The LA Chinatown Firecracker 10K Bike Ride and Run Event - Los Angeles, USA

[Jonathan F/2]

For the past three years I've been hired as one of the main photographers to shoot this event. It's a fairly big event to shoot, because it spans both weekend days (Sat. + Sun.) and requires being able to shoot the sports action, posed photographs, candids, detail shots and performances that go on during the event. I shot everything with my D750 bodies. The year prior, I shot it with my Sony A7III cameras. Lighting wise, the event starts in the early morning so you'll face lots of dark and light shadows and sunlight. This is where Nikon's ability to pull up shadows in raw really pay off. The Sony is also quite capable of highlight recovery, but I found Nikon image processing slightly less intensive when it comes to correcting colors and in general I find Nikon colors to be more pleasing.

This year I shot everything with only 3 lenses, the 16-35mm f4 VR, 70-200mm 2.8 VRII and the 300mm f4 PF VR. My 16-35mm f/4 VR is also AF fine tuned and is from the last batch to be made in Japan. I must have a different lens from others, because it was spot-on perfect! Just to note because of the amount of space I have to cover, I need to stay as light as possible. One stretch requires me carrying all my gear about a mile away at an adjacent park to photograph additional event coverage. In fact, the Nikon 300mm f4 PF VR was made for this type of shooting due to the reduced weight, giving me that extra reach especially for the bicyclists and runners coming down the stretch. Also due to the change of temperatures, in the early morning you have to bundle up and by late morning you have to strip layers to stay cool! It's truly a physically demanding event not everyone can shoot in it's entirety without being physically capable and you'll definitely feel it in your joints after shooting the event!

In regards to how my equipment handled, I do think I'll be adding a Z body for those above/below angled wide shots. The D750 live view is painfully slow and something I much preferred when using the A7III last year. Action-wise the D750 was capable, I never hit the buffer shooting with fast UHS-I cards, it would of been nicer having slightly faster FPS, but then I enjoyed the leeway of 24mp cropping, while not having to deal with 36mp and up file sizes. The D750's wifi capabilities came in handy when needing to transmit web-sized images for quick social media uploads. It's not seamless but at least the capabilities are there! I'm literally culling through thousands of photos and transmitting same night!

On a side note, runners seem more fun than bicyclists, which seem to be a much serious (probably due to owning fancy bikes)! Definitely a very different fitness crowd!


Anyways, check out the photos!

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

2.

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

3.

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

4.

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

11.

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

12.

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The 42nd Firecracker 10K - Bike Ride / Dog Walk / Run / Kiddie Run - Year of the Rat - February 15, 2020 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

 

[Allan]

Wow - I like these a lot. Such a great variety.

This was not an easy event to shoot. Are more images online?

I think one reason why runners might be more fun than bikers is that they do not have to worry about falling down or crashing into other participants.

 

[Palouse]

I think one reason why runners might be more fun than bikers is that they do not have to worry about falling down or crashing into other participants.

I felt that way, both when I was a competitor and also when serving as a photographer and timer.

 

[Palouse]

This is a fun event, for sure. Well done Jon!

 

[Jonathan F/2]

Wow - I like these a lot. Such a great variety.

This was not an easy event to shoot. Are more images online?

I think one reason why runners might be more fun than bikers is that they do not have to worry about falling down or crashing into other participants.

The albums is currently set to private (waiting for client feedback), but you can see Day 1 and 2 here :
https://www.flickr.com/gp/inhousephoto/c6ga09
https://www.flickr.com/gp/inhousephoto/4ALP9y

There's a beer garden at the end of the event and the runners are much more outgoing in general! Bicyclists are more reserved in comparison even after the race!

 

[Hylander]

Well done!

 

[gryphon1911]

Quality work from you, as always!

 

[Phil K]

Excellent set Jonathan. Very colourful.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

Ha, I shot this last year! I guess old threads from when life was normal are coming back around!

 

[F15Todd]

What a fun looking event, thanks for sharing and I can see where you would put a few miles on your shoes covering it.

 

[kilofoxtrott]

Incredible event and wonderful pictures...

Kind regards
Klaus