Nice video James. I really think i need to invest in that 70-200 2.8 as my 70-350 3.5-6.6 just doesn’t quite cut it without lots of noise at 6500 iso. Great insight to your work. Thanks
No worries at all Steve, glad you liked it. If you can't afford the Sony version, there is a very decent Sigma version of the 70-200 and still f/2.8. I hate it when my ISO goes anywhere over 800!
Enjoyed that mate. Love the commentary stuff and it seems you’re a natural RUclipsr. Rubbing shoulder with a former MotoGP and British Superbike rider too, can’t be bad. He’s insane on a push iron too.
Thanks David, appreciate that a lot. I wouldn't say I am a natural, but it helps a lot talking to a camera not sat behind it. Yer Scott is super nice mate & ultimately loves a race. All good fun :) Hope you are well?
Thank you Ash. Seems a lot of people liked the commentary, I guess I just do not like the sound of my voice haha. Yes, it was great meeting you too, I'm just still kicking myself over you know what haha.
Great video, I've been shooting for a few years now but mainly street, portrait and woodland scenes. Just getting into sports photography, specially cycling as it is my biggest passion. Do you have any advice on how to monetize it? I want to get a website set up to sell but I'm not sure which would be the best/ most affordable for someone just starting out selling. Any advice would be great!
Hey Callum, thank you for the comment. If I going to be completely honest, I rarely sell my photos at these events because I am mainly using them for practise. However, if athletes do ask for photos I normally post a full album on Google Photos and then send them a link to my PayPal. Some of the more off roading events I do, there is a website called 'Roots and Rain' which I use and that is far easier for people to pay up, but there is a 20% commission. For all the client work I do, and the lack of events I do go to, it is not worth me setting up a site that will charge me monthly for hosting. If you are just starting, it might be worth going down the free route and manually sending albums to athletes via Google Photos. Hope that helps? Thank you for the sub too!
Great video. Nice delivery and format. I noticed that you seemed to shoot landscape even though a lot of your processed images were portrait. Having the Go-Pro in the flash gun mount must have restricted you? Do you shoot with a grip in portrait orientation? A cyclist's shape can suit this. The club level road racing I've shot tends to be on open road loops with travelling marshals and static helpers controlling traffic at junctions. Getting to different locations on a course can be very difficult, restricting the number of shot's you can get at an event. Trying to get to the finish line in time for the riders to cross the line is usually impossible without missing a whole chunk of time. Course and local area knowledge is invaluable. I much prefer CX racing as it's easier to get to numerous locations quickly and therefore get more shots, the downside can be much muddier 😞
Hi Fran, thank you for the comment! You are completely right with that, I love shooting in portrait orientation, however the GoPro does restrict me for the purposes of filming a RUclips video. Shooting landscapes though however is what a lot of clients prefer, so actually it is nice to shoot landscape to both challenge myself and improve my skill set. What do you mean by grip in portrait orientation? I am a little bit confused by what you mean? Do you mean the grip on the camera? I love photographing CX and I'll be out and about capturing a few races soon. For this race in particular I know the area really well and getting about in a car is no problem against the flow of the race. Thanks again Fran!
@@JustJamesMedia Apologies for that, yeah, I use a grip on my A7 and A9, I think it makes shooting in portrait orientation much easier. Interesting to read that clients prefer landscape format, I would have thought the cycling industry would have tended to favour portrait orientation. Everyday is a school day
@@franhollywood361 I actually find that the grips on the cameras I have are really ergonomic as they are so I don't feel the need for anything else. Any extra weight too with the 70-200mm and I'll be doing about 3 gym sessions in a day hahaha. Not all clients do prefer landscapes, however if they images for websites then a landscape shot fills the page. I prefer portrait orientation myself.
