Tankman

That was Good...

Blouberg rockpools? Wide angle lens? Love it!

Quick summary of the day:

I saw that pileup! Hectic stuff!! I was trying to catch up to the Elite bunch, (on the motorbike), sitting behind the comm car, waiting for a safe time to pass and then just chaos! Bikes flying all over the road!!

Just another day in Africa, mind the cows!

The idea is to take this shot and add motion to the background

Thanks man! Still playing around with some others but loosing way to much data when converting to gif It looks pretty cool in video cause I can stretch out the movement much longer but here you'll get the idea...

Not the final_final_final.jpg edit yet but almost there!

Bit of a shameless plug... For anyone keen on some action!

I think the peloton might have only realized at this point, that something was missing

Yup, the whole front end of the field raced the same route and contested for the win. Guys at the the back lost out a little, time wise, but they were never in it... to win it. Winding thought those streets in the city, even though I knew we missed the turn, there was a thought in the back of my mind that we might still get back on course. But before you knew it we were on the freeway heading into the last km's. Anyway, if the barriers were still there when you came past, that's a little worrying...

I dont recall them slowing down one bit in protest. In fact, some of the guys on the front were more pissed at being stopped a second time than wanting to protest. (That was just my observation) After the first stop, riders were chatting to the managers in the vehicles, obviously not happy. The managers, started talking to CSA official over the radio and he called a stop... and said thats it! Those that want to protest, get off the road and protest, it is what it is and there is nothing we can do about it now, those that want to race, let us get on with it! The route balls-up in town was a bigger mess. The race came in at speed, cops and Road Rangers jump ahead to the up and coming intersections to make sure traffic is stopped and to make sure the cops are "on duty". We got to Steve Biko intersection, I believe, where we were supposed to go left, the cop pointed straight on and as soon as we were in the middle of that intersection, I noticed the green arrow that pointed straight ahead with a 50km mark... we missed it. The cops might have been expecting the elites much later and might have thought that these were the first riders of the short route coming thought Anyway, it would not have been possible to turn left at that intersection, cause the coppers did not remove the barrier blocking the turn. At some intersections they removed them as we approached, probably used to control traffic as long as possible.

I would be a little hesitant to knock Spur as a whole and rather look at it as an isolated incident. Perhaps a staff member only worked with the information he/she was given. Imagine if 800 cyclist all decided, that they are "saving" their burgers for Sunday, they would then need to be ready to produce 2400 burgers for that day instead of 800 daily. Chaos Spur is deeply involved with sport and mountain biking in particular, in this country. 10 year Sponsorship renewal for the Spur School Mountain Bike League = Spur Development School Cycling Programs = Spur That little logo you saw during the Rugby World Cup = Spur Not sure if you have seen the bike clinics, rides, get together that Ariane has with the kids = Spur I will stop here... Dont bite the hand that feeds you, literally in this case...

Not a photo per se... but we created some insane shots during this shoot!

Far as I remember there were roadworks, they were busy on Bainskloof and Franschoek pass, Traffic Department did not want to sign off on usage with those in place. Edit: Sorry Du Toits Kloof and Franshoek, the race went over Bainskloof

Most cyclist, dont know the half of it Having some behind the scenes experience and being part of events, makes you realize just how much goes into it. Let me add some expenses to your list: Medics with ambulance on site, metro police, venue for registration/start/finish, marshals at intersections, food for marshals (some of them get dropped off at their positions at 5am and picked up at 3pm), reflective vests and flags for marshals, vehicle/bus for marshals, Road Rangers / ThinkBike Marshals, sound system, MC, safety officer, venue for race control, photographer, lead out vehicle, video guys, timing, water points, drink, food and man power at water points, sweep vehicle, cleaning crew, municipality agreements, applications to go through national parks must be submitted a year in advance, permits, prize money, podium, backdrop, petrol for all the vehicles on the road... I can go on but you should get the picture by now Aaaaand... after all that, you have not spent one cent marketing the event! No point in having it all set up and no one turns up! Oh and sponsors are not lining up to splash out hundreds of thousands to see little to none on return. Lets start an event, it will be easy they said.

Swartkops Airshow

Anyone visit the Swartkops Airshow? Oryx Puma Gripen

Was gooood to be shooting in Cape Town again, so green!

Must say I also like the first one better. Have you tried bringing the highlights down instead of the whites?

Nice, what did you shoot with?

True... Sometimes it can be a balance and other times people pay for your style and vision. I made friends with pro's that far exceed my level, folks that I admire and started asking them for opinions. When they talk, I listen. Finding the opinion of the right people, has so much more value rather than an unknown keyboard-phone-photographer-warrior on a crappy forum that wants to throw the rule-of-thirds book at you but cant take one in-focus shot himself! (Opinions of mother, wife, family & friends also does not count... bless them and thanks for the support and encouragement, but it doesn't count)

Liking a photo... We as photographers have a total different emotional connection to our photos than the viewer. The process we went through, put our body and equipment through to produce that photo, connects with us on a different level which the viewer cant possibly know/feel or understand. We have to communicate that what is happening IN the photo. Possibly why we sometimes tend to like some of our own photos more than others. Anyway, I find it fascinating and this is where guidelines can help a lot. I sometime sit and stare at a photo and think, dam this is good, the composition is spot on, the light is fantastic, there are leading lines, the tone works... and then the wife walks by and is all like "oooh no, look at her droopy eye, you cant use that one!" But... but... it was technically perfect.... except I did not pay attention to my subject. Oops. There are still times when you will like a photo, no matter what anyone else says