Have you ever wondered how many cameras and lens get dropped and smashed during your average day shooting a bike race from the back of a speeding motorcycle? It's notoriously difficult to take pictures of cycling, anyone who's tried to photograph the Tour of Britain or the Tour de France will know the top of your equipment list will read:
But there are somethings you can do to give yourself a fighting chance. Planning is everything, recce all possible locations well in advance, till you can see them in your sleep. Every angle of every location, every time of day, because every hour of every day is different, difference light, difference weather, different setup, different possibilities, try them all until you find what works for you.
Of course, it helps if you have some idea of what you want to come back with, but in many ways it's better to try the wrong way than no way at all. Conceptualise, visualise the picture in your head or imagination, then go and find the places in the real world. But don't expect to find all of what you're looking for, or even any of what you’re looking for at first, be prepared to re-imagine and re-define the picture in your head many times before coming up with something workable
OK so you know what you want to shoot, what are you going to shoot it with? Most start with their iPhone. First, find something to hang it around your neck with, because you're going to drop it, that’s a given. Make sure it's not too long because bashing your handlebars doesn't help either. Next, practice riding along in a straight line while facing the opposite direction avoiding the potholes and the oncoming traffic with no hands, yep that'll work. Or a GoPro - bolted to the bars, so no problems with the no hands side of things, nothing quite like sitting through 5 hours of video footage of a sportive ridden in the rain on a Sunday evening, looking of a half decent shot only to find the battery went flat just as you go to the “good” bit.
