2017 World Champs: Ben Sykes' picks
The secret behind some of the best photos taken at the 2017 World Championships in Cairns.
Not only did the recent World Championships in Cairns throw up some thrilling races, but it also produced some stunning imagery as XCO and DH riders battled it out for the win.
We spoke to top snapper Ben Sykes to find out exactly how he captured his best photos from the event to give you some hints and tips to take the perfect shot on your next big ride.
And if you have a real passion for MTB pics, don’t miss your chance to vote in the ‘AMB Photography Awards presented by Shimano’ – where you could win a pair of Shimano ME7 or XC7 shoes just for choosing your favourite image.
The Scene
Josh Button, the Kona rider from Coffs Harbour, rides over the end of the Alien Tree section, with Connor Fearon behind. This shot was from Thursday’s practice session. The shooting spot was a popular one for photographers. I used some foliage on the right hand side of the frame to try and frame out the photographer under the sign, which also warped the Alien Tree sign.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Canon EF 85mm 1.8 USM prime lens. Manual mode, aperture f/1.8 and shutter speed 1/500s, auto ISO = 400, AI Servo AF, High Speed Burst.
The Finishing
Exposure pushed up by a stop and a bit, shadows made darker and black point pushed up. A little clarity and vibrance and some subtle colour grading via split toning (orange highlights / blue shadows) added, and a little of the saturation in the yellows has been decreased. A little brightening of his helmet and upper shoulders to define his head from the background better. The 85mm 1.8 is a great lens but has colour fringes in harsh light so de-fringing is turned up and some manual adjustment of that around the image in spots.
The Appeal
Josh is a rider who’s previously podiumed here in Cairns in a World Cup, so he has a bit of history there. The fact it’s a good shot of him in one of the best spots for photos on the track also helps. Also the way the Alien Tree sign has been warped is something different.
The Scene
Loris Vergier rips the berm right after Mick’s Drop in the Thursday practice session. Mick’s Drop takes full commitment to clear the gap after slowing down for the Cyclone before it, which makes this one of the higher speed sections of course. I shot this from the end of the berm which was a pretty horrible place to stand as it was basically on a 45 degree slope – but the shots were worth it.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 148mm focal length. Manual mode, Aperture 2.8, shutter speed 1/2000sec, Auto ISO = 800, AI Servo AF, High Speed Burst.
The Finishing
Manually adjusted the white balance to Daylight, increased contrast, made the highlights, shadows and white point all brighter to bring out the brightness in the dust and make sure Loris’ kit stood out.
The Appeal
Loris is an insanely talented rider and this section of the course really showed how much speed these international racers can carry with a huge dust trail from him. Also the composition lots of crossing diagonals along with his body position really make this an interesting shot to me.
The Scene
Loic Bruni from Thursday Practice. Taken on one of the lower switchbacks between the high speed flow jumps and Generator.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM at focal length of 70mm. Manual mode, Aperture f/3.2, Shutter speed 1/500 sec, Auto ISO = 400.
The Finishing
Made the exposure brighter, made highlights a little darker and shadows brighter. Added contrast to bring out some detail in the light rays and set the mood. A fair amount of orange added to the highlights via split toning and a little of the yellow saturation has been decreased. Camera profile set to Landscape to bring out the greens in the background.
The Appeal
I love the way the light is coming through this section of the trail, with a gap in the canopy on the left hand side of the frame allowing the afternoon light to come in and light up the dust. This photo for me says a lot about mountain bike riding in general, with the surrounds, but also about racing with the race plate, world champion rider and the kit and bike that goes along with that status.
The Scene
Wyn Masters in one of the Minjin switchbacks at the top of the course. This is a view the general public couldn’t see as the track was closed above Rock Garden to spectators (hopefully one year they can allow this to happen). The switchbacks were getting blown apart by the riding, owing to how dry and dusty the trails were, and bomb holes and ruts were developing here by the hour.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 OS HSM at 45mm focal length. Manual mode, Aperture f/2.8, Shutter 1/800s, Auto ISO = 250, AI Servo AF, High speed burst.
The Finishing
This is using my “go-to” profile I’ve tweaked a little over time. It has a little shadow brightening, added contrast, added vibrance and clarity, some mild orange highlight/blue shadow split toning and a little vignetting.