Amazing work buddy, hope all is good, i like how you are passionate about this and I like the drive you have that pushes you to put so much effort in your work, never seen a close view of a race like that before, nice content and hope to see more things soon, probably some hiking photography and nice sceneries. all the best james,
Thank you Salam. Yes I’m all good thank you, yourself? It’s a weird one to think about myself being passionate, but glad that’s come across. I’ll try to do some kind of landscape video at some point. I did one of Corfe castle a little while ago if you check my other videos. Thanks again, James
Cheers Ben for the great comment. I probably did too much on the day which punished my photo work a bit. The video seems to have gone down well though! 😎
@@BBDigitalArts the hardest thing for me as someone who prefers to shoot portrait, was shooting the landscape the whole day (and then cropping) because of the gopro.
Good stuff, I do miss all the bikes 🚴 but staying upright is more fun at my age now adays! I do really rate the go pro ten bud if your gonna up grade, great bit of kit, battery life still the same though! My last vlog at Conygar tower delves into the 10 a little bit. But I’m also hearing rumours the 11 is on the way.
Evening Peter, I completely feel you on that one. Although doing all these events is very inspiring, especially given I was a former athlete and super competitive! Oh nice, I'll give that a watch & drop you a sub. It does look like I have filmed it on a potato, which is weird given it was filming at 1080p... Also I always try to stay one model behind the newest to keep the cost down, so hopefully an 11 does come out soon so I can grab a bargain on the 10 :) Cheers for stopping by.
@@JustJamesMedia I wouldn’t mind speaking to you about a few things sometime soon, I’ll drop you a message on Instagram over the weekend, stay awesome 👏
@@peter16fleckenphotography Corrrr that footage on the GoPro is pretty spicy... hmm now that is tempting me! Of course Peter, fire away. Speak soon and have a good weekend.
I photograph the local cycling racing. The finish line still has me beat. Do I focus on the finish line and hold the shutter down as the riders cross the line, or pan with the front runners then sweep back and focus on the next bunch? I do miss a lot of riders this way.
Thank you Arthur for the question. I think it ultimately depends on the lens you have at your disposal. For me having a 70-200mm lens, I set myself about 30m back from the finish line and just inside the road. This gives me a nice head on shot of the winner and subsequent finishers. With a lot of work I do, the focus is primarily on the winner, so I don't tend to get much after that, maybe a few of the bunch sprints behind as they make for good photos. For me also, I use continuous auto focus and tracking flexible spot, so I don't set my focus on the finish line as you could miss an early celebration, etc, if that makes sense? I hope this helps somewhat?
Thank you for the comment. Most the time I use 'tracking flexible spot' on my Sony A7Riv and it does a great job and picking up subjects. With cyclists they quite often wear sunglasses, so eye detect is thrown off, so most the time I aim for chest or head area. I hope that helps?
Good question. I think it completely depends on the photographer. As a sports photographer that also loves taking landscape shots, having a 24-70 just allows myself to go wider, find more leading lines, etc. For the specific times I was using the 24-70, I wasn't looking to pick out any specific rider, so I didn't need my big 70-200. Hope that makes sense?
Hope you enjoy this first POV style video. Let me know what you think & which is your favourite photograph on the day?
Nice video James. I really think i need to invest in that 70-200 2.8 as my 70-350 3.5-6.6 just doesn’t quite cut it without lots of noise at 6500 iso. Great insight to your work. Thanks
No worries at all Steve, glad you liked it. If you can't afford the Sony version, there is a very decent Sigma version of the 70-200 and still f/2.8. I hate it when my ISO goes anywhere over 800!
Enjoyed that mate. Love the commentary stuff and it seems you’re a natural RUclipsr.
Rubbing shoulder with a former MotoGP and British Superbike rider too, can’t be bad. He’s insane on a push iron too.
Thanks David, appreciate that a lot. I wouldn't say I am a natural, but it helps a lot talking to a camera not sat behind it.
Yer Scott is super nice mate & ultimately loves a race.
All good fun :) Hope you are well?
First time seeing this must say we'll done, I like the pov style and the real life out on the road approach.
