety issue. Of course, having the potential to capture some of the most awesome finishing shots too. With that lens, it would like I was on a motor bike, next to the rider, during the finish.

I just ordered the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 HSM OS. A new mid range telephoto lens. It should increase my keeper ratio over my Canon 70-200L F4 no IS.