Bh3X PHOTOGRAPHY

IXS European Downhill Cup – Pila

After a couple of weeks of riding in France and a couple of day of sleeping for recovery I decide to go to Pila… this time not for riding but to photograph the IXS European Downhill Cup event. This time I will not speak about riding but I will speak about how I  approach this kind of events for photographing, just for sharing with you all that you can find it useful ar with the ones that can give me some hits for improving my photography.

So in the morning I start my trip to Pila, this time by train because is quite easy to reach the place from my house in this way and this gives me the opportunity tho think about the challenges of this trip… I always try to focalize before of a work like this on the challenges that I can find… and this it inspires and get me motivated.

So is coming in my mind that this event can be an interesting event, width a good number of riders from all over the world, and in the same time with a good number of taf riders. In the same time I start to remember the trail, that I have already ride my bike on it, and I try to focalize on wich are a couple of spots hat can help me with the composition, next thing in my head I try to immagine the riders on that trail… this time I have to immagine not me but some super taf rider… I remember also that Pila when is dry has a god quantity of dust on the trail.

So… what I have for playing ?

- a couple of nice jumps

- three sections of nice turns

- the famous super hard and WC rocky section

- dust

- some wood section

- and taf riders

This are more or less the base  from where I have to start. Next step, better to think on lighting… but damn, I am not informed about the schedule of the event (don’t do like me, be prepared), so I do not know which are the light conditions in which I will have to shoot… but more or less I will be lucky because I saw the meteo, and weather has to be good… maybe to good… full sun.

After all this thinking I arrive on the spot, and surprise surprise… there are 400 riders that are racing (super nice event organized at Pila). I decide to get informed on the schedule, breakfast with a couple of friends and time to study on the field. I discover that the race will happen in full sun in the afternoon, and this is not the lighting that I was imagining. So first day I take some test shots but nothing is going well in the first day, the only good thing is that I was understanding where and what I do not have to shoot… and the first thing I will not shoot the day after out of the forest in the full sun… First day I take a look on the qualifications trying to see where the riders are fast agresive and nice to be photographed.

Day one… conclusion… not good results, and the day after will be for sure hard.

Day two… waking up really late… that doesn’t have to happen to a photographer. Time for running on the trail, starting to walk on it and as I was having in mind the day before I start on taking photos on the first turns section, I find a goot light and a nice composition and start to eat dust trying to get as closer as possible with my 50mm to the wheels that are passing quite fast near to my face and continuously throw dust on my face and my camera, but some time if you want some shots you have to eat that dust.

After this, another series of pictures going up to the spot where I want to shoot the race, not so happy about because the light is changing. I arrive to the spot and here I have to find a good composition for my pictures, I found it at the beginning of the taf WS rock section and now what I have in mind is that from there will pass 400 riders one of every 30 seconds more or less, first will pass the slower ones till the last ones that are the taf ones… and that I do not have to lose. So race is starting, the light is filtering very well through the leaves and I can shoot some nice pics… but direction is changing and I have to use the flash, 1/16 power is enough and I position him laterally triggering with my PocketWizard. Pay attention always to the sun, and how is moving.

So here is starting the image hunt… trying to find the best moment for every rider, trying to catch him on the perfect light. In this way time is flying… and this are the results: