I had an exciting day last Saturday because the city I live in hosted the Georgia Cup Twilight Bicycle Races all day. The Duluth downtown area was filled with revelers of all ages to see the bicyclers race around the town square block. I was there most of the day with my Canon 7d to capture the excitement. Shooting during the day was a breeze because there was sufficient light in order to use a fast shutter speed to stop action. I also ‘panned’ several of the shots to show motion, instead of stopping motion. Panning is a technique that requires a lot of practice but can produce incredible results if done properly. To pan, you must set your shutter speed to a around 1/30 second, and you ‘pan’ or move with the action while taking the photograph. The end result is that you have a relatively sharp subject and a blurry background. This technique gives the feeling of movement instead of the subject being static. Below are some examples of panning (left photo) and stopping action (right photo)
When I returned for the twilight racing events at 8PM it was becoming more difficult to photograph the action with both methods. I had to boost my ISO up to the max and by 9PM I was done. Below is the last shot I was able to take.
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To view my fine art photography site visit Mary Buck Photography.
