Its not quite the Tour de France...

[Ray]

Our little town had its annual criterium last night. Its always a lot of fun and occasionally we even get a recognizable name among the Pro 1/2 racers - Marty Nothstein a few years back, for example. Last night I missed most of the event but walked into town for a few laps of the pro men's race. Here a few shots:

The scene - between races:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5921134905_b98eb4f85b_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5921700984_cd73d1ec05_b.jpg

The Wall (not exactly Manyunk, but the closest thing we have to a climb on this course):

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6130/5921701354_2fbb5cae16_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6130/5921701566_69a2766346_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6135/5921701842_7092da6252_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5921136941_4a93462d73_b.jpg

And the best part of any event like this - the people watching:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/5921701132_09a5d39ede_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/5921137251_f35761664c_b.jpg

[sokyroadie]

Great pics!

The downtown area looks nice, surely that is not Philly.

Jeff

[Ray]

Great pics!

The downtown area looks nice, surely that is not Philly.

Jeff

No, West Chester, about 30-40 minutes outside of Philly, but definitely part of the Philly area.

-Ray

[thwart]

Great photo work.

[trener1]

I really like your shots, very nice!

[Bud_E]

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like a nice town.

[firerescuefin]

Ray...keep shooting and posting...enjoyed those :beer:

[mike p]

Great pic's Ray, you got skills!

Mike

[EDS]

You got one of my teammates in one if those shots.

[Ray]

Thanks all - a rare chance to combine my two great obsessions. EDS, which one is your teammate? And is he in focus? :cool:

Here's one more that came to life after these. Gives you a bit of the feeling of speed these guys carry through the faster parts of the course. This was close to the sprint point, probably on a lap with a prime:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6002/5925936682_11f4a6932b_b.jpg

And one more context shot:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5925376991_a65b7a3b36_b.jpg

[flydhest]

Ray,
I trust you got signed release forms from everyone in those photos . . .

Seriously, though, great shots.

[Hawker]

Nice photo work, very nice.

And not to rain on anyone's parade, but is there a concern about getting releases from people who appear in crowd shots? I'm not the law, just wondering?

[Ray]

I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on TV, but I do a LOT of street photography that almost always involves images of people I don't know. And I've come to understand that you need a release form IF you use the images for commercial purposes - ie, if I were to sell an image for use in an advertisement or other promotional/commercial sense (I have a friend that's sold several images to greeting card companies, for example). That said, if you shoot someone from the back or in a way that they're not recognizable, you don't need a release even for commercial use. Just using images for my personal entertainment and even posting them publicly like this does not require any sort of release. There's a bit of a gray area if you sell prints of your work as "art" and for no commercial use beyond the sale of the print for artistic purposes. Technically, if you sell them as "fine art", you shouldn't need a release and a lot of street photographers sell a lot of work without obtaining releases. But I'm not sure how clear that line is and whether a shot has to have artistic merit to qualify, because who's gonna judge artistic merit for legal purposes anyway?

I've never had a problem with it, but I wouldn't say you'd never have to worry about it. I've "sold" prints to friends and family (I make them for free if they want something I can print myself), but I don't make any profit from them - I just charge them what it costs to get printed if they want a larger print than I'm set up to do myself. I'm sure I don't have any vulnerability there, but if I was making money at it, I'm less certain.

-Ray

[bheight1]

Beautiful photography--the image of the two cyclists, where they look like dust is incredible.

Big fan of Iron Hill Brewery too!

The last shot road surface looks a little sketchy on both sides of center strip, like Belgian Highway-Valley of Death?

[Climb01742]

ray, great, great shots.

[bobswire]

Love the action shots and how you worked the color, the shot of folks sitting at at a window in an eatery looking out is timeless. Well done.

[Karin Kirk]

You don't need a photo release for pictures of people in public places where there is no expectation of anonymity or privacy. That would be especially true at a sporting event held out in the open like this one.

You'd need a release if you had photos of students in a classroom, people in their office, and the like.

Cool pictures Ray! You captured the flavor of the event. It's nice to see so many people out watching and your town looks very spiffy and nice. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Ray]

Beautiful photography--the image of the two cyclists, where they look like dust is incredible.

Big fan of Iron Hill Brewery too!

The last shot road surface looks a little sketchy on both sides of center strip, like Belgian Highway-Valley of Death?

Thanks! The road isn't as bad as it looks - the seam is fairly tight and I've ridden over it many times without mishap. There's one part of the course - the toughest corner actually, turning from a fast downhill onto a narrow little section of sidestreet - where the surface is far worse and where there are definitely crashes every year. But usually in the earlier races, I don't know that I've ever seen a crash in a pro - 1/2 event on this course.

-Ray

[1happygirl]

Wow! Awesome shots. Great photographer.

[drewski]

Ray:

What kind of camera did you use? Just curious. Really neat pictures
with cool ambiance.

Andrew

[henrypretz]

I loved seeing these. Beautiful images, Ray.

[Ray]

Ray:

What kind of camera did you use? Just curious. Really neat pictures
with cool ambiance.

Andrew
These were all shot with a Fuji X100. Its a really excellent low-light camera.

-Ray

[flydhest]

Ray,
I should have been clearer, I was kidding.

[topher]

Wow! Thanks for sharing!