The Appeal
Some people are too quick to write Wyn Masters off as a larrikin with his Wheelie Wednesdays and WynTV banter, but he’s also a fairly determined racer. I like in this shot how it shows his race face – fully committed to the next corner after railing the one he’s in.
The Scene
A rider from the USA Female Junior’s team rolls over a bridge before the entry to the Rock Garden in timed training. The bridge is made from green enviromesh/FRP grating which allows light in only through the holes in the mesh. The position I was in was quite tight and I was shooting straight up, there was only around a metre of space under the bridge, and the riders were only over me for around a second which made it difficult – but worth it when it worked.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 OS HSM. Manual mode, Aperture f/4.0, shutter speed 1/60sec, Auto ISO = 800. Manual focus, High speed burst. It took a couple of riders passing to settle on the shutter speed – normally for pan shots like this I start with 1/20sec and adjust down or up from there.
The Finishing
Increased the brightness slightly, decreased the highlights a little for the visible sky through the canopy, turned down the black point and just a small amount of vibrance added.
The Appeal
I’ve always liked pan shots that are a bit different like this – with something that blocks vision incorporated into the image to create an effect. An example is a wall ride with gaps between the slats or something like this, as you can get some great effects when you pan with the subject and the obstacle creates the effect. The effect it creates in the background and rider is something I’m quite happy with!
The Scene
Danny Hart, over the last small pop in the Alien Tree section. This was taken in timed training on the Friday.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM at 70mm focal length. Manual mode, Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/2000 second, Auto ISO = 1250, AI Servo AF, High speed burst. Medium JPEG used (all other shots are full-size RAW) with custom EOSHD Mono-Adams profile used.
The Finishing
The shot was great just in camera, with the custom super-high contrast profile applied. However, I darkened the image by one stop, decreased the contrast slightly and made the shadows a little brighter.
The Appeal
Danny Hart was the previous world champion so I knew I wanted to get a good shot of him. I was shooting in monochrome JPEG for a while in timed training as it was interesting and saved me having to switch memory cards. In this case it definitely worked – the shaft of light that comes in at the right hand side of the frame illuminates Danny but the rest of the frame is fairly dark, highlighting the focus and concentration of somebody at the top of their game.
The Scene
Benoit Coulanges whips high with his Nicolai over the top of the Moisty Boyz’ Moisty Meter they brought to the event. I know a couple of the Moisty Boyz, they’re from the Sutherland Shire area of Sydney and they definitely brought their A-game to the spectating at Cairns. While I was shooting in this spot on Ridgeline, I was talking to one of them on the phone to get the meter into the right spot for this style of shot which worked out well!
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM at 135mm focal length. Manual mode, Aperture f/4.0 (so the meter wouldn’t be too blurred) and shutter speed 1/1250s. AI Servo AF, High speed burst.
The Finishing
Exposure made brighter slightly, added contrast, and brought down the highlights a fair amount. Added a little clarity and vibrance. Decreased saturation of yellows and reds by quite a bit. Used a brush to brighten Benoit’s helmet and jersey a little for better definition with the midday light casting a shadow over them.
The Appeal
Benoit Coulanges was a late addition to the French team and was a spectator’s and photographer’s favourite as he was just letting it all hang out. He’s got heaps of style and was just loving being on the high speed track with lots of places to show off. Plus bringing the spectators into the frame with the Meter almost in the perfect position to the whip and the emotion on the guy’s faces over in bottom right.
The Scene
There’s often a point in most races that The Moment happens. For world champs, this was it or at least a split second before it. Mick Hannah’s in the hot seat covering his mouth in the expectation of what Bruni’s final time will be after being 1.6 seconds up at the second split. This was taken from the other side of the spectator area where I could frame the rider, the time display and the hot seat.
The Settings
Canon 7D, Lens Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM at 70mm focal length. Manual mode, Aperture f/3.5 and shutter 1/2500s, Auto ISO = 160. AI Servo AF, High speed burst. To be honest, if I was shooting this again, I’d probably shoot at around f/5.6 or f/7 to get more of the background in focus – in particular the riders on the hotseat. But in a big race situation it’s all such a mad rush that getting everything right is a challenge.
The Finishing
This just has my standard profile applied to it like the Wyn shot, no other adjustments.
The Appeal
This is an angle that I think nobody else took of this moment and shows so much in the one frame. What an effort by Bruni and his team to take the gold medal on the weekend.
