Photographing the Shepparton Junior Tour

I don't usually do race reports, but thought it might be a good idea to give an insight into how a photographer covers a race.  This particular tour is probably not a good one to do, as I know when I'm covering it, that the photos will end up all over facebook and hardly anyone will buy them.  I will spend hours doing stuff and won't get anything back for it, so I have to say I went to this tour, thinking "What is the point".  The answer I got back was practice.  It will be good practice.  Still I wasn't excited about it and I think the low number of images shows that. 

I was excited at the prospect of using the motorbike and being on the back to take photos.  I also had a go, the day before, of riding the motorbike myself.  I have the license, but haven't done it in quite a long time.  It was good fun and most of how to do it came back to me.  Stopping was a little tricky, but I will get the hang of it again.  For the Eildon Junior Tour Simon, the guy who rides the bike for me, won't be available, so I will have to go out on my own.  I will ride the motorbike around as it really is the easiest way to get around and get past groups of riders.

Normally I would walk around at the beginning of an event and take photos of what takes place before a race.  I didn't really do that this time.  I concentrated more on getting myself ready and making sure my daughter was set to go.  I also wanted to catch up with some people I hadn't seen for a while.

I did make it to the start, and was there to photograph most of the starts.  I took photos of the first 6 races to get going, then Simon came with the bike and I put my helmet on and we set off. 

The weather wasn't great and it had been raining, and looked like it might continue to rain.  I put some plastic bags in my pockets just in case.  The worse thing would be to let the cameras get wet.  I don't think they work too well if wet. 

It is so good being able to photograph the riders as they ride.  On the motorbike we can move at the same speed and it makes capturing them so much easier.  Though, I realised when I was going through the photos, that I probably could experiement more shutter speed while doing it.  I don't have to worry so much about getting them quickly.  I think the juniors really like the motorbike coming up beside them to take photos as well, makes them feel like pros.

Hopefully we don't make them too nervous and they just continue racing.  Photographing from the moving bike does present new challenges.  The biggest one being, how to move on the back.  I've started to discover that the best position for me to be in to lean backwards.  This allows me to get both arms around and able to hold the camera better.  I can also twist more.  I really need to start doing some work on my core though, the stomach muscles aren't too good for this sort of thing.  Must start doing some sit-ups.

I tried to get back for the finishes, though, I ended up only getting a few.  The races were really short for the whole weekend, so my opportunities were limited.  I have a reputation for photographing everyone and I like doing that, but I'm finding with the road, it just isn't possible, but I will take photos of as many people as possible.  I do tend to miss the younger grades and have to make sure when Eildon comes that I make more of an effort to get the younger kids. 

The afternoon saw the time trial.  The sun came out and it was a magnificent afternoon.  I started by taking lots of photos of the younger kids as they left the start.  Then I went out on the bike to the U13 turn-around.  I photograph them coming up to the turn and then as they are going back. 

After the younger ones were finished I headed out to a hill, where I take photos of them coming down the hill and then back up the hill on the way back.  I decided to lie down and use the roller on the back of the bike for a head rest.  I loved the way the images are looking up at them, and the sky is so prominent behind them.  Probably should have moved so the power pole wasn't there. 

I only got a few of these shots because I realised my backside was getting really wet.  I mean really wet.  I really need to get some waterproof pants.  I think they would be perfect for taking photos and would make getting down on the ground less a hassle.  Must put them on the list for Eildon. 


Once most of them had gone, we decided to follow a couple of the under 17 boys.  Boys who we thought wouldn't freak out at having the motorbike follow them for a bit while having their photo taken.  The first person we came across was Tom Hamilton.  I also took photos of him and then we moved onto the next person.  As Simon has previously coached Alex Morgan, we didn't follow him in Ararat, but I told Simon to move it and catch up to him.  I don't see why Alex should miss out just because of previous connections.  There is some concerns that we might be accussed of motorpacing him, but we know that we don't. 

The images were great and really shows them working.  You can't really get images like that any other way. I love the position of the cyclist on the bike when they are doing a time trial.  The skin suits give them smooth look all over and just makes some great photos.

The following day was another road race.  Again, very short races, so was only out for just over an hour.  I again didn't really get any shots of the younger ones, and hardly any of the under 15 girls, but I promise I will do more for the Eildon Tour. 

I didn't hang around for the presentations this time, and also didn't get any finishes.  My daughter had an asthma attack when she finished her race, and yet again, her mother was no where around to help her.  She wasn't happy, so we made the decision to just go.  I don't get much call for the presentation shots, everyone has their cameras there, so I didn't feel too bad about it.  I have spoken to CSV about it and they told me which presentations I need to make sure I get photos of. 

After photographing road events using the car to get around, and then using the motorbike, I think there is no doubt that the motorbike is a much better option.  I can see why the professionals use motorbikes all the time.  I might have to see about getting my own at some stage and even hiring someone to ride the bike for me.   

