Merco Cycling Classic

Crown Jewel - Merced Grand Prix Criterium

The Merco Grand Prix went off as planned without the threat of rain dampening our spirits. Conditions turned out actually to be ideal for bike racing, couldn't get any better. The women's race was one of the best fields ever, and the only glitch was a crash near the end, but otherwise it was great fast paced action for fans roadside. Dave Towle does a great job of commentating and building excitement into the race, and a variety of vendors, barbecue stalls, plus a live band made Merco as festive as ever. The podium for the women has acquired a higher profile then anytime I have seen in previous years, so now its time for champagne! I'll see if I can work with race promoters next year to bring some champagne onboard for the winner to spray on the crowd!
Merced is known as the gateway to Yosemite, and a hub of tourism during spring and summer months. I live not far from the park and it has always been a great place for me to get away from the stresses of every day life and become one with nature. One year I remember telling Chantal Beltman from Netherlands to take a day off after racing here and visit this great national treasure called Yosemite National Park. I personally hope the Merco classic will continue for years to come. Now that the University of Merced has been built, the impact of that area should help contribute to the popularity of bike racing locally.
On the photos, unlike the punchy sharp Carl Zuiss, these were done with a soft focus telephoto lens which offers a nice Bokeh. I didn't shot any DOF shots, so the Bokeh is in nearly all the shots. While the original Bokeh was nice, it was altered some in all the photos from using graphic software for post processing. Since the day was overcast with the sun coming out in shades at various times, the ISO levels were dancing all over the place. Using manual mode, I decided every step of the way, but the results could of been better if it was either a constant shade of overcast or sunny skies.
Working with RAW offered the most versatility in post processing, but the job is laborious and very tedious. I was able to save some very poor shots and turn them around with the magic of post processing. I used the Eye One Display 2 to set perfectly the colors of the processing display monitor before I set about the task of post processing. The limits were not being able to mask the Bokeh easily without using some enterprise software that is pretty pricey. I skipped that part as its also extremely time consuming and really only needed for a rare special portrait or scene.
What I did do was to color process, remove the noise, add portrait tones on occasion and sharpen the photos in a 4 step process using 4 highly specialized software applications. While the results were decent, over working photos can also add noise, which is where the learning curve is. You have to figure out how much you can do with the graphic RAW data you have. In ideal conditions, the results could of been spectacular, but the conditions were less then ideal for shooting that day, but great for the riders to race. Also the lens is critical in finding its ideal range and capabilities, and the art of photography can be very complex and tricky.
I spent way more hours working with these photos then most people would ever want to, but if photography is an art and passion, then it can be great fun. Even in the end, these photos are not the best, but if you saw what I started with, pretty decent considering poor conditions without using a flash.
Note: To do justice to viewing these images, you really need a sharp color monitor like some sort of IPS varient, not a cheap TN panel. My report on the Dell Ultrasharp 2209wa is still here. Also I typically set the contrast on my 2209wa monitor very low since it's so bright out of the box. For viewing I use 40 brightness and 30 contrast. However for the photo work I have to raise it up to 40/40 so that the final image is suitable across all platforms. The public library around here uses Dell Ultrasharps, and although they are not top quality, the default settings they use are good to judge what most people are seeing across America and the whole world for that matter. If the images appear to bright or dark, adjust your settings accordingly.
Photos best displayed at 100 percent or less is ok. More the 100 percent zoom creates artifact and noise! FireFox will resize inside a framed window automatically. In IE, you would need to decrease the percentage to fit the window if needed on smaller displays.
Cheers!