I was hanging around waiting for the start of the Wednesday Worlds at South Seatac so I popped over to the flow lines and dirt jumps to catch some shots of the riders. Shooting freeride shots is pretty fun. I went for some natural light and some of the flashed out popular shots.

flickr photo set

Got the Cactus V2s triggers last week so I got to play with radio triggers. It’s a lot nicer that toting around long PC cords but they aren’t very dependable without a direct line of sight. A little wiggle on the transmitter was necessary from time to time, too. You get what you pay for.

Shooting freeride is a little tricky. Riders are often moving faster than the 1/200 sync speed of the flash setup and lighting conditions change radically in the woods. I set the camera up with about 1/3 stop underexposed on manual and the flash was at full power for the flashed shots. Constantly following the rider with the camera to keep the pan action well synchronized was helpful as was pre-setting a manual focus. Both of the AI modes have trouble keeping the rider well focused so I picked a spot on the near side of the peak of the rider’s arc.

Tail whips and other airs often get the rider faced toward you for a better shot and you’ve got to keep your eyes open for different lines people might be taking. It’s a great subject, though. I look forward to shooting some riders around the island.