Take great photos of your bike

By parkr on Monday, Jun 09 2008.

Have you got a bike you are proud of? Want to share it with the world? Whether you are selling it, upgrading it, or just showing off, this article explains how to take a great photo of your bike.

Tools required

You will need...

Camera, film or digital - preferably with variable aperture control
Your bike
A tripod (optional)

1. Always use natural light

With few exceptions, shooting outside is the easiest way to improve your photos. Your bike was designed to be ridden outside. Photos of it propped up against the door in your apartment won't do it any favours. Due to limited light, most cameras will give a blurred or grainy effect inside. Outside, the sky is like a great big lightbox that will fill your image with light. Avoid the midday sun and take your photo in the morning or evening light for best effect.

2. Turn the flash off

Bikes consist of many reflective components. A pop-up camera flash will reflect directly back at the camera and give an unattractive dazzle effect. The rest of the image will probably be underexposed. By following rule 1, flash should not be necessary.

3. Try unusual angles

Find an unobtrusive way to stand your bike. Choose an unusual angle to photograph from. Low down often works well with the bike filling the whole frame.

4. Focus and close ups

Take a couple of close up shots. Ensure that your camera is focused on the bike and not on the background. If that isn't happening, you may be too close. Some cameras allow you fix the focus by half-depressing the shutter button before you take the shot.

Decreasing the image depth of focus is another way to achieve good results. The foreground will be sharp but the background will be blurred. You will need a camera with variable aperture control to do this. Experiment with different apertures from f/11, through f/5.6, to as low as your camera will go. At f/1.8 most of the image will be out of focus and just a small fraction will be thrown into focus. It is a very good technique to draw attention to one particular element of the bike.

5. Action shots

Taking photos of people on bikes can be fun too! Try panning your camera with the person to get a blurred background. A slow shutter speed is required, so set a speed of around 1/15s, or choose a high aperture if your camera allows it. If you have an automatic point and shoot camera without aperture control, try shooting in low light conditions to achieve the same effect.

Finally, be sure to post your results to RIDE/FIXEDGEAR. We'd love to see your fixed gear or single speed bikes!

Happy riding!

Comments

Wed, 06/11/2008 - 20:25 — tinman

this is a pretty good write

this is a pretty good write up.

other fun things to try:

night shots USE A TRIPOD! take a long exposure its fun.

also location is super important. he touched on it a little bit before, but you can take a picture of your bike laying on the grass in a park, you can slap it up against a wall, or you can hang it from a second story balcony. dont be afraid to try something you havent seen before.

Wed, 06/11/2008 - 21:53 — parkr