Event Photos - Its All in the Position

Yesterday was the annual Chilly Hilly bicycle tour on Bainbridge Island.  Considered one of the 4 classic bike tours in the country, the Chilly Hilly draws around 4000 cyclists from all over to ride the 33 mile course.  The "chilly" part was more than a tad absent this year, with temps around 50 degree (F) under partly to mostly sunny skies.  But the "hilly" part remained, with an estimated elevation gain of nearly 2700 feet over the 33 mile course (even more amazing when you consider that you start at sealevel, end at sealevel and pass along the shore several times during the course of the tour.

For a photographer, the event offers lots of options.  One of my favorite spots in the past has been the ferry terminal, taking photos as the cyclists get off the ferry (en masse) and reboard the ferry (again, en masse).  The great spot for this is the overhead passenger boarding area at the terminal (assuming the ferry is using slip 1).  Another spot is on the ferry itself looking down on the riders as they embark or disembark.

Since the tour is all about the hills, I focused my work this year on the granddaddy of all the island's
hills - Baker Hill.  The first place I went was the top of another section of Baker Hill (actually anothjer hill) to get a "full context" shot, showing the cyclists as they slowly (some VERY slowly) made there way up the long hill.  Then I headed to the bottom of the next hill to get the riders as they (kinda) slowed down to make the turn onto Crystal Springs Drive.

Being at a corner provides a great opportunity for head-on shots (and, possibly, head-on collisions which I managed to avoid!), as well as detailed shots as the cyclists turned the corner.  As I am accustomed to do, I like showing motion in my photos as well as context, so getting riders as they turn and others as they still are heading down the straight-away has particular appeal. 

The same thoughts concerning positioning yourself at corners applies to parades, processions and other "linear" events.  Practicing those skills at events near you will pay off when you're traveling elsewhere in the world.