Thank you James, appreciate it. I like doing them and have a few more on the channel and a few more lined up.
Enjoyed this a lot. Loving the commentary and humour that wen along with it. Great meeting you in the flesh the other evening.
Thank you Ash. Seems a lot of people liked the commentary, I guess I just do not like the sound of my voice haha. Yes, it was great meeting you too, I'm just still kicking myself over you know what haha.
Great video, I've been shooting for a few years now but mainly street, portrait and woodland scenes. Just getting into sports photography, specially cycling as it is my biggest passion. Do you have any advice on how to monetize it? I want to get a website set up to sell but I'm not sure which would be the best/ most affordable for someone just starting out selling. Any advice would be great!
Hey Callum, thank you for the comment. If I going to be completely honest, I rarely sell my photos at these events because I am mainly using them for practise. However, if athletes do ask for photos I normally post a full album on Google Photos and then send them a link to my PayPal. Some of the more off roading events I do, there is a website called 'Roots and Rain' which I use and that is far easier for people to pay up, but there is a 20% commission. For all the client work I do, and the lack of events I do go to, it is not worth me setting up a site that will charge me monthly for hosting. If you are just starting, it might be worth going down the free route and manually sending albums to athletes via Google Photos. Hope that helps? Thank you for the sub too!
Great video. Nice delivery and format.
I noticed that you seemed to shoot landscape even though a lot of your processed images were portrait. Having the Go-Pro in the flash gun mount must have restricted you?
Do you shoot with a grip in portrait orientation? A cyclist's shape can suit this.
The club level road racing I've shot tends to be on open road loops with travelling marshals and static helpers controlling traffic at junctions. Getting to different locations on a course can be very difficult, restricting the number of shot's you can get at an event. Trying to get to the finish line in time for the riders to cross the line is usually impossible without missing a whole chunk of time. Course and local area knowledge is invaluable. I much prefer CX racing as it's easier to get to numerous locations quickly and therefore get more shots, the downside can be much muddier 😞
Hi Fran, thank you for the comment!
You are completely right with that, I love shooting in portrait orientation, however the GoPro does restrict me for the purposes of filming a RUclips video. Shooting landscapes though however is what a lot of clients prefer, so actually it is nice to shoot landscape to both challenge myself and improve my skill set.
What do you mean by grip in portrait orientation? I am a little bit confused by what you mean? Do you mean the grip on the camera?
I love photographing CX and I'll be out and about capturing a few races soon. For this race in particular I know the area really well and getting about in a car is no problem against the flow of the race.
Thanks again Fran!
@@JustJamesMedia Apologies for that, yeah, I use a grip on my A7 and A9, I think it makes shooting in portrait orientation much easier.
Interesting to read that clients prefer landscape format, I would have thought the cycling industry would have tended to favour portrait orientation. Everyday is a school day
@@franhollywood361 I actually find that the grips on the cameras I have are really ergonomic as they are so I don't feel the need for anything else. Any extra weight too with the 70-200mm and I'll be doing about 3 gym sessions in a day hahaha. Not all clients do prefer landscapes, however if they images for websites then a landscape shot fills the page. I prefer portrait orientation myself.
Amazing work buddy, hope all is good, i like how you are passionate about this and I like the drive you have that pushes you to put so much effort in your work, never seen a close view of a race like that before, nice content and hope to see more things soon, probably some hiking photography and nice sceneries. all the best james,
Thank you Salam. Yes I’m all good thank you, yourself? It’s a weird one to think about myself being passionate, but glad that’s come across. I’ll try to do some kind of landscape video at some point. I did one of Corfe castle a little while ago if you check my other videos. Thanks again, James
Very good mate, enjoyed it 👍
haha cheers bud! Something different hopefully.