[andeww]

Wow! Thanks for sharing!

ya nice pics too

[Ray]

Ray,
I should have been clearer, I was kidding.
I got that you were kidding in your response Seth, but then the post after yours contained a followup that sounded like a serious inquirey. So I was attempting to answer his concerns lest he want to get out and do some street shooting himself and being scared off by potential legal consequences. And then Karin made it clearer, which appreciate - alleviated even the very small concern I still had...

Take care,

-Ray

[oliver1850]

Great pics, as always. Yours often have the look of a painting, not a photograph.

I had to google the menu for the restaurant. I haven't had a cheese steak since I was 24, when I spent 2 weeks in Warrington finishing a car at Al Holbert's shop. Glad to know they are still making them, I had forgotten that cheese is optional.

[RacerJRP]

Very nice pictures. I was there in the 3/4 race a little earlier in the evening. A great event although my night could have gone better.

[Ray]

Very nice pictures. I was there in the 3/4 race a little earlier in the evening. A great event although my night could have gone better.
Sorry to hear - those 3/4 races can get pretty crazy. Soooo many people starting, gets really spread out very very quickly, hard to keep track of who's on which lap, usually some crashes in that lowest corner (from the long straight downhill onto a very narrow street with that short "climb", such as it is). In past years, I've been around for pretty much the whole event, from the kiddie races on. This year I didn't make it until right before the men's Pro 1/2 and bailed while the race still had a good number of laps to go. Its always a cool event - I love seeing the town jamming with people like that.

-Ray

[Steevo]

Ray - Great photos, you have a really good eye, and captured the feeling of the event extremely well.
I'm curious about your software / digi darkroom techniques. The photos have a warm, old timey postcard look to them, especially the first shot. How did you get that effect, aside from shooting at the right time of day? Thanks for any info you wish to share.

[Ray]

Ray - Great photos, you have a really good eye, and captured the feeling of the event extremely well.
I'm curious about your software / digi darkroom techniques. The photos have a warm, old timey postcard look to them, especially the first shot. How did you get that effect, aside from shooting at the right time of day? Thanks for any info you wish to share.
Thanks much. I use a software plug-in called Color Efex Pro (and its companion piece, Silver Efex Pro for my more frequent B&W work). It works with Aperture or Lightroom or Photoshop as a front end - I use Aperture on a Mac. But the look you're referring to is all Color Efex Pro. It has various filters that you can use alone or in sequence. I usually use a couple of different ones in sequence, but which ones depend on the shot. I'm not a super "accuracy first" type of photographer - I'm generally after a mood or feeling and often playing around with the processing really helps with that, and sometimes I no doubt use it too much and it becomes a crutch. That first shot that you like is some sort of "pastel" filter - I'm not actually crazy about it, but I was intrigued enough with it on that shot to try it. All of my photographer friends HATE it! I don't hate it, but I probably won't use it much in the future. But I'm glad someone liked it!

-Ray

[levels1069]

I was there racing (3/4) and spectating, and I an attest to a few things:

1- The road on the finishing straight where there are seams is definitely tough to navigate, but it won't bring you down

2- There are abundant crashes in every race, in fact this year in the P/1/2 a big chunk of the field went down in Corner 3. They are just more graceful about doing it, and hop back into the pit for a free lap without much notice!

3 - Those pictures rock, thanks for sharing! Iron Hill is definitely a unique (and terrifying, if racing) course. 20k people in attendance for a crit is always fun.

[Ray]

Yeah, corner 3 is a doozy - its where the blood-thirsty spectators hang-out waiting for crashes. I live in this area (about two blocks from corner 1) and ride here and used to ride here a LOT, but I've never been a racer and the speed you guys take that corner in these races terrifies me to watch, particularly in the first few laps while its still a huge bunch.

Me, I'd rather take photos from either the inside corner or behind the hay bales! :cool:

-Ray

[wac0202]

great shots, thanks a lot for posting!

[nahtnoj]

Ray, awesome photos. Have you been riding much? I have not been doing more than 3-4 hours at a time this year, which keeps me away from West Chester for the most part.

sokyroadie - Philadelphia looks nothing like this. Nothing but trash, poverty, and murder.

[Ray]

Ray, awesome photos. Have you been riding much? I have not been doing more than 3-4 hours at a time this year, which keeps me away from West Chester for the most part.

sokyroadie - Philadelphia looks nothing like this. Nothing but trash, poverty, and murder.
Barely riding at all Jon. Last year I rode enough that it was still fun and I could get up the hills around here and still enjoy it. This year I haven't ridden myself into shape at all and so its not much fun, particularly with the heat we've had. So I go out every now and then for a couple of hours of pretty easy riding, but I'm all but taking the year off. We'll see what happens next year. I'm nowhere near ready to unload any bikes, but this is the first time in 15 years that I just wasn't feeling it.

Yeah, Philly is horrible, terrible, and nasty. Except for the rather large parts of it that are none of those things. :cool: I love Philly. I actually do most of my best photography there.

-Ray

[Hawker]

Ray,
Come to the Athens Twilight Criteerium next year, would love to see what you can do with this classic race at night with literally thousands of fans and spectators. Again, nice work.

[Steevo]

Ray thanks for the info on Color Efex Pro. I enjoy adjustments to photos that help create a mood, or even stray into a touch of surrealism.