BIPP Bronze Award - "Climbing the Rake"
It was the fourth (last) day of the Tour of Britain Women and it had been a brilliant three days so far for the team I work with, Pro-Noctis, 200 Degrees, Hargreaves Contracting.
It had also been good weather as we'd raced through Wales and across the North East of England and I'd got some great shots, planning my locations for the next day each night, spending hours staring at Google Maps and the route schedule.
Seeing my image on the BIPP website, surrounded by a variety of amazing images reinforces how the different genres of photography each have their unique challenges. Shooting a cycling race means you're reacting to everything around you, you're trying to control the uncontrollable, usually in vain!
I research locations and hopefully choose one with an interesting or dramatic background, or where I know a story is going to unfold. That's only the start though, can I get there, can I park my car, will I have time to move to my next location, where will the riders be on the road, what state will the race be in at this point .......?
And because I shoot just one team, will we have a rider in the right place on the road (so many times I've picked the perfect location, only for the team to be 'hidden' behind other riders!).
Technically I can't set up or prepare for my shot, other than to ensure my camera's set up correctly for the conditions. Occasionally I can use on camera flash (although I've had riders complain when I do), but not in rain, the flash just reflects off the rain drops. There's no way of setting up off camera flash or similar, the variables are just too great, I take into account the position of the sun and ambient light but other than that, I just have to react.
It's interesting to compare my image against the others in the competition gallery, especially the static and 'studio' images, the gallery beautifully demonstrates the breadth of expertise and experience on display, and the different approaches and techniques required to create stunning images.
