![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_0266.jpg?resize=900%2C600\")
<\/p>\nShots like the couple below are nice enough, but are what I would consider ‘safe’ shots. They’re the ones I take of general views, as well as closer shots of specific individuals or teams, and their key moments. They’ll typically be the photos used editorially most often.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_0971.jpg?resize=683%2C1024\")
<\/p>\n
With a sport like track cycling, where the riders are just going around in circles, your photos can end up looking a bit, well, samey.<\/p>\n
On my next visit to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, I wanted to try out some motion-panning. That is, to use a really low shutter speed (as low as it can reasonably be), while panning the camera on a monopod at about the same rate as a moving subject. You’re simply following the action.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_3121.jpg?resize=900%2C600\")
<\/p>\n
As you can see, this has the effect of adding motion blur to the foreground and background, while keeping your subject sharper. It adds to the action, and gives a sense of the speed that the cyclists are travelling at. Obviously, in this photo, not all of the cyclists will be in focus, because they’re all travelling at very slightly different speeds. But a bit of blur just adds to the moment.<\/p>\n
The camera settings were a focal length of 70 mm (on my Sigma 70-200-mm lens), aperture of f\/8 to not let too much light in (otherwise the picture would be overexposed), shutter speed at 1\/8, and ISO 100.<\/p>\n
Before the Championships began, I had practised this technique a bit. If you don’t have access to, say, a motor-racing track, cycling or BMX track, skate park, running track, or that sort of venue, there’s a solution, and that is to practise on moving vehicles travelling along a stretch of road.<\/p>\n
It’s always fun to watch drivers slow down, because they think you have a speed camera! Remember, though, to keep yourself safe (and off the road).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_3068.jpg?resize=900%2C600\")
<\/p>\n
Here are France’s Mathilde Gros and Russia’s Daria Shmeleva competing in the women’s sprint semi-final, during Day 4 of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships. 97 mm (on my 70-200-mm lens), aperture of f\/8, shutter speed at 1\/8, and ISO 100.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_3102.jpg?resize=900%2C600\")
<\/p>\n
This is Switzerland’s Cyrille Thi\u00e8ry competing in the men’s 40-km points race final, during Day 4. 104 mm (on my 70-200-mm lens), aperture of f\/8, shutter speed at 1\/15, and ISO 100.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_3064.jpg?resize=900%2C600\")
<\/p>\n
And here’s France’s Mathilde Gros competing in the women’s sprint semi-final, during Day 4. 200 mm (on my 70-200-mm lens), aperture of f\/8, shutter speed at 1\/8, and ISO 100.<\/p>\n
When you first attempt this fun technique, you’ll get a lot of shots that are no good. But you’ll also get ones that just work. Practice makes perfect!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shots like the couple below are nice enough, but are what I would consider ‘safe’ shots. They’re the ones I take of general views, as well as closer shots of specific individuals or teams, and their key moments. They’ll typically be the photos used editorially most often. With a sport like track cycling, where the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[57,53,56],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9xuMx-Gh","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2647,"url":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/photo-journalism\/shooting-artistic-gymnastics\/","url_meta":{"origin":2621,"position":0},"title":"Shooting artistic gymnastics","date":"07\/08\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Not only had I never shot gymnastics before, but I'd never been inside The SSE Hydro. It's a huge amphitheatre-like building (right), within the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), which also includes the original SEC Centre, and the SEC Armadillo (left). I've taken many photos of its exterior over the past\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Glasgow 2018"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_1421-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2588,"url":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/photo-journalism\/shooting-track-cycling\/","url_meta":{"origin":2621,"position":1},"title":"Shooting track cycling","date":"04\/08\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Covering the track cycling at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome has been great! The speed at which the competitors ride past the crowd and photo positions is quite something. You can really feel the wind on your face, especially when the cyclists are up close to the edge of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Glasgow 2018"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_3246-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2526,"url":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/photo-journalism\/the-great-big-opening-party\/","url_meta":{"origin":2621,"position":2},"title":"The Great Big Opening Party","date":"02\/08\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Wednesday, the 1st, was the day of The Great Big Opening Party. Preparations had been taking place for weeks beforehand, to build the Festival 2018 outdoor event space at George Square, which includes a stage and big screens, a bar area, and a merchandise store. First, though, I had to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Glasgow 2018"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_9537-576x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2456,"url":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/photo-journalism\/countdown-to-glasgow-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":2621,"position":3},"title":"Countdown to Glasgow 2018!","date":"30\/07\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Glasgow, Scotland, and Berlin, Germany, are jointly hosting the inaugural multi-sport European Championships from 02-12 August 2018. Berlin will stage the athletics, and my home city of Glasgow will host the aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing, and triathlon. This will be my first major sporting event as a photographer. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Glasgow 2018"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/glasgow_2018_cmh-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2493,"url":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/photo-journalism\/picking-up-my-accreditation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2621,"position":4},"title":"Picking up my accreditation","date":"01\/08\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday afternoon, I went into Glasgow city centre and picked up my accreditation from the Championships Media Hub. It's based in the City Chambers complex. Upon arrival, there was court-style security, but I was pleased that my bag and I were whisked through in no time at all, and ushered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Glasgow 2018"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_9450-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2621"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2642,"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621\/revisions\/2642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.creativezealotsgroup.ltd.uk\/iain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}