In my experience at Redlands, many things factored into doing a good job, and then trying to present something worthwhile in this album. I remember many mistakes and missed opportunities, but many successes as well. In shooting photos, I find I often miss the cue to follow up to get the best shot. I remember taking a photo of a rider a while back who came back around after the race, and she was really all out, spent, and she gave it all to the race, and I failed to capture that image correctly.I just didn't think enough to follow up because I still lack the kind of experience it takes to follow riders closely like that and get these shots that have the kind of value that not only fans want to see, but are really priceless in cycling. I missed the same opportunity with a Canadian rider who dropped out of the road race. I'm know I will never be as good as Graham Watson, but perhaps in time, I will get better.
However, I really don't have the desire to work with heavy equipment either. I would prefer to keep things as light as possible. Doing so allows you to run here or there quickly to get those kind of shots, and I can't imagine even trying without using the latest predictive auto focus software and a compact motorized zoom. If you want to know just how extremely complex Sony cameras are, just read expert photographer Alan Katz brief summary of the Sony series, and he calls that brief? The actual White Papers book has like 500 pages in it! Sony series summary by Alan Katz.
These extremely lightweight yet powerful bridge cameras are the craze for action sports. Of course the software must improve more, but that Carl Zeiss lens is awesome to say the least. Sony bridge cameras with a 8 gig stick, will shoot all the photos you need at 5 Megapixels or over 2 hours of good quality video. That's plenty for any race on the video. However, serious aggressive shooting of action sports require taking a lot of photos, and while you throw away a lot, you get the ones that the sports world at large want to see.
Shooting agressively would wear out a DLSR in time too which costs over 10k with the lens, as with the bridge series, even if it wears out in a couple of years, you just buy another camera, everything included without great cost to the photography. Just zooming in and out of the TT starting block constantly wears on the motorized zoom, but Sony series doesn't use a mechanical shutter, so at least that won't break! Sony bridge cameras shoot photos with good enough quality for the fans to see on cycling websites worldwide using LCD monitors. LCD's are not yet as good in image quality as old CRT monitors, so the issue about image quality is not really important unless you are using a HP W1907 LCD or a Sony Trinitron CRT high end graphics workstation.
Extremely good image clarity and color processed with RAW using all the available data is usually reserved for print media and photo studio quality prints, and not necessary for the digital divide that spans the Internet worldwide. However, when a better bridge camera comes out, mine will be old hat and I will upgrade without incurring huge costs. Personally I just flatly refuse to lug around those huge cameras and their attachment lens kits!
That would take all the fun out of shooting the races! Also there is no need to use a beast that shoots 10 frames a second because the editing time would become too great. Two frames a second is plenty along with static cued individual shots makes a perfect combination, and you couldn't really ask for anything more out of a reasonably priced yet serious sports action camera. Pay attention to what camera wins at the Las Vegas camera show! However, I prefer Sony!
Well, back to the races!
Shooting the TT start helped a lot to become familiar with more riders, and also I found it quite interesting to shoot the feed-zone. I should of got more feed-zone shots. I think perhaps there might be something special there to capture. I think with a 4-day festival like this, that would be plenty of time and countless opportunities to shoot riders and teams, and I learned there is really no hurry like in one day events.
However by the same token I don't think I would of been able to meet every rider, and every team. That seems like much too much work, and also probably would take the fun out of it. I am not a professional, but more of an avid shooter, and I find meeting riders and teams serendipity style puts a finer touch on the work I do.
I find that meeting part of a team, might be easier and more fun then trying to tackle a full team. Facing 8 riders is a bit daunting, and it seems easier to break the ice when you meet riders at random serendipity style. Getting a full team portrait is a prize! I have never had one! I know I had the chance on the day of the criterium, but hotel breakfast food gave me a stomach bug that day, so I missed my best chances at it. However, the following day, I found serendipity style works well too!
I remember also that the day of the criterium we walked by three riders on the way to the races. Just as my friend stopped to take a photo, they left. It wasn't mean or anything like that by them, just bad timing by us. However, those riders were considerate enough to ride ahead of us, then stop and turn around so we could get a photo! How about that? When the good in people comes out, its really special and makes you realize that the human race hasn't really changed all that much, and that people are usually for the most part, basically good hearted.
