This year was the Siskiyou Century’s 25th Anniversary ride. It was a great day overall weather wise. It was windy at times and the smoke also varied in thickness from the many fires around the area. The post ride meal was excellent as always, with some entertainment as well from the band Gimme Shelter.
A big thanks to all of the volunteers that made the ride run smoothly. Also a big thank you to all those that came and rode!
One thing I learned with these photos is that shutter speed is critical to clear photos. I thought that having the shutter speed over 1/250 would eliminate the blur from camera shake. But alas it was not and because I was too lazy to get the tripod out I have a few shots that are blurry. This is compounded as the focal length of the lens you are using increases. So the tip I learned yesterday was to take the time to get the tripod out even if you think the shutter speed is fast enough. A tripod can be a huge help in obtaining clear photographs. It also can be very helpful in planning out your composition. Another benefit of a tripod is the ability to use a smaller aperture and slower iso speed resulting in photos with less grain and more depth of field.
One of the other photography lessons you can learn as you look at these pictures is the effect lighting has on a photograph. If you look at the first pictures of the bluff the lighting is harsher and the colors aren’t as nice because it was in the middle of the afternoon. By the evening you can tell the lighting has warmed up significantly making the colors much more vibrant. The lesson is the best time to take photographs is when the sun is lower towards the horizon, meaning the morning and the evening.
I hope you enjoy these photos, I know I did taking them 🙂
