A couple of weeks ago I went along to a local Downhill mountain bike track to practice some action shots using my new pocket wizards. I left it a little late in the day to move around the hill and experiment with different locations and flash positions, so I pretty much stuck to one location and tried different settings to control the ambient light levels. As you will see if you look at the full set (Link) some riders are over exposed and some under. Although PW’s have full TTL capability I was using them almost exclusively in manual. This was because I wanted to get used to using the AC3 zone controller and work out how I could balance the power of each flash. I have attached Day-Glo tape to the zones and to the flashes so that I can quickly see which channel to adjust if the power level is not just right.
One thing I tried not to do is to put the flash where the riders would be looking as they charged down the hill. If they get a full power zap, and are blinded I would hate to be held in anyway responsible for the ensuing crash! The event was the ‘Halo BDS Round 5 Caersws‘. Lots of write ups on the series to be found at southerndownhill.
These shots were taken late in the day on Saturday during practice. I did drop by on Sunday but just as I set out I could see the weather was looking rough towards Caersws so decided to leave my camera at home in the dry.
If you have come across these photos and would like the full resolution files please leave a message and I’ll get back to you. Please browse the full set of images here to see if you are amongst my set. (Link)
- All the following shots were taken at the same jump, just as the riders come off the side of the hill, and entered the section through the trees. (See the above text for a link to all the photos)
I wanted the flash in the background to be hidden by the rider, and produce a rim light. Sometimes it shone through in just the right place to be believable?
And sometimes I was a little late on the shutter button!!
Almost killed the ambient altogether here
My colour coded Pocket wizards. The Red and Orange are a bit too close in colour to tell the difference easily at a distance - I'm going to look out for Blue if I can find one
Low resolution images are here if you are looking for a shot of yourself or a mate…. (Link) Please contact me if you want a full res version.
