Giromania reaches Amsterdam

Vasil Kiryienka
Today the first stage of the 2010 Giro d’Italia started in Amsterdam with an 8.4km time trial. With just under 200 starters, the cyclists kept the streets of Amsterdam busy for over 3 hours. I went out with the D3 and my 200mm f/2G VR lens and took some photos along the Ceintuurbaan in Amsterdam de Pijp.

Maciej Bodnar
It was the first time I had tried shooting a cycling race, and I learnt some valuable lessons:
– It’s better to shoot wider and crop later
– Shoot in full manual mode, and keep an eye on the light levels. Don’t rely on aperture or shutter priority modes, as this will mess you up
– On the D3, use AF-C, turn focus tracking off, and use the 9 AF area mode – 51 3D can confuse the camera too much
– Keep the ISOs up as the light drops – remember you need a shutter speed of at least 1/500s to freeze the action (unless of course you are planning on doing some panning with slow shutter speeds, but I wasn’t in the right location for that)
– Placing your self on a bend is a good place to get some shots as the cyclists slow down. However make sure you get there early to get a good spot (which I didn’t)
Here is a short slideshow of some of the images I took. More are online at http://bit.ly/8XuYJw
Hey Mister Leech,
Are you going to be a sport shooter…
Nice shots and it seems that you managed the wright technique!
Well done
Greets, and keep it save in SA