Great video mate, loads of good perspectives, even got the drone out, loads of work that’s not unnoticed 🙌🏻
Cheers Ben for the great comment. I probably did too much on the day which punished my photo work a bit. The video seems to have gone down well though! 😎
@@JustJamesMedia always the way mate, hard to concentrate on both
@@BBDigitalArts the hardest thing for me as someone who prefers to shoot portrait, was shooting the landscape the whole day (and then cropping) because of the gopro.
@@JustJamesMedia ahhhhh yeah fair one, have to get a cage and mount it on the side 🙌🏻
@@BBDigitalArts or potentially wear a chest mount?
Good stuff, I do miss all the bikes 🚴 but staying upright is more fun at my age now adays! I do really rate the go pro ten bud if your gonna up grade, great bit of kit, battery life still the same though! My last vlog at Conygar tower delves into the 10 a little bit. But I’m also hearing rumours the 11 is on the way.
Evening Peter, I completely feel you on that one. Although doing all these events is very inspiring, especially given I was a former athlete and super competitive!
Oh nice, I'll give that a watch & drop you a sub. It does look like I have filmed it on a potato, which is weird given it was filming at 1080p... Also I always try to stay one model behind the newest to keep the cost down, so hopefully an 11 does come out soon so I can grab a bargain on the 10 :)
Cheers for stopping by.
@@JustJamesMedia I wouldn’t mind speaking to you about a few things sometime soon, I’ll drop you a message on Instagram over the weekend, stay awesome 👏
@@peter16fleckenphotography Corrrr that footage on the GoPro is pretty spicy... hmm now that is tempting me!
Of course Peter, fire away. Speak soon and have a good weekend.
I photograph the local cycling racing. The finish line still has me beat. Do I focus on the finish line and hold the shutter down as the riders cross the line, or pan with the front runners then sweep back and focus on the next bunch? I do miss a lot of riders this way.
Thank you Arthur for the question. I think it ultimately depends on the lens you have at your disposal. For me having a 70-200mm lens, I set myself about 30m back from the finish line and just inside the road. This gives me a nice head on shot of the winner and subsequent finishers. With a lot of work I do, the focus is primarily on the winner, so I don't tend to get much after that, maybe a few of the bunch sprints behind as they make for good photos. For me also, I use continuous auto focus and tracking flexible spot, so I don't set my focus on the finish line as you could miss an early celebration, etc, if that makes sense? I hope this helps somewhat?
Really good video and some great shots! On a side note, I'm a little disappointed that you didn't get a shot of the thumbs up I gave you at 08:14 🤣
Thanks Ashley. Haha, I did get a photo, but unfortunately it was blurry :S Always next time.
Good stuff
Thank you very much, greatly appreciated!
❤
oi! oi! Thanks Ben!
where did you put the focus point? on the face or body of cylist?
Thank you for the comment. Most the time I use 'tracking flexible spot' on my Sony A7Riv and it does a great job and picking up subjects. With cyclists they quite often wear sunglasses, so eye detect is thrown off, so most the time I aim for chest or head area. I hope that helps?
@@JustJamesMedia yes it helps, thanks a lot
No problems at all! Please consider subscribing for more content in the future you might find useful.
can i ask why you changed to 24-70 lens?
Good question. I think it completely depends on the photographer. As a sports photographer that also loves taking landscape shots, having a 24-70 just allows myself to go wider, find more leading lines, etc. For the specific times I was using the 24-70, I wasn't looking to pick out any specific rider, so I didn't need my big 70-200. Hope that makes sense?
What’s your focus mode on this kind of sports?
Autofocus Continuous (AF-C) and then I use Tracking Flexible Spot 👍
@@JustJamesMedia thank you! 👍😁
the fake blur effect is really awful.
Appreciate the feedback, but everyone has an opinion and brands have hired me specifically to do similar shots. Have a good day.
@@JustJamesMedia Personally thought it was sick! Would love a tutorial on it
@@tahoemeg thank you. I’ve been meaning to do a workshop on it, but haven’t got around to it yet.