M2 goes to the Tour de California Prologue

Bingley

Bingley

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The 2009 Tour de California started in Sacramento last Saturday w/ a time trial "prologue." I took my M2, a CV Ultron 35 and a Canon 100/3.5. Film was Tri-X, 13 mins. in Rodinal, my first attempt w/ that film/developer combo. Here are some results. What do you think?

Lance:

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Team Ouch warms up:

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Prologue Start:

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Levi Leipheimer, last year's Tour winner:

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Spectators:

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Near the finish line:

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California RFF'ers: please add your Tour shots!
 
Nice. 🙂

Those guys are absolute monsters on the bike. I've been on rides where Lance was also riding, my friends and I are pushing hard and he rides off into the distance within a minute or two. It's futile.
 
I like the tones and contrast in all of those shots ... the first pic in particular has a look that almost misplaces the ultra modern technology of that bike and rider!

Great shots all of them! 🙂
 
Steve, nice job! I like that first shot of Lance. Team Ouch, I believe, has Landis on it, his first race back if I am not mistaken.

I wanted to watch on Monday as they went form Sausolito to Santa Cruz bit the weather and some other little chores kept me away. Thanks for posting some of your shots!

Kent
 
Bingley,
My wife took a few shots with her D300/17-55.
http://www.deltavelo.com/AmgenTour/
I took a roll and half with a cv21/4 on my R4M and fuji 800 press, but have yet to get it to the lab. I did get a strange look from the two ladies beside me in the press pit as I was rewinding and reloading. It was strange to see so many people with p&s's. One official in the tent who was helping check the rider's bike weight and aero position would occasionally stop and pull out a p&s to take a quick snap... not sure if that was for the judges or personal photos.
Nice photos, I like the first one the best. Good contrast, composition and I like the lady yelling on the left while almost everyone else is holding a camera... Lots of cameras...
-B
 
Don't get me wrong here, I like your shots - but: How in h*** can none name a road cycling team "Ouch"? How stupid is that? (Well, ok, I could imagine why... but that's another story.) 😀

And Lance is on it again, huh?

I'm curious how the start-up lists for the big European races will look like.
 
Steve: Great stuff!

Baldadash: Good stuff that your wife took, although it could have done with a wee bit o' editing. Wish I was there. (The tech aspect of TT bikes got boring for me a decade and a half ago; big weird carbon tubes don't do much for me, I'm afraid.)


- Barrett
 
Bingley,
I was going to bring a DSLR & 70-200 to shoot some shots for my friend who runs the deltavelo site, but I didn't think we were going to get press passes because I sent my request late Thursday night. I should get a few good keepers with my cv21/4. I guess I should have been a little more prepared but it was somewhat of an afterthought.
Barrett,
I should of cut them down, but I really didn't feel like messing with them to much. I have to agree with you on the techy bikes. I have four steel frame bikes. Cycling changed when Lemond and his TT bars, aero helmet & clipless pedals beat Fignon and his pony-tail back in the day.
 
Since me and my M2 could not be there, we sent a stand in to take care of Norwegian interests in the Tour; Tor Hushovd won lap three! The world is back on track in other words!
Great pics by the way! Leipheimer´s my favourite (shot, that is) 🙂
 
Nice shots. What speed did you rate your film? The contrast is good in #1 and #4 but a bit flat in the rest. My favourite is the last of your series in the original post, probably because the background is sharp. I still think 1/1000sec is way too slow for this kind of photography. To compensate, you might want to try 'following' your subject with your camera as you expose the picture. This also blurs out the background for a more dramatic effect.
 
Hey, great thread! I have been following this race on VeloNews minute by minute and it's amazing that black and white seems so suitable for such a colorful sport!

Nice images, well done!

Now, to get my Madone back on the street this week...I feel like such a slacker just because it is cold and raining...😱
 
Thanks for the comments, everyone!

@Florian -- I've read that the "Ouch" in Team Ouch is an acronym, but I don't recall what the letters stand for.

@baldadash -- I used a VC II meter and metered off the palm of my hand. I tried to keep as many shots at f.8 as I could, even though it meant using a slower speed.

@photorat -- I shot the Tri-X at 400. I tweaked the contrast a bit in PS for some of these shots, but this was my first time w/ Rodinal so I'm still very much in the learning mode. The blur in the last shot is intentional: I wanted to capture the speed of the rider against in-focus spectators. Otherwise, I panned w/ the riders as you suggest.
 
I didn't notice in the above comments....did you pan any of the shots? Really nice feel of action.

I live in PA and we have the race that goes through Phila. with the Manaynk (sp) "wall" and its hard to walk up that grade let alone ride it with the gearing that these men use. They are awsom athletes. Thanks for the posts.
 
This was my first time to MISS the race here in Santa Rosa. I did see the pelaton come into town as I was passing on hwy 12 in the car. But it was awfully cold and pouring down rain, so I gave the laps around downtown a pass. Your pictures are great, though! I liked #1 best! Bike races are wonderful subjects. When I lived in Dallas/Fort Worth, I used to shoot all the criterion races there. Great stuff!
Vic
 
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