Driving to Los Angeles was fun and no new thing for me. I have been there about a zillion times. My Uncle was LA fire chief many moons ago, retired, and passed away last year. However, I've been to Paris, Moreno Valley, Pasadena, passed through Redlands but never stayed overnight there. I stayed in the same hotel as Ouch and saw them in the breakfast area. The only thing I didn't like about the drive was some patches of bad roads in LA freeways and also my eyes were burning due to the smog. Since I live in the mountains at high elevation with clear air, I am not used to such dirty air, and that really stung my eyes!
The morning of the time trial, I met Scott Welsh, got our press passes and became oriented to the 4 day event. I enjoyed my 4 days at Redlands with the President of the Riverside Bike Club, who was my partner for the duration of the race. Also we has the pleasure of friends helping us out from the Redlands Bike Club, as they also worked at the race doing sign ins and various duties. Getting around was no problem, as they knew the lay of the land. While we made reservations to travel in the media car with the rest of the press, we opted to travel on our own.
That made my job easier, since I had promised to share audio reports and photos with at least five different media sources and clubs, etc. The first day was sunny, and rather then head to Wabush Hill with the media car, I stayed at the start shooting the starting block. Later, we drove to Wabush Hill and walked the course for fun. It's a very nice residential area with some steep short climbs, which remind me a little of streets in San Francisco.
Working in two's, I find the task to be more rewarding. The more non important tasks you can dispense with, using extra help, the better job and the more opportunities you will get shooting great photos. Multitasking too many things while shooting photos is very dicey at best. I prefer to be able to fully focus on the camera, as its already very complicated piece of equipment, and takes a bit of luck as well. Having a partner at the race is also great to have the company in such a long event like Redlands.
The race itself was very well run, well done, from start lists, to their results in pdf, and their podiums, although I found a few podiums not that well placed in relationship to the sun to provide the best photos. Also the final podium which I feel would be the most important on the last day was severely crimped. I could of used the macro mode, as others did I guess, but I got better or safe results from across the street. Some podium riders had to turn sideways and face the camera to one side in some shots because you were basically taking photos at point black range if you were on their side. However, I got photos in fair condition from across the street. Since a race was underway, you couldn't stand on the course.
I will say Redlands reminds me of Nevada City in the old days a bit. Brings me back to 70's, 80's as a kid when I saw the great legends of old race there. I saw what I think was the best race there. It was the next year I believe that women started racing at Nevada City which was won by Heide Hopkins. I watched women race down through the years there including Stacey Cooper in 1995, which is one I wrote about. I used to shoot home movies of the races there in many years.
I was there in 1977 and saw all this firsthand. When I read archives accounts what they fail to mention is the heroics of what happened after Ron Miller crashed. What followed was Millar picking up his mangled bike and running up the hill to the finish line all bloodied and then right at the last few meters, Rick Baldwin, a wiry little climber spoiled the heroics of Miller winning who was running with his bike over the line! Baldwin came around the corner up the hill and saw Miller running with his bike set to win in such a heroic manner, and he looked as if he hated to spoil it all, but he did.
He did what he had to do, and easily overtook Miller safely winning by just a few meters. Miller was so angry that when he came across the line, he slammed his bike into the pavement and fumed for minutes like an angry bull! Then his Dad took him away to ambulance. That guy really got bloodied! The other guy Baldwin was just a really thin lean climber, who climbed really well, but Millar was real stocky kid, really strong and he took that corner way too fast. I talked with people there, and they said there was no way Miller could of made it through that corner, grease spot or not, he was simply going way too fast on that last lap.
So Redlands reminds me of Nevada City in the old days. I just remember pushing my way through the crowds. It was layered like sardines all around the course, not a single lick of free space. If you wanted to go somewhere, like just going across the street, it was extremely difficult. There were thousands that came from hundreds of miles around, even out of state to see that race. That town simply wasn't big enough to host that many fans. However, it was a great race!
I have heard a number of different reasons Nevada City was dwindled down, but it still seems like a mystery to me. I guess all we can do is remember the glory days. While Redlands doesn't have nearly that many fans, I still felt like this brought me back to those days. Crowds at Redlands were very good. Not quite so many on Thursday and Friday, but the weekend brought in the crowds!
Update: Perhaps Lance read my writings prior to going to Nevada City. I always heard Lance was an internet junkie and he probably likes to check out the top women here, and various accounts and stories from time to time. Lance said he wanted to help Nevada City out, since its obvious he knew this was a great race in the old days and that it needed a boost.
