Okay so the race was actually the weekend of April 21st but they still call it the May Day Race. This is one of my favorite races of the year. We stay in Sunriver for a couple of days, have 3 fun days of racing, and our race team gets together for a big BBQ. My daughter took 11th place in her first over jump competition soaring 33 feet off the jump (top jumpers were flying 60ish feet). As a bonus this year, we stopped at Smith Rock on the way back to Portland to do some hiking. Nice and warm 85 degrees.

The season went well despite the dry January we had in the NW. My marketing work has paid off as I've gotten myself pretty well established in the racing community. Translation - orders are up 25% over last year and I still have another month to go before orders taper off.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the race...

#1 Her Mom just ordered this shot. She was in the top 3 both days for the 11-12 year old girls


#2 Did I say the kids get into it and have some fun as well?


#3 Check out her moustache!


#4 One of the forerunners for the GS races


#5 Not a cloud in the sky made shooting easy. Sunny 16 ruled the day: ISO200, F/4, 1/3200 all day long. Didn't have to change a thing.


#6 Can't forget the younger crowd

Excellent. Really well done! Love the crispness and color.

Great stuff, very well done

Nice shots. Hope you are charging top dollar for these. You deserve it.

Originally Posted by aktse Excellent. Really well done! Love the crispness and color.

Thanks aktse. The funny thing is that when we are buying new racesuits for our kids I'm trying to figure out which colors will photograph the best

Originally Posted by JSPhotography Great stuff, very well done

Thanks!

Originally Posted by MJRPHOTO Nice shots. Hope you are charging top dollar for these. You deserve it.

Probably not charging enough but having fun at it.

Just looked at your images...yep...these are high quality images...don't cheap out...worthy of top shelf professional pricing.

Thanks for sharing.

Agree with Ed911.. Really like #5. That kind of angle puts the snowsplash in contrast with the background.

Wow, these are fabulous shots.

Originally Posted by Ed911 Just looked at your images...yep...these are high quality images...don't cheap out...worthy of top shelf professional pricing. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by HoofClix Agree with Ed911.. Really like #5. That kind of angle puts the snowsplash in contrast with the background.

Originally Posted by kdog Wow, these are fabulous shots.

Thanks guys. Appreciate your kind words.

Love the #5 shot. Looks like a magazine shot

Wow, these are really gripping shots!
Fantastic exposure, color, and action in all of them!

I always mean to get up to Bachelor to try shooting some racing action for the fun of it but haven't gotten to it.

NICE WORK!

Edit: as an aside, what struck me first was how great the exposure on the subjects and snow was. I love that the key was simply good ole Sunny-16! Thanks for sharing that.

Exposure of the snow stood out for me as well.

What is "Sunny 16?"

Originally Posted by Mike J #5 Not a cloud in the sky made shooting easy. Sunny 16 ruled the day: ISO200, F/4, 1/3200 all day long. Didn't have to change a thing.

Sunny 16 is an exposure guide for direct light on sunny days: f16, 1/100 shutter, ISO 100.
In this case, he is at 4 stops wider aperture, 1 stop more ISO (total of 5 stops brighter), and 5 stops faster shutter (5 stops darker) --> The changes balance to a perfect Sunny 16.

Originally Posted by ian408 Love the #5 shot. Looks like a magazine shot

Like this....

Originally Posted by kurtw Wow, these are really gripping shots! Fantastic exposure, color, and action in all of them! I always mean to get up to Bachelor to try shooting some racing action for the fun of it but haven't gotten to it. NICE WORK! Edit: as an aside, what struck me first was how great the exposure on the subjects and snow was. I love that the key was simply good ole Sunny-16! Thanks for sharing that.

I do most of my shooting on Hood but usually get out to to Bachelor for a race or two. Let's hook up next winter for a race...

Originally Posted by kurtw Sunny 16 is an exposure guide for direct light on sunny days: f16, 1/100 shutter, ISO 100. In this case, he is at 4 stops wider aperture, 1 stop more ISO (total of 5 stops brighter), and 5 stops faster shutter (5 stops darker) --> The changes balance to a perfect Sunny 16.

Hoofclix - you can also check this out for more on Sunny 16: http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/3762805
The nice thing about Sunny 16 is that it doesn't get fooled by all the snow like my camera's meter does. My other trick for exposing for the snow is just to aim my camera at the snow and adjust until I get a spike at the far right.

Ha ha! That looks great!

Originally Posted by kurtw Sunny 16 is an exposure guide for direct light on sunny days: f16, 1/100 shutter, ISO 100. In this case, he is at 4 stops wider aperture, 1 stop more ISO (total of 5 stops brighter), and 5 stops faster shutter (5 stops darker) --> The changes balance to a perfect Sunny 16.

Ah, thanks! In all my years I'd never heard that. Great starting point.. I'm going to take a look at some of my settings from when I have shot manual in direct sunlight this past season to see how close I had gotten to that totally randomly. Amazing how really right-on manual can be!

Originally Posted by Mike J I do most of my shooting on Hood but usually get out to to Bachelor for a race or two. Let's hook up next winter for a race...

That would be fun! Thank, Mike.