I had no idea how much hard work photography can be. I mean, physically.
It turns out that pedal for Scotland is the biggest mass cycle in Scotland - this year 9000 cyclists took part. I found this out on Friday afternoon and started to doubt how I could practically cover this. In the end I thought, "Just have a go, it might be fun". So Sunday morning off I set (missing my usual Sunday big breakfast, grrr!) and got to a spot just outside Kirkliston that one of my cycling mates had told me about. A nice shaded area (less contrasty shadows at the expense of a slower shutter ), at the top of a steep hill (slower cyclists, working hard, out of the saddle and nicely strung out), just past Kirliston (3o mins drive fro my house - yay!). I was there 45 mins ahead of the first cyclist and had time to scout out a good spot and even ask a local to pose for a couple of snaps while I worked out the exposure from a reflected light reading from him. The
lighting was difficult though - contrasty, as the sun kept poking through gaps in the trees and I had to make the brave decision to shoot manual exposures.
About 10am I heard a "whoop!" as the first 3 cyclists - obviously comfortably miles ahead of everyone else - came battering up the hill. Big smiles from two of them and I got to talke my first shots. It was exciting! I knew this was thhe start of thousands of cyclists coming my way. And it was. in fact, over the next 3 hours 45 minutes, I took over 3800 images. That's one every 3.5 seconds, manually exposing, auto focussing, manually zooming in and out. It was frantic and full on for hours. The barrel of the zoom actually got hot to the touch. Several cyclists stopped beside me to rub cramped legs (theirs not mine!) and I was embarrassed that I too was cramping up. My back was sore, I had been holding my camera aloft (elbow above my head) and rotating the zoom continuously for hours. Doesn't sound like much. Go try it. My camera weighs 3.5 kilos, so get a bag, put two 1.5 litre bottles of water and a packet of butter in the bag and hold it up so the top of the water bottles are level with your eye. Stay that way for 3.5 hours. See what I mean? Twice my hand cramped, once enough to make me yelp, and three times my right arm cramped up. Exhausting. And my cheeks hurt. For some reason I was smiling at every single cyclist as I snapped away at them - I was having a blast. And oh, the Glasgow banter, as they struggled up the steepest climb of the course - "dinnae send me the photae, send it tae ma wife, she can put it oan the coaffin!".
So that was that. Err... no... How would people find my photos? I had to look at each photo (!) remove the blurred ones (about 10%, not too bad) and then sort each one by bib number into a folder so that the cyclists could fine their images quickly, and then upload them to my sales site (www.PhotoForMyWall.com/events). 4 days. 4 days it took, including me taking time off work on Monday to do it, and the 32 hour image upload, with my wife starting off various batch jobs.
And then I realised I had a competitor, a big fancy company with loads of photographers. They took far more images than me, but not any better quality (I think). I actually got my images loaded up ahead of them, and I charge 65% of their price because I'm not looking for profit, just hobby money, but they can advertise. So I am up against it. I have tweeted, joined forums, facebooked and flickered. Now, I need to wait and see if I sell (m)any. Either way, one of my main targets was to boost traffic to my landscape photography website, and after 4 days, traffic is up about 1000% so that at least has made it worth it. I'm hoping for multi pound sales, if I'm lucky.
On Friday I heard that Pedal for Scotland (a 51mile cycle run between Glasgow and Edinburgh) was taking 
place on the following sunday. I though, "why not go along, get a few snaps and see if any of the cyclists would like to buy them off me, it might be worth it for pin money towards my next lens" (I REALLY want that 100mm-400mm Canon L zoom - just a couple of grand!!!). Little did I know what I was getting myself in for!
