greenhead

I will be taking pics of bicycle races. I want to get some shots where the bikers are blurred and the background is in focus and other images where the reverse is true. Does anyone have any suggestions as to shutter speed for either or both of these situations, I have a tripod and neutral density filters so the exposure time could be rather long if that is required

Thanks for any help you can give me.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I always got good results with 1/30, or 1/60 speed when panning. Motor sports do require higher settings! Just go with something in that ballpark and pick what you like best!

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

A lot depends on how close you are to the racers. You are usually much closer than you would be to with auto or motorcycle racing so you can get blur panning at fairly high speeds, even 1/250 if you are only a few feet away. The best thing to do is experiment for yourself with different speeds at various distances from the riders until you get a sense of what speeds work best. I don't use a tripod for panning shots, I have better luck hand held.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

If you have the time, ask your family/friends to ride their bikes around and let you practice panning - once you have the technique down, and your camera will let you, set up a couple of user settings - one for blur background and one for in focus background. I found that setting up user settings lets me jump quickly between types of shots and I don't forget a setting... There are a lot of tips and tricks for photographing bike races that can be found via google - - good reading...
Good luck and share your pics...

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I doubt he has any friends who can ride their bikes 25-30 mph, or faster in a sprint, that bicycle racers do.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

For bikers blurred and background in focus use a tripod and use a shutter speed of 1/8 sec. to 1/30 sec. Depending on how close you are to the subject will determine the amount of blur.
For the reverse, the background blurred and the biker in focus, you can use the same shutter speeds and the same distance but you will have to pan (move with the bike rider) the bike rider and do not stop your panning when you push the shutter button. (very important)
Panning takes some practice, I would suggest you try in on moving cars (not in front of them however) Or, borrow a kid you know and have them ride past you as you experiment, the great thing about digital is that you can see your results right away and you can then fine turn your approach. Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

cyclespeed Loc: Calgary, Alberta Canada

Assuming the races take place on bright sunny days, you'd be amazed at how close to tack sharp you can get using a tripod with no panning and Shutter Speeds of 1/4000.
I'm away from home but I do have some great close say 15 feet from the rider shots, on an angle as they come through turns, straight on, and coming past on a 90 degree approach.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Read the original post, no panning involved.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Read the original post yourself. The OP wants shots with the riders blurred and background sharp - no panning, but also with the background blurred and riders sharp, which does involve panning.

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Unless he's handy to a good downhill road,
but then he'll hafta ask his friends to keep
climbing back up the hill again for the next
experimental shot, again and again :-)

.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I’m pretty sure his intent when saying rider in focus and background blurred meant that he wanted to show motion, not shallow depth of field.

rond-photography Loc: Connecticut

No, but if they ride in a circle around him, he should be able to get the blur at any speed. It is technique he needs to practice. Do it slow and get smooth - I heard that a special forces mantra is "Slow is smooth - Smooth is fast".

Shot I have attached was shot at a class I took in 2008. The woman is not riding fast and it was one of my first attempts at this (haven't really had a need for it since though). F11 at a 1/15 second.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

The 1/30 or 1/60th range suggested is a good place to start but the best solution is to do some test shots starting there and bracketing speeds on both sides.

photogeneralist Loc: Lopez Island Washington State

I live on a small island that annually hosts a very well attended bicycle tour through the countryside. During the tour, I take my camera , tripod and a folding chair up our winding driveway way to the edge of the two lane county road. The cyclists come coasting down hill past me at about 15-30 mph on the farside of the road centerline . Under those conditions (fairly speedy bikes, fairly close (12-20 ft.) to the camera I have been happiest with the results about 1/30 to 1/125th second, whether panning handheld with the bikes as they whizz past or tripod mounted and prefocused as I wait for the bikes to be framed against the stationary trees on the other edge of the road.
Although I used the full 17-70 mm zoom (25-105 Full frame)range I probably average 20 -27 mm. (30-40 mm full frame.)
These settings have worked for me. Chances are that even if you were sitting right next to me, they wouldn't be your favorite settings ------- stationary camera moving bike 1/100 sec: ------ panning with moving bike 1/40 sec ------ both at 17 mm (25 mm equivalent) ------ both at ISO 200

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JD750 Loc: SoCal

The lens focal length and the distance, matter. It also matters if they are coming at an angle toward you or crossing across in front of you. And some bicyclists are faster than others. So I would suggest some practice with the setup you plan to use.

For example, I panned and shot the attached using a 28mm (full frame equivalent) lens. That is a wide lens. I was fairly close. The bike was crossing in front of me. If you are farther away using a longer lens you will want a higher shutter speed.

1/40, 44mm, f9, ISO100

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