Lance went to Nevada City on Father's Day 2009 and raced his heart out! It was great for sure from all accounts. It drew 20,000+ crowd, and that must of made up for years and years of hardship for the old classic. I didn't go for two reasons. It was too short of notice as Lance sort of went at the last minute, so I wasn't really prepared to go on short notice, and I didn't feel attention would be fairly paid to the women's pro race like the mens. However thanks Lance for listening and giving Nevada City a big shot in the arm!
The adjacent vendors on the plateau were also very festive. Lots going on up there on the weekend which was hot for Saturday, and cooler for Sunday. Friday was windy, so the vendors didn't fair so well, but the weekend did much better. I Also noticed they used a male model for the women's podium too on the last day. Nice move! Why not! They get great looking podium girls for the men, so why not a good looking young guy for the women's podium! This was a modern progressive podium! In Europe, often they still use older men for the podium women, which while they may be some noble dignitaries, they do not work on the podium, because they don't have camera present!
The only other thing I noticed was at times, the music was too loud, but that happens often enough at bike races. Its a minor thing. The courses at Redlands were nice, making their way through state parks and scenic upper class neighborhoods. I remember walking by a family who were sitting outside their Villa, enjoying the race, and they made an interesting comment. They said the women were more fun to watch! What an interesting comment I thought!
Redlands is nice upscale, clear air, university town, very nice. However it has its unpleasant side. Without knowing it, on the last day, I was directed to a laundry mat several miles away. I thought, Redlands, there are no gangs or bad sides to this town. How wrong I was! I didn't bring quite enough clothes for 5 days, so I went a washing! Thing was, after I was there a while, I started seeing all these gang members walking around. Then I knew, uh oh! I'm in the wrong part of town!
However where the Redlands Classic race is held, all the courses are very nice, very upscale and a delight! I had a great time! I heard or read a new crew replaced the old crew at Redlands, but it seems Scott Welsh and everyone I spoke with were very helpful including Eric Reiser and others. While I was up in the upper scale district near Wabush Hill during the road race, I ran into a few notables out on the course including Jeff Corbett, but also the wife of one of the old organizers of Redlands, Craig Kundig. We talked for a while before parting company, but she was out there during the women's race.
During the TT, I tried to shoot both the starting block and outside the block, a big challenge. While that was an exercise in constantly zooming in and out, there was no way I could change the ISO and aperture settings constantly to accommodate both. It was one or the other, so I choose to set it for the best setting outside the block, and just roll the dice on the block shots. I knew by seeing the histogram fluctuate wildly, that those photos would not fair so well, but that is the tradeoffs and the roll of the dice to shoot both. Ideally I should of just picked one and stayed with that!
The camera held up remarkable well during that marathon except the battery went dead, and I lost some photos during the transition. I didn't intend on using but only the best ones anyway, but it turns out the block photos were not very good. I did however get some good shots outside the block. What I did come to realize, ideally I should be been shooting inside the fence, not out, if that's allowed. I wasn't sure, and just went with shooting from a distance.
I posted a combination of both, with the podium. The podium wasn't in the greatest place either in relationship to the sun without a flash, but ah, there you have it. Photos don't have to be superb since LCD monitors don't offer the best clarity, unless they are very high quality or CRT monitors. These photos are good enough for viewing, and that's what really counts is getting a glimpse of the race and the riders. However there are some very nice photos quality wise, that spices things up a bit.
The TT started in an area with not much historic significance, so I really didn't get anything special extra except race photos. I like to capture sometimes the flavor and culture of a town or city. The Circuit race was windy. Beaumont sets higher up they tell me, around 3000 feet so its colder and windy sometimes. The day of the race, winds were really whipping up! The start of the race was very bad for cameras. The sun was right in our faces, but I managed to block out the sun by the overhead banner, which helped some with the photos, but I couldn't see a darn thing as far as the riders. I was really guessing at shadows when I shot those. Some good ones though came out of that.
I enjoyed the Military salute by the soldiers and the national anthem as a pre race ceremony. When we got to Bogart Park, the winds calmed down considerably, and it was warm and sunny. We searched for the ideal place we thought for the climbs. Although we reserved two places in the media car, we never used it preferring to drive ourselves. The pack was somewhat sliced and diced by the time they got to where we were. There were several groups at different intervals, so we got fooled on occasion and missed some good shots.
