Bubbles, our 10+ year Trivium Racing Michigan photographer, offers tips on how to get great race day photos!
“Aw man, I didn’t get a good race photo!!” Bubbles here, your decade long Trivium race-day photographer with few things to say about our shared race day experiences.
Before the Race
Know that photographers are ALWAYS looking for willing subjects. Is this your first race? Your longest race? Have you been at every single Black Toenail Friday? How about just wanting a before and after? Awesome, I would love to take your picture! Come find me in my hi-vi vest and we’ll get a good one before your run.
Looking for a more candid experience? Wear the race gear the day of the race! Social media is always calling for more images of a variety of things. I’d love to get images of groups warming up in their Trivium singlets, or WTF sweatshirts. It’s just a way to spruce up the ol’ instagram feed and it’s also fun to capture some not-so-posed moments. Bonus points if you can include your volunteer friends in the pre-race photos so people know who’s really running this show.
The Race
If you’re looking for great action shots, look for the on-course photographers. Make eye contact with them. Sometimes they’re trying to be subtle and blend in to the course for full-on action shots, and sometimes they’re out in the open looking for thumbs-ups and waves.
While it may go against the whole nature of “racing,” if you’re in this for the photos, create space! If a PR is not your goal today, but you want to document your race experience, make sure you’re not directly in line behind the person in front of you. A lot of the time photographers are stuck in a certain place because of the sun, the conditions, or the amount of time they’re allotted to be in that location, so moving away from your fellow runners will help set you up for success in photographs!
The Finish Line
The end! The celebration! Do your victory dance AT THE FINISH LINE. Again, photographers are trapped in one spot shooting A LOT of people coming across, and to give everyone an equal chance at a photo we have to keep the focus in relatively the same spot. I typically start focusing about 10 feet behind the finish line – so save the good stuff for the end!
The Awards
Finally, you’ve completed your big challenge for the day, hopefully you’ve had some bananas and other snacks, and you’ve stuck around to climb up on those big blocks. These photos should be fast and painless. Congratulate your fellow age group winners, shake hands, hold up your award, bada-bing bada-boom – you have yourself an awards photo!
TLDR: Create space and make eye contact – I WANT to take fun photos of you!
See you on the trails and roads,
Bubbles
Check out Bubbles at Visual Folklore!
