Bangalore 10k Marathon, 2012

[Hellwrath]

The Bangalore 10k marathon was held on 27th May 2012. I have never photographed runners, so I wanted to try out a few ideas that I had. The first one was to do profile photographs with a hard flash after the race was done, but I didn't have a flash. Also, I was not too sure if they'd let me get close to the runners after the race. The other one was where I wanted to do a long exposure and capture just figures and some feet if possible, but no bodies. I think I succeeded doing that with one mistake that I am really really suck at. Yep, that's right, getting a straight horizon.

Anyway, it had rained a bit the previous night, so the dust had settled a bit in the morning, which meant awesome light. Saharsh and I got there by 6:30 and waited for the Men's Pro 10k race to begin. We got kinda close and I was using a MF lens for it. Big mistake. They were so fast that they were all gone so fast. Then, we decided to move to the other side of the road and wait for the women's pro 10k to begin. I was all set with my AF lens and all. I saw this patch where there was shade and then sunlight was hitting the ground through trees. Quickly moved to that area as I figured that light here would light up the faces of the runners and give a nice fall off. So, here's what I got:


10k-Women-Pro-Category by Veeresh_ai, on Flickr

I liked the shot as you can see Helah Kiprop, the winner taking the lead early in the race. The only part I didn't like was the goot that got cut, I should have taken care of that.

Since it had rained, there was a puddle of water and I thought of some interesting reflection that I could get. Shot this of the guard who was trying to keep photographers off the road:


Guarding-the-Marathon by Veeresh_ai, on Flickr

The last photograph in this series is the long exposure shot I was talking about earlier:


Marathon_Long_Exposure by Veeresh_ai, on Flickr


Gear details:
Camera: Panasonic G1
Lens: 45mm f1.8 for first two and 14-45 for the last one.

Please let me know if anything could have been done better, thank you in advance .

[naresh]

last photo is interesting ...... is there any restriction on photography

[Point Blank]

Nice series! loved the long exposure shot. TFS.

[Prasad]

Very Nice series, Liked 2nd and 3rd the most

[UDAYAN]

Like the shots Veeresh. Too bad the boot got cut off in #1. Love #3 for the ingenuity. Cant recall having seen something like it.

[vogon]

Like the last one a lot. Even without any background information, you can tell it's about some sort of a race given there is the SAK mast at the back. Only thing I would have avoided was the star plus sign. But then, they're perhaps one of the paymasters.

With regards to the second picture, would be great if you had one with a runner's reflection.

Did you try any pans?

[VikramF]

Love the idea behind the last shot ..... next year, I WILL wake up on time and be there 

Yep, forgot to tell you that while we think a 10k run is long and one would take it slow and easy at the start, these guys take off at this speed and only get faster towards the end - MF is very difficult unless you're doing a head-on shot.

[Brendon]

Good work Veeresh !

I loved #1, liked #2 (only nitpick is the foot which couldn't be helped but is distracting nevertheless) and I loved #3 mostly for its uniqueness.

[aniltulsi]

Wow, the last one is mind blowing. What was the shutter speed?

[SAHARSH]

Veeresh,

All the 3 are different kind of shots but the 3rd one is unique .All are good shots and have their own appeal

[VikramF]

Veeresh,

All the 3 are different kind of shots but the 3rd one is unique .All are good shots and have their own appeal

Saharsh - will we EVER get to see your pics on JJMF? You were there too ... post pics!

[BanthurosFurasiburos]

Beautiful photos,Veeresh . The long exposure shot is really interesting. Well done

[SAHARSH]

Veeresh,

All the 3 are different kind of shots but the 3rd one is unique .All are good shots and have their own appeal

Saharsh - will we EVER get to see your pics on JJMF? You were there too ... post pics!

  Will try to post them by this Saturday .
But i didnt get any great shots  .But will still post them

[Madhav Bhakta]

Excellent shots Veeresh. Liked all of them.

[g2]

2 and 3 are awesome
I love how the shoes have somewhat registered in 3 and the figures blurred with that wavy patterns. I do wish there was lil less sky in center, the blur gets lost around that area.

Good to see you try these creative shots rather than the usual. Well done mate

[toofan]

2nd and 3rd are best.

[hvyas]

Liked the last one the most !

[Powershot]

Nice shots and nice idea.....

Just curious..... is it some kinda international marathon... I only seen African women and no Indians.....

[SAHARSH]

Indians were there  , but they were supporting from the back .
Just kidding , indian ladies were in the second batch .A maharastra girl won the Indian woman race

[amitk26]

Nice shots hellwrath , Perhaps you should have waited for 5-10 more minutes for masses to arrive and you could have got good photo opportunity winner Kipsang in mens category finished in 28 minutes and for women's cataogory it was 32 mts
Indians in elite category were not too far behind but for normal city folks  good timings means 40 - 60  mts depending on age-weight etc.

Just curious..... is it some kinda international marathon... I only seen African women and no Indians.....

Kenya and Ethopia are powerhouses in long distance running.
Well every year there are thousands of Indians in this 10K run, So many that I could not get a spot to participate, registrations were closed 3-4 weeks back but best Indian man was 21st overall.