I love the challenge of photographing different types of sport. Cyclo-Cross racing was something new but oh boy, what a lot of fun to photograph and a great start to my 2020 event photography adventures 🙂

I overlook Goodrington lakes and the Torbay Velopark in Paignton, Devon and handily for me, the Velopark was the location for the event I had been asked to photograph. I usually aim to arrive at an event an hour or so before I’m told to. I was told 10.30am but at 9am I wrapped up warm and walked on down because I could already see things were starting to happen and I didn’t want to miss any of it.

My Bag today contained my camera, a 24-70mm plus my all-round favourite sports lens, the 70-200mm. I had ND filters so I could more easily pan but with the overcast weather I didn’t think I’d needed them and I didn’t.

Camera Settings were Manual, 1/160 to 1/500 (1/30 to 1/60 for panning), wide-open aperture, ISO started at 400 and ending around 1000 as the evening rolled in. There was a whole mixture in the types of action happening in numerous locations along the track. That gave me the chance to use a real mix of techniques, looks and styles. Wide-angle, telephoto, panning, low shots, high shots, candids, story-telling and podium shots.

The event was the South West Cyclo-Cross League, hosted by the Mid Devon Cycling Club.

The overcast weather was perfect for me, the lighting today was really, really nice thanks to the weather. The race was a mixture of tarmac on the track, plus off-track sections which, by the end of the day, was ankle-deep mud 🙂

I ended up with almost 700 keeper photos which I’ve uploaded to my Google Drive for people to print off. Some of the photos can be found on my Facebook post. Here are a few of my favourites from the day. If you need an event photographer please let me know.