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W hile riding with friends is a great pleasure in itself and memories are plentiful and free, but there’s nothing quite like being able to share your experiences with your friends and with the rest of the world. There are a number of ways to accomplish this feat for varying costs and with varying degrees of success.
Disposable camera
If you’re going on vacation and want to collect memories without spending a lot of money, then you’ll likely fall into this category. Disposable cameras are cheap, easy to find and will function perfectly for getting a few reasonably decent memories. They are completely self contained and require nothing more than pushing a button and then dropping it off to be developed or downloaded. The catch, of course is that these cameras have no way of adjusting any settings; you are stuck with predetermined shutter speeds and metering (the amount of brightness the camera senses through the lens). This makes it difficult to get the exact shot that you want.
Point and shoot camera
Nearly all the people you’ll see out on the trails taking pictures will be using some sort of point and shoot camera (usually digital; film is really becoming a dinosaur.) Varying in price from around $80 all the way up to $400, the price you’re willing to pay will dictate the number of features you will have at your disposal. You should at least be looking for a model that has adjustable metering and several different modes such as macro, sport and landscape. Continuous drive mode, or some kind of sequential shooting mode is a great plus if you like to catch a series of images. Check your zoom capability carefully; it is best to rely upon optical zoom as opposed to digital zoom which will distort and pixelate the image. Be sure to budget for a properly sized memory card to increase the picture capacity of the camera. I would carry nothing less than 512MB on a daylong epic. Sony, Canon, Nikon and Olympus are all excellent choices to start with.
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Nothing beats a good camera to catch a riding moment and reliving it again and again.
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Digital SLR camera
Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras have become a huge part of the camera market in the past few years. Using a series of mirrors and an image sensor, the SLR features a removable lens system, allowing the user to change lenses to suit the environment and type of shot. Generally, these well equipped models will run from $500 up to several thousand dollars. For an amateur photographer who really wants to capture the greatest images they can, both on and off the bike, this is the way to go. A body with a general purpose wide angle to 3x or 4x zoom will suffice quite well. These camera systems usually allow for complete manual mode (setting shutter and aperture independently) as well as a number of simpler modes. As your skills with this kind of cameras increases, you can add lenses and accessories such as slave strobes to your unit, which will in turn increase the capabilities of your camera rig. Again, be sure to budget for a large storage card (generally no less than 1GB of memory for this style camera.) Nikon, Cannon and Olympus all have excellent dSLR offerings at reasonable prices.
Video camera
Video cameras (nearly all digital nowadays) are the ultimate in capturing your ride experience. There are huge variations in different types of cameras, and it would be impossible to describe them all. Things to look for are high capacity tapes or hard drives, several different recording modes and expandability. The ability to add a lipstick camera (otherwise known as a helmet camera) is a huge feature that many consumers overlook. As always, research is necessary before buying, but Sony and Panasonic are some excellent brands to begin with.
I’ve got my camera, now what?
Obviously, go out and ride! Take photos, review them, see what you like and what you don’t like about the pictures you took. Read the manuals to learn what each feature on your camera does and experiment with how they affect your images. Once you have an idea of what you’re trying to do, it’s best to look for interesting trail features on which to shoot your photographs. Try to capture the feeling of the ride; if you’re blowing downhill, try to catch people as they tear through a rockgarden with a grin on their face. If you’re trying to capture the suffering of a brutal climb, make sure to get people’s reactions on a particularly difficult part of the climb.
Once you’ve got your images on your computer, you can touch them up in any number of ways using Photoshop (or any similar program) to get them just the way you want them. You can share them online using sites like Photobucket.com and flickr.com to host your files. With images online, you can look back on your favorite rides with nostalgic passion and enjoy your accomplishments all over again.
Questions? Comments? Love letters? Send 'em to Techeditor@mountainbiketales.com.
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