I must admit, with the weather forecast looking anything but decent, there was part of me that hoped the alarm clock wouldn't go off at the right time.
Having said that, I didn't need to arrive at Surprise View until around 9:45. Plenty of time to give Willow a reasonably long walk and devour a toasted teacake topped with honey laced banana slices.
One last gear check before leaving, paying special attention to the inclusion of batteries and SD cards. Cameras had been "time" synchronised, one with a 50mm prime attached and the other with my favourite lens, the 85mm f1.8 . The rain would be a problem if I needed to switch from one focal length to another. If I synchronised the cameras and changed over mid-shoot, the images should still be in order when I download them.
I know what I mean.
Fingers crossed.
Mars Bar, don't forget a Mars Bar.
Steady drive across Strines, reaching speeds of up to 30 mph from time to time.
I seemed to attract a queue of impatient drivers behind me for some reason or other. "Chillax!"
Driving through Hathersage, I thought about turning off to the left towards Ringinglow and park up near Higger Tor. The runners would be through much earlier than at Carl Wark and I'd be home earlier too. Maybe next year?
Surprise View car park and the fee paid by chip and pin. Good job I was prepared for all eventualities; cash, debit card, plus paper and pen in case the machine was broken.
"Machine Not Working!" - note left inside the car for park warden.
Birch trees caught a bit of sunshine, the last I'd see for the rest of the shoot. Waterproofed up to the neck, I set off for CP7.
Misread the hill in the distance, of course it couldn't be Carl Wark … way too close. Time was ticking and the rain holding off for the moment. How long would it last, I wasn't holding my breath.
Time for a few test shots. Using the 85mm would mean that I'd need to be further back than I was last year. Visualising which route the runners would take, I noted 2 or 3 places that might provide me with a variety of images. The sky, like me, was dull and boring. It would have been so much better with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds to add a bit of contrast to the top of the image.
Checked the settings on both cameras and waited for the first runners to appear.
"BUM!"
The bad news was … the rain started to fall and the wind started to chill my body.
The good news was … both of these elements were behind me.
This meant that the lens on each camera would be protected.
Let the show begin.
The leader is always the most difficult to photograph. Unless someone is with you, there is the uncertainty as to whether the composition you've set up, will actually work.
Are you too close? Too far away?
Managed it this time and my chosen shutter speed of 1/500th sec was enough to capture him in focus. ISO was 4000 … way above what I would have liked. Change the aperture, or stick with around f5?
There's no way you can choreograph what happens in a race. Runners come and go in any direction they want to. You have to shoot what's in front of you and experience really does count when it comes to achieving your goal. Over 2000 snaps and the hope that one in a hundred might just hit the mark plus one SUPER image that encapsulates everything about this particular race.
Quite like the above image. Runners trekking to the top to be overtaken by a muddy Steel City Strider. People watching from the top of the climb can be a bit of a pain when it comes to cropping the images, but they help the composition in this one.
Hectic isn't the word, thirty minutes gone and still they kept on coming. The rain beating down on my back, my hands were frozen and no chance of pulling on my gloves. I can't work the buttons and dials with them on. Must buy a thin pair, cut off the thumb and forefinger on the right hand glove. Mickleden is probably going to be a cold one next Sunday.
Just checked; rain and 7 degrees is forecast for the morning.
The back of the field went through around 50 minutes after the leader. Soaked and frozen, it was time to find the shortest route back to the car.
"Why didn't I go to Higger Tor? I'd be home by now."
Mars Bar, I need sustenance. Waterproofs off and a pat on the back for Craghoppers Aquadry leggings. Not a drop of rain made its way through to my base layer.
Time to go. A pack of boy racers sped by in their spoiler adorned motors. BRMM BRMM! God, I'm getting more and more grumpy by the day.
Home for a well earned coffee and a bowl of warming soup.
Taking and Editing images:
I rely heavily on recceing where I might shoot from. Rarely do I just turn and hope for the best. If it's near enough, I'll visit where the race will be taking place and look for snapping points, taking into account where the sun will be of course.
Invariably, I shoot landscape mode with a 85mm prime lens. I can't snap you when you run towards me with jazz hands and stand inches from the camera. AND, I can't shoot round corners. Hiding behind another runner means that it's unlikely I'll be able to capture your moment of pain and glory.
When I get home, the images are loaded onto an external hard drive using Lightroom. It can take up to 4 hours for LR to manage 2000 shots, creating what are called: 1:1 previews. These allow me to see any changes I make to the photos in double quick time.
"There are several types of preview you can build in the Library module. Previews are used by Lightroom to display your photos in the Library module. They help you view, zoom, rate, and flag photos – all the organizational stuff you want to do."
There is a perception that I can download and then upload images in a matter of hours. I can't. The photographs are my creative outlet. Working on them takes me quite a bit of time. They are my babies!
I spent the whole of Sunday and Monday, plus most of Tuesday putting an album together. Whether it's worth the extra time ...
Other photographers are much quicker than I am and I can understand the impatience from a runners perspective. You want the results and images in a matter of hours.
You may have lost interest by the time my photographs are put out on social media.
Apologies, but I'm sticking to what I do. They're my images and ... I want to be proud of them.
Please think about donating a couple of quid if you can. My images are free but any contribution would be most welcome. It will go towards replacing gear and buying a new hard drive to store the photographs. There is a link below. Couple of squid, or more, is fine.
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