Shooting the finish didn't offer the best perspective from where I was. I'll try something different next time, if I go. For me, its seems like a lot of trouble to just get one shot like that. If you stay on the course, you could shoot a few more laps instead of having to leave early to get back to the finish. Following a race is a bit hectic, and you have to stay on the ball.
In the Criterium, while it was hot, this still offered the best chance to get photos, and much less hassling with driving around to follow the course. However, I became overcome with a stomach bug that day. While I had a good chance to meet the riders and maybe get some team shots that Saturday, I gave up and threw in the towel after I left the Webcor tent. I turned around to see the whole ValueAct Captiol team right there, and about that time my stomach was killing me. I really wanted to meet them too and get a team shot. Colavita was there too next door but I had to leave. I think I got food poisoning from the Hotel breakfast lounge.
Figures I would have to get ill that day. This was my best chance to get team shots of Colavita and ValueAct Capitol riders. This is usually a time when fans and press can come over and chat, but I almost threw in the towel that day, I was in so much pain. The following day, I tried again to find some of them there, but nowhere good as the previous day would of been. I was looking to meet Leah Goldstein and ask her about her solo at Gila last year when I ran into Kristen Sanders. In my preoccupation with Leah, I forgot to ask Kristen for a photo. When you have 160 riders who make up a who's who of women's cycling, by the last day, I was starting to become a little numb, so I missed opportunities and make a number of mistakes.
That's probably where professionalism kicks in. I am more avid then professional, so while one has the freedom to do their work serendipity style, there is a lack of a methodical regiment in professional shooting which causes missed opportunities. However, its my opinion that trying to shoot teams or riders like clockwork just won't work I don't think. I think its better to meet different teams or riders on different days instead of the straight forward approach. Its too intrusive, and the lighter touch at random on different days is probably the best approach. However in a 4 day race, there should be enough time and circumstance to get enough photos and team shots to help compliment anyone's race reports, or photo albums.
Personally, to be well done, any serious photo journalistic album of a major stage race should contain all the top teams in full team shots. Asking for that, is like asking to win the lottery. Its simple too hard to do, more to do with timing then anything else if you are lucky enough. That's why in Europe they have team presentations before the race on the platforms. Since this tradition has been around so long they are well aware of the problems and know this is the best way for the press to obtain team photos and such.
Portraits of individual riders will always be a serendipity thing, although these are not hard to get in pre race presentations, usually the day before a race. We are not there in America with presentations, but I strongly believe in the Euro system, it works, and works well. In fact I have never seen a race so well organized in the pre race presentations as Elsy Jabobs. That was a cool race from start to finish!
The Criterium started with another ceremony of the Military soldiers and a small ceremony of honoring Redlands which involved Christine Thorburn who came down for the Criterium. Also I believe Rebecca Much spoke as well, either that day or the following day of the road race, can't remember exactly. They called out all the top stars, and then the game was afoot, or actually we were afoot!
In the Road Race, we headed out early after the introductions to get a good spot on the course early. This requires a drive back to Wabush Hill. We walked the course, took many shots there and talked with a number of people who work the race. I got some shots of the feed-zone, and after shooting from a corner, headed back to the finish. After the finish, the podium came very late, but finally it did, and then it was over. The final podium was very well done presentation wise, but the platform was poorly located. More on that later in the final photo notes. However that was a nice cup they used at the end for Ina Teutenberg. Cool cup was used for Tibco too!
I has a chance to meet and talk with Petra Rossner. We has a short discussion about who won 2nd and 3rd place in 1987 Tour of Germany. She is the only one who knows because its missing from the microfilm archives of the German Tour Organization. However, it turns out that 2nd was a girl from Finland and 3rd was Czech girl. Petra was telling me how she's got everything written down in her diaries. She kept a lot of notes over the years! Later, she posed with Ina for a candid snapshot.
We talked to quite a few riders all along the way, and got some personal interviews with Amber Neben, Ina Teutenberg and Lauren Tamayo. Since my companion at the race speaks German, she hit it off with Ina Teutenberg in German, and things went well. My friend bought Ina a present, a jacket I think it was, and she gave it to someone who gave it to Ina. Well, Ina came back around to say thanks and have another chat.
During the race, we printed out some photos of Amber, and she signed them for us. I also noticed Amber Neben carries herself very professional during a race, from start to finish. At least she was very even handed with us, in fact the whole time I was there, I never once saw her act any other way then the consummate professional. We also saw her ride up once where we were near the tent for a short chat. She is very nice, kind and considerate.