Three Day Tour

This last weekend I went to Newham and Lancefield for the Northern Combine 3 Day Tour.  Saturday and Monday we were in Newham and Sunday started in Lancefield but we ended up in Newham.  I drove up and back each day.  I thought it would be cheaper to do that than get accommodation for both myself and Briony.  It was only just over an hours drive and it was so nice to come home each night.

Saturday was wet and it rained on and off all day.  Besides taking photos my next priority was protect the camera from the rain.  It wasn't a pouring hard type of rain, but a light rain coming constantly and quite windy.  I put a plastic shopping bag over the camera with some electrical tape sticking it to the lens hood.  I had a thick plastic shopping bag to put the camera into when I wasn't taking photos.  Of course the best thing I had was Christine who very patiently held the umbrella over my head.  Not sure I could have done it without her.


Sunday was still cold, overcast, but at least the rain held off, so I could take photos without worrying about whether or not I was going to damage the camera.  The sun came out in patches, but not really enough to make me want to stay out of the car. 

Monday was gorgeous, after a 0 degree start.  By the time racing started it had warmed up a lot and it was really nice.  It was great to take shots of riders in the outdoors and I think all the riders seemed in better moods as well.

I don't know about photographing the road though.  I'm hoping that my hesitations with it are more because I don't really know what I'm doing as opposed to I don't like it.  It is really hard.  You have to be in several places at once.  It is made even harder when there is more than one race on at a time.  I get permission to go out and follow the races, but then it can be really hard to get back in time for when they finish.

With the 3 day tour I had to make some tough decisions.  There were more seniors than juniors, so I tended to follow the seniors more.  It also comes down to who is more likely to buy or want images, and experience tells that it is more likely to be the seniors.

When I missed some finishes one day, then I had to make sure I could them the following day.  I tried to get back for all the finishes on the last day, but I missed a turn on the way back and got so lost.  Ended up in the middle of no where and only made it back for the A grade, C Grade and Women's A finishes.  Really disappointing, but I suppose that is one of the problems photographing the road season.

I will admit that one of things I am enjoying is the influence of Graham Watson and trying to emulate what he does.  I am really happy with some of the shots I got that really show the scenery, I hope.  I tried to get into a position to show the riders from a distance.  It is something new I'm trying, but I like the idea of using the background to help tell the story of the race.  I think you can tell with the naked trees that it is winter here, but a lovely winter day.

I did enjoy photographing the time trial and would really like to do more of those.  I think I just have to find my feet with doing this.  Each time I go out and do it I feel the photos get better, so maybe I will love doing it by the end of the season.  Fingers crossed.

Copyright and the internet, my rights, and then there's yours

Recently I've had a bit of trouble.  Most people know that I've been having a massive problem with juniors taking photos from my website for their facebook pages.  I asked one of them to remove the images and then got accused of all sorts of things.  That's not what this blog post is about, but it is part of the background.

While the experience was terrible, it did make me want to find out more about copyright, taking photos and putting them up on the web.  So what did I find out?

Interesting that here in Australia, we have no right to privacy when you are in a public place.  So if you are in a race on a public road then I can photograph you without permission.  The law does not differentiate between children and adults. 

When the sport takes place in a stadium, or somewhere indoors, once I have permission to take photos from the owners, or the people who are responsible for the building, so at DISC that would be CSV, then I can take photos of whoever I like there.

Where it starts getting tricky is what I can do with the photos.  Apparently I have to be very careful about how I display the photos on the web.  No names, no addresses or phone numbers.  As long as the photos are not crude or distasteful and I don't give any identifying details, then I can display them on my website.  Though, if I was asked not to put photos up because of other issues, eg custody problems, witness protection.  I'm not going to be difficult.

So what does all this mean, basically I can take photos of anyone I like when I am in a public place or have permission to take photos, and I can put them up on my website, and you can make sure I don't do anything bad with them.

Another problem seems to be with the whole copyright thing.  Who owns it?

I own all the copyright of the images that are on my website.  Just because you may be in them, does not mean you have a right to use them or copy them.  It really is that simple.  Copying images to facebook because you like them and then thanking me for the photos is still stealing.  It doesn't matter what you do with the photos, if you make a copy of the image onto your computer it is breaching copyright and you can get into a lot of trouble for it.

Also, when you copy the images to facebook you are breaching their terms of use conditions and they can take action against you.

I've tried to explain it simply.  If you look you can find a whole lot of information on the internet about copyright.  You really need to be careful, not just with my stuff, but when you try to copy any image from the internet.  You should make sure you are allowed to do it first.  Look for images that are available on public domain, or put the word free into your search engine.  From what I can work out it is ok to use stuff if for education reasons, and facebook isn't educational, so be careful.

The last thing you want is to be sued for a massive amount of money because you did breach someone's copyright.  The defence, I didn't know, doesn't really work in the legal system.  Parents should know what their children are doing.

Consider that my website is a shop, you can browse, but you can't take anything from that shop without buying it first.  If you do, it is the same as shoplifting.