place on the following sunday. I though, "why not go along, get a few snaps and see if any of the cyclists would like to buy them off me, it might be worth it for pin money towards my next lens" (I REALLY want that 100mm-400mm Canon L zoom - just a couple of grand!!!). Little did I know what I was getting myself in for!It turns out that pedal for Scotland is the biggest mass cycle in Scotland - this year 9000 cyclists took part. I found this out on Friday afternoon and started to doubt how I could practically cover this. In the end I thought, "Just have a go, it might be fun". So Sunday morning off I set (missing my usual Sunday big breakfast, grrr!) and got to a spot just outside Kirkliston that one of my cycling mates had told me about. A nice shaded area (less contrasty shadows at the expense of a slower shutter ), at the top of a steep hill (slower cyclists, working hard, out of the saddle and nicely strung out), just past Kirliston (3o mins drive fro my house - yay!). I was there 45 mins ahead of the first cyclist and had time to scout out a good spot and even ask a local to pose for a couple of snaps while I worked out the exposure from a reflected light reading from him. The
lighting was difficult though - contrasty, as the sun kept poking through gaps in the trees and I had to make the brave decision to shoot manual exposures.About 10am I heard a "whoop!" as the first 3 cyclists - obviously comfortably miles ahead of everyone else - came battering up the hill. Big smiles from two of them and I got to talke my first shots. It was exciting! I knew this was thhe start of thousands of cyclists coming my way. And it was. in fact, over the next 3 hours 45 minutes, I took over 3800 images. That's one every 3.5 seconds, manually exposing, auto focussing, manually zooming in and out. It was frantic and full on for hours. The barrel of the zoom actually got hot to the touch. Several cyclists stopped beside me to rub cramped legs (theirs not mine!) and I was embarrassed that I too was cramping up. My back was sore, I had been holding my camera aloft (elbow above my head) and rotating the zoom continuously for hours. Doesn't sound like much. Go try it. My camera weighs 3.5 kilos, so get a bag, put two 1.5 litre bottles of water and a packet of butter in the bag and hold it up so the top of the water bottles are level with your eye. Stay that way for 3.5 hours. See what I mean? Twice my hand cramped, once enough to make me yelp, and three times my right arm cramped up. Exhausting. And my cheeks hurt. For some reason I was smiling at every single cyclist as I snapped away at them - I was having a blast. And oh, the Glasgow banter, as they struggled up the steepest climb of the course - "dinnae send me the photae, send it tae ma wife, she can put it oan the coaffin!".
About 1:4
5pm I couldn't physically do any more. Cyclists were streaming through but I had to go home (I'd also promised to be home by 12:30pm, oops). I actually felt awful that people were struggling on and I wasn't going to be there to give them the opportunity of a momento.
5pm I couldn't physically do any more. Cyclists were streaming through but I had to go home (I'd also promised to be home by 12:30pm, oops). I actually felt awful that people were struggling on and I wasn't going to be there to give them the opportunity of a momento.So that was that. Err... no... How would people find my photos? I had to look at each photo (!) remove the blurred ones (about 10%, not too bad) and then sort each one by bib number into a folder so that the cyclists could fine their images quickly, and then upload them to my sales site (www.PhotoForMyWall.com/events). 4 days. 4 days it took, including me taking time off work on Monday to do it, and the 32 hour image upload, with my wife starting off various batch jobs.
And then I realised I had a competitor, a big fancy company with loads of photographers. They took far more images than me, but not any better quality (I think). I actually got my images loaded up ahead of them, and I charge 65% of their price because I'm not looking for profit, just hobby money, but they can advertise. So I am up against it. I have tweeted, joined forums, facebooked and flickered. Now, I need to wait and see if I sell (m)any. Either way, one of my main targets was to boost traffic to my landscape photography website, and after 4 days, traffic is up about 1000% so that at least has made it worth it. I'm hoping for multi pound sales, if I'm lucky.
It's been an experience, and I will probably aim smaller next time, but I'm delighted - idea to shoot in 48 hours, to product available for sale and marketed 72 hours later. Not bad, and I've been able to compete with the big boys and hold my head up! Now, if I can just get the feeling back in my arms, all will be well again.
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