Also some very nice photos were printed out and given to Vanderkitten, and i am sure they really enjoyed those. Those were huge! I chatted with ValueAct Capitol team director Lisa Hunt for a short time, and a few of their riders, as well as got a team shot from Colavita who were parked right next door.
I can't remember all the riders I spoke with, or were in part or parcel of some conversation that my friend was doing since she was working the recorder, but as I said earlier, I got well enough my slice of Redlands, and that's all that matters. I don't have to talk to everyone, or get every team shot, but as usual, I like to do things serendipity, and we have plenty of pleasant adventures along the way! Redlands has enough riders and teams to go around for anyone to talk to at some point or another.
I do remember that my friend once stopped to snap a photo when we first entered the race area when walking from our cars. About as soon as she started to snap the photo, the riders had started to leave. It wasn't intentional I know, and what was cool was the riders passed us, and then stopped in front of us, giving us the opportunity to take some photos. I just got the sense that things are more relaxed at Redlands. There is more time, 4 days, so whether you are either just an avid photographer or working for the media, plenty of chances present themselves to get some great photos both on and off the courses.
It really takes a stage race to find enough time to see everyone at one time or another. 4 days should be plenty to do that. However, sadly even at Redlands I didn't see many fans visiting teams, but perhaps too many wouldn't be a good thing either since they need to warmup and focus. I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few riders come back around to hang out at the final podium. Well, why not, Redlands really is a big deal, isn't it! While Greater LA has 10 million people, surely this race will survive!
I believe I would rather shoot one big race well, instead of doing numerous races all year long, and posting sub standard work. When I shoot a race, I really have the desire to do a good job and make it as interesting as possible. I believe that is key to helping move their side of the sport forward. However I can't imagine missing some of our favorite central valley classics!
It is really up to others out there, to pick a race and go do a great job with it. The NRC calendar is full of races all year long, and hopefully others will cover some of those races. While mainstream race reports spiced up with a few photos give one blunt side to the story, there is so much more to be told, and photos are like stories without words, slices in time which provide so much more. I didn't feel the need to rehash race reports here, since this was covered by mainstream cycling press, but I noticed there weren't a lot of photos out there, compared to recent years.
There are so many good races that get none or very little coverage in this sport. In fact most bread and butter races get nothing. I hope women's cycling will grow into a pretty cool specialty sport like it has in Europe and it will if there are more people doing the specific kind of work that makes it interesting and gives it spice. Personally, I would like to see it grow into something that is looked upon as pretty cool and admired by the public, and I understand this is already happening to some degree here now in the states, in spite of tremendously challenging economic times and hardships.
I already know there is a buzz about their side of the sport, and the fans are increasing. I have seen it at our races. I'm not the Dutch boy holding his finger in the Dam, but more like the part time Dam maintenance crew. I just try to shore up a few races a year to raise the public profile and notability of women's cycling. When that happens or reaches a reasonable level, then the greater powers that be will get onboard and hopefully those powers will be through philanthropists as well as typical sponsors. First we need to show them and let the public decide if they see women's cycling as a very cool specialty sport, and that's what my small window on the world tries to do.
For my part, I was happy to do Redlands, lots of fun!
A few things! One is that my notes on the photo album pages are generally meant to be short, and sometimes glib twitter style, not super informative, but sometimes useful information. I did make critical observations at times, when I thought they were important. The other thing is I like to use four words in my cycling vocabulary.
That is (Struck, Stunning, Even Handed and World Class)! Those words seem to work well, and I use them often enough to become accepted fair use in describing riders at times, and of course, they are used as my opinion. Some riders might be on the border line of World Class IMHO, but I like to admire them as being World Class! Take it with a grain of salt, and just enjoy the photos if nothing else!
The photos themselves tell the story! I admit I do praise a lot of riders at times. When I admire a rider for various reasons, I like to say so! They deserve it! I might of mistaken a name or two in the album, but I tried to get them right. There is no need to name them all either, but I tried to round it out somewhat. Well, time to move on! Its been great fun! Procyclingwomen gets around 80,000 hits a day, and is growing. Its a goal of mine, to eventually hire a editor to help finish the work I started with my palmares, stories, etc. but the book will be mine.
Cheers!