Tour of Britain on Film
Continuing my challenge of shooting events on film, I was keen to dedicate a day (stage) of this years Tour of Britain Women to analogue shooting.
After three days of following the Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team as they raced through North Yorkshire, Northumberland and the Scottish borders, I chose the final stage of the four day race, a city centre stage in Glasgow, to shoot on film.
My film choice for the day was Kodak ColourPlus 200 colour negative film and Fomapan 200 black and white negative film. The weather forecast was good and I knew I would have sufficient light to capture the fast speed with 200ISO film, minimising grain.
I’ve recently had my Olympus OM-1 camera fully serviced (CLA’d) and whilst many enthusiasts question the expense, (the CLA cost twice as much as purchasing the camera!), it’s important to me to have a reliable and accurate camera, and my OM-1 works like a dream!
For this shoot I matched the camera with my 25mm and 50mm Olympus Zuiko prime lenses and my 75-150mm Zuiko zoom lens when I needed some flexibility in reach. The strength of the vintage Olympus OM system is most definitely in the Zuiko lenses, they are brilliant!
And I also used an Olympus motor-drive, not something I often utilise but having committed to shooting this quick stage on film I wanted to cover my bases.
Having shot some of the race preparations by the start/finish line I headed out on the course, scouting for locations.
An eight kilometer long circuit covers quite a lot of ground so I was limited in how far I could cover over the course of the ten, 20 minute laps.
For my first location I chose a low angle looking up to the Tollbooth Steeple, on a tight bend guaranteed to provide some high speed interest.
With the sun behind me and the street wide and well lit I chose not to add any exposure compensation as I wanted to retain detail and I find Kodak film very forgiving.
With the peloton still packed closely together I captured four images as the riders passed, with the foreground rider taking a wide line here, this is the best composition of the four.
I’d planned some alternative images of the race, capturing the city and it’s residents, and found this small but very busy cafe under the railway bridge.
The manager of Outlier Cafe was thankfully very accommodating to my request to stand in the middle of his floor to shoot through the window!
This type of shot is always fraught with risk, you really do only get one chance and the times I’ve had someone walk across my shot at precisely the wrong time doesn’t bare thinking about.
Thankfully on this occasion it all worked out fine.
Walking up High Street I chose this mural on a high rise building as a backdrop and found a location on the inside of a tight bend where I again hoped the riders would pass closely.
I got my reward when Lizzie Deignan took the tightest line giving me some recognisbale foreground action.
Knowing that I was beginning to push my luck and wanting to be back to the finish for the conclusion of the stage I spotted a location where a chicane had been created around some road furniture on George Street. It offered the chance, if the riders didn’t hug the left-hand side of the street, to capture some unique head-on shots with the distinctive St Georges Tron Church as a backdrop.
The pace of the race had ramped up by now and the peloton was well split with much smaller groups forming, making compositional choices harder.
I decided to run through the city centre to the other side of the circuit to grab some alternative views.
I’d spotted a series of traffic islands along Clyde Street that I knew would be passed on either side by a large peloton, and whilst I suspected a marshall would be placed in front to signal the hazard, I hoped my 25mm lens was wide enough to give the impression of being in the centre of the race.
Choosing a slightly slower shutter speed I hoped to add some movement to my shot.
I swapped out the colour film for a roll of black and white at the finish line, I knew I’d be shooting close-up to the finishing riders and with my 25mm lens wide open, and pre-focussed, I was able to capture all the emotion at the race’s conclusion.
