CRCA Masters Champs by Claudette

by Andy Shen

More Claudette Lajam pics from Sunday’s CRCA race!

 

 

 

 

19 Comments

Wheelsucker

wow, pretty douchey comment- lets see how pro your shots look the next time YOU GET UP AT 5 AM TO TAKE PHOTOS OF PEOPLE FOR FREE

D-bag.

Slam Boom

You have photographers contributing here of varied experience levels using varied levels of equipment. In this case you’ve also got the complete unedited series of images. Not a narrow “best of” selection but also no one is cut out who may have been interested in a particular image for personal reasons even if it wasn’t among the best esthetically. So someone made the effort and presented the results openly. If there’s nothing of value for you then move on to the next available source, if you’re lucky enough to have one. I think with a little editing a group of 15 to 25 pics could be selected as a good “best of” set. Sort of along the lines of someone else who occasionally contributes here. Oh. When I say “a little editing,” figure about 5 plus hours at the computer. Easily 20 to 30 minutes an image.

Andy

Is just starting out. Shooting bike races in dim early morning light is extremely difficult. Be grateful that people show up and take pictures of you. Don’t be an ingrate.

Wheelsucka

i say just delete a j-ckass comment like that. not worth the time to respond.

thanks for the pics!

Claudette

I am, indeed, just learning how to do this. Have never shot anything in motion before. Andy is trying to help me figure it out. I post everything (don’t cherry pick) since some folks are happy to see shots of themselves in the race, no matter if they are blurred or not. Also, as this is not my primary profession I don’t have lots of time to edit.
And if you don’t like ’em, don’t look at ’em.

Wheelsucker

Do we have different standards for racers and photogs? When racers get up at 4am and have mediocre performances we use negative terms such as “packfill.” Ninety percent of the racers who spend countless hours suffering training and show up for races get no recognition here. But a photog who posts some pictures is only allowed praise for their effort? Maybe we should set up a preschool environment for racers as well where everyone who participates gets a medal.

Aaron

“Ninety percent of the racers who spend countless hours suffering training and show up for races get no recognition here. But a photog who posts some pictures is only allowed praise for their effort?”

What do you think the photos are?? Recognition.

You want more recognition, try suffering more.

There is no shortage of whiny racers. What this site needs is more contributors. Don’t scare them off.

schmalz

You don’t see the difference between competing in an event for you own personal glory and coming to photograph that event and doing, in essence, a favor (favor meaning “for free”) for those certain myopic turds (who complain about the QUALITY of the pictures people have made an effort to take of them) competing in that event?

Are you that big of a self-obsessed f-wit? That’s pathetic.

Wheelsucka

Rolling, rolling, rolling
That jack@ss’s head is swollen
Schmalz don’t keep that a-hole trolling
Rawhide

Through rain and wind he’s baiting
Just hell bent for hating
Wishing for a login by my side …

NYVeloCity things I’m missin’:
Aaron’s vittels, race reminiscin’
Are waiting at the end of my ride

Move ’em on, head’ em up
Head ’em up, move’ em on
Move ’em on, head’ em up
Rawhide

Cut ’em out, ride ’em in
Ride ’em in, cut ’em out
Call ’em out, ride ’em in
Rawhide

NYV improving, ‘proving, ‘proving
Though haters disapproving:
Take those posts, remove ’em
Rawhide

Don’t try to understand ’em
Just rope, throw and brand ’em
Soon we’ll be living high and wide

I still find their posts are gratin’
Even with this site’s updatin’
Yet here I am at the end of every ride

[Refrain x2]

Trolling, trolling, rolling
Trolling, trolling, rolling
Trolling, trolling, rolling
Trolling, trolling, rolling
Rawhide

Rawhide!

Slam Boom

This is breaking down into a standard web board bullshit tossing contest. In that sense I’ll not take anything personally.

Firstly in regards to “recognition” of racers and racers that compete purely for the spirit of competition even without much prospect of “winning,” I think posting images of those racers does exactly that – provide some recognition and appreciation. This site is dominated by images I think mainly for that reason, to let competitors get a sense of the recognition of their competitive spirit and the efforts involved.

Regarding efforts, take a look at the posting time of my last image blog post and realize that it was for an event that ended at about 8:10PM the prior evening. Then recall that I posted that it probably took about 5 hours to process and edit the image series. Actually it probably took longer since I don’t have a good USB 2.0 card reader and the transfer to computer takes more than an hour. But I don’t have to devote my attention to that. Also, in the distant past, my standard approach to a sporting event was to get one and at the most two quality images. Anything beyond that is effort made purely as thanks for and to the “models.”

Again, comparing photographers to racers, Claudette is not as experienced as some of the other photographers that post images here. In a sense she might be thought of as comparable to a Cat 4 or 5 racer. Give a little slack. That was the point of my sense of razzing slower riders. It would be boorish and completely outside of the spirit represented by the cycling competitions. A few dozen riders regularly compete but only a few win prizes. But I don’t think of any as losers, especially when I think that the slower riders average about my top speed in a short sprint with a slight downhill and tail wind.

As for some image specifics. Take a look at this two image sequence on page 3 of the image series. –

DSC_0153.jpg
DSC_0154.jpg

It’s a sprint to a finish between 2 (or perhaps 3) riders. It’s got excellent action and with some cropping and adjustment for highlights and shadows would make excellent images that I’m sure would get a lot of “views” and appreciation. But going through the batch and working on individual images takes time and skill. The same sort that makes for a Cat 1,2,3 rider.

Really, we’re all on the same side here, an appreciation of effort and spirit in whatever form it may take.

Wheelsucker

I’ll take it a step further so the ignorant ones can understand.

Most of our race photogs never charge for their pics and believe me the “recognition” of their photo talent by this group of cyclists counts for SQUAT to them. They do it all simply out of their GENEROSITY to YOU. PERIOD, end of story.

It takes ZERO effort for them to stop being so generous and go do more meaningful things with their lives or go take pics that actually make money or just SLEEP at 5 AM!

Talking about effort, as slam boom well explained, it takes at least 5 minutes of editing per image to make it “pretty” so 100 pics x 5 is a whole day of editing. So who works harder? A cyclist who is done in 2 hours or a photog who wakes up at same time as cyclist and spends the rest of the day glued to a computer still working to put a smile on YOUR face while you’re at the beach or whatever…

It is so sad to know some people don’t connect the dots and are so spoiled by getting stuff for free on this site that they think they’re ENTITLED to receive from a third person, volunteer photog. We are all doomed if this is a wide spread belief, how about a poll to show how the majority thinks?…anonymous of course to get true feelings?

Wheelsuckers for ever

Sports | Lance Armstrong finishes 2nd in Leadville 100 race …
Aug 9, 2008 … Lance Armstrong finishes 2nd in Leadville 100 race. Not since his last victory

Wheelsucker

…for the good work. I enjoyed your pics, and am grateful you are doing this especially given that (AFAIK) your collection is the only online source for certain events like 7/26 CRCA…

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