US Pro Cycling Championship

I would love to get your comments/critiques/etc on the photos I took this weekend at the US Pro Cycling Championship. I'm a relative newbie when it comes to photography, so I am sure I have a lot to learn! I shot these with a Canon 40D and 28-135mm lens. The link is below, I couldn't figure out how to post the photos right on here.

http://slmorris.smugmu​g.com …mpionship/23233​354_rNfzgB

I feel like with some of them you could have used a wider lens. '3 of 29' and '16 fo 29' were interesting, but I was kinda distracted by the fact that parts of the rider and/or bike were cropped off.

I agree. Number 16, I should have had it at 28mm (instead of 44) but I wasn't moving nearly quick enough! I learned to zoom a lot faster as the day went on. Quite a difference shooting pro riders versus stationary objects that I've been accustomed to! What sort of lens would you recommend for an event like this?

looked like you were using spot focus....first rider is fuzzy and second rider is clear in multiple pictures....next time multi-spot focus and a little higher shutter speed don't crop in the camera save it for post production

How do I do multi-spot focus? Do you mean autofocus? Why the higher shutter speed, I don't see any movement in the photos, save for poor panning attempts. (Just wondering, so I can learn!)

watch this....http://www.ehow.com …-selecting-autofocus.html

higher shutter speed freezes the rider especially when coming at you. now panning you want to show motion so you slow shutter speed down,,,but still have to have your focus squarely on the rider... or both are blurry ...and you have to turn as fast as it goes by you.....practice with cars along a busy street or kids on bikes in your neighborhood....

Ok, so you mean autofocus. I was trying to use the top focus spot so that I would have a better chance of getting a face as the focal point, since the handlebars and hands would otherwise lead and might get autoselected instead.

My shutter speed for the action shots was between 1/800 and 1/1600, and I slowed to 1/60 and 1/80 for panning. Good idea to practice on cars. This was my first ever attempt, might have been easier if I'd practiced beforehand.

panning alone will blur the background I think you went to slow....bike races are fast....not sure where your located but a lot of areas have bike groups....and you can find out when they meet and practice on them...

Maybe because they were climbing, so partly out of the saddle... but I notice on my panning shots that part of the body will be fine (Zawacki's helmet and face for example) but that his body blurred. So maybe he stood up partly while I was panning?

Usually I'm on my bike with them! I'll have to skip a ride sometime and take pictures instead!

when your in spot focus that can happen parts in focus and parts not....

Is fill flash allowed? Some additional light would be helpful on some riders' faces.

any thing goes when your out shooting if your the official photographer they might put restriction on you.