ASSIGNMENT 2: Braveheart Fundraising Ride & Dinner

I intend to tell the story of the Braveheart Cycling fundraising bike ride and dinner for Assignment 2: People and activity. The charity was founded in 2003 to support up-and-coming Scottish cyclists and its patron is Sir Chris Hoy. Well known cyclists often attend and this year Bradley Wiggins and Nicholas Roche are signed up. There are 20 and 44 mile rides then an evening dinner and auction.


INITIAL PLANNING STAGE
The event takes place on Saturday October 31st and is quite local to us. We have assisted the past two years and know the co-organisers (Walkers Cycling) well, so I contacted them by email last month to ask if it was possible to take pictures. I then visited them last weekend to make arrangements and discuss the types of shots I wanted.

The weather has not been kind the past few years and it again looks like rain, so I will plan accordingly and just see how the days goes.

I have looked at the Braveheart website to plan the day, as I wish to be at the HQ for the start, then out on the road. I have downloaded the course route map and will drive round beforehand to find a good vantage point.

The website has online galleries of previous events so this has been helpful to see what type of shots are possible and to plan equipment I might require. Also been looking at various cycling magazines to get ideas.

I have written a list of the equipment I think I will need, based on a list of the shots I would like to take and since I am still getting to grips with my new camera and trying new techniques, I have been reading about shooting indoors (ISO, white balance), using flash, capturing action and working with depth of field.

ASSIGNMENT 2 UPDATE  29/1/10

After an unacceptably long gap for various reasons I am back working on this assignment. Narrowing down a whole days worth of images was quite challenging, so I focused on images that capture the spirit of the event and shots that feature 'telling moments' as the brief suggests. I have almost finished post-processing and am working on the analysis. This will be the first assignment I have submitted for tutor feedback, so I am very keen to receive feedback to guage my progress on the course. I feel I am learning so much but not making enough time to practise camera techniques and experiment.