Biking photography tips: methods to get striking images

Bike riding is a seriously photogenic game. The sweating, the mud, the speed… it’s a great way to develop your riding a bike photography abilities and to try out innovative Camera methods like zoom-bursts and slow-sync display. Best of all, compared with many activities, you can get in close with your Camera  You don’t need big, large telephoto contacts – a Camera kit lens can give you lots of innovative options.

Whether you visit one of the UK’s increasing list of purpose-built pathway centers or simply turn up at a competition location, there’s no lack of bikers willing to show off their abilities in front side of the digicam. Adhere to our hill biking photography tips below to do them justice.

1. The right Camera and contacts for bike riding photography.

The beauty of bike riding from a photographer’s perspective is that, compared with a lot of activities, it’s possible to get up near to where all the activity is occurring. And with a choice of opinions, often right up to within inches wide of bikers racing previous, there’s no need for a bag of elegant contacts to get excellent photos. All you need is your Camera body and a conventional zoom capability, protecting extensive position to short telephoto. A lens in the 24-105 mm variety can be ideal for the job.

If you want to improve your choices, including an ultra-wide zoom capability is a good bet for impressive perspectives and a rider’s eye-view of the activity. Look at a lens in the 10-20 mm or 12-24 mm variety.The other part of kit that should be in any riding a bike photographer’s bag is a flashgun.

A contact of fill-in display is useful for mixing sharpness and cloud in slowly shutter-speed photos, and important if you find yourself strong in the forest where the only available light is likely to be too inadequate to allow you to lock up the activity.

2. Use the best camera settings.

Cross-country bike riding is more slowly shifting than many activities and bikers usually adhere to the same path; so there’s often a chance to use Information Camera configurations to make sure reliable outcomes. Here, we give you a quick and easy secrets and techniques for the Camera set-up that will bag you the best photos whenever.



Concentrate mode
A bicycle and driver taken is full of gaps that can deceive the Camera into concentrating on the qualifications. So pre-focus on a identify where the activity will occur and secure the lens by changing to guide focus.

White balance
Use a predetermined White-colored Stability to avoid changes in color and illumination, which may impact the overall overall tone of your images. The Sunlight choice is best and will make group handling of a series of images simpler.

Drive mode
It’s more effective to plan your images and take a well-timed single taken instead of a series. However, keep the Camera set to the quickest ongoing structure rate so you don’t end up losing a great activity time.

Exposure mode
Shutter rate is the most important visibility varying in activity photography, so keep with Shutter Concern if you want the Camera to deal with visibility for you, or go with Manual for more control.

3. Choose the right shutter speed

Selecting the right shutter rate is essential with bicycle photography. Although top pro bikers shift at rates of speed most of us would never accomplish on a bicycle, the rates of speed are much reduced than motor racing. Don’t try to always lock up the activity otherwise it can look as though the bikers are status still. Here are some recommended configurations to use as a place to begin, although the outcome is determined by the mild stage, the rate of the bicyclist and your panning abilities (see below).

1/250 sec:
At this shutter rate, there is likely to be some activity, but it may not be enough to make it look as though the rider’s going very quick.

1/60 sec:
At this establishing, the qualifications may begin on a sleek cloud, but there should still be a lot of information in the bicycle and driver.

1/30 sec:
It will be difficult to keep distinct information on the topic at this shutter rate. It’s useful for innovative results but too slowly for common use.

4. Riding a bike photography technique: panning.

To provide your bike riding images that all-important feeling of rate, you’ll need to exercise your panning strategy. The concept is that you shift the Camera to adhere to the driver, so that they remain in the same place in the structure as you take the image. They’ll then be delivered distinct, while the shifting qualifications becomes a cloud. If the rider’s go is distinct, the relax of the taken can be a blurry blunder and you’ll get away with it.

To keep a rider’s go distinct it’ll need to appear fixed during the pan. Think of your viewfinder concentrate factors as unreal gun-sights. Choose one that allows a appropriate structure and adhere to the rider’s go with it. Change off ongoing concentrate and instead personally pre-focus on where the rider’s experience will be.


1 Get comfortable
Plan where you want to take the taken and make sure you’re perfectly status, kneeling or seated with your whole body experiencing where the driver will be, your feet spread apart for stability and the Camera pre-focused.


2 Stay sharp
Using the concentrate factors in your viewfinder as an unreal gun vision, choose the one that’s nearest to where you want the rider’s go to be in the structure and keep it over their go as they drive previous.


3 Be gentle
Squeeze the shutter carefully while the rider’s go is still protected by your pre-selected concentrate factor. Never jab or put stress on the shutter as you’ll make straight activity, ruining the panning impact.


4 Follow through
Follow through with the concentrate factor still over the rider’s go until well after the shot’s been taken. This is essential because it guarantees you’re fluidly shifting the Camera at the appropriate rate and route.

Top panning tips

• You need a obvious perspective of your topic – if you’re capturing a competition, get there beginning so you can get a primary identify.
• Decide on a identify where your topic will be shifting across your direction so you can accomplish a sleek pan.
• Although panning will perform down messy background scenes, try to prevent factors like marketing hoardings that may still look annoying. Lawn and the road are perfect.
• Great outlook factors can perform well, enabling you to look down on your topic. Sides in paths are also excellent panning areas as your topic won’t be shifting so quick.
• Use your lens set to ongoing AF method if you don’t experience your guide concentrating is excellent enough – and choose the right AF indicator so the lens keeps concentrate on your topic rather than the background!