British Cycling Coverage Of The NPS 4X 2010

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[andyd0001]

As many of you probably know, I covered 4X and DH last year for British Cycling and will carry on doing so for 2010.

Last year, as with other years I would simply use the old formula of trying to capture as many riders as I can to go in the BC gallery, ending up with around 3-400 images which are displayed at a small resolution in a not very navigable or user friendly web gallery. 

I'm not exactly comfortable with that kind of shooting as it stifles creativity, doesn't allow you to roam around the course as much as you wish and as a result, in my opinion, the images suffer. But who am I to argue with my client.

These are some ideas I'll be trying out this year, as I have more freedom:

Scrap the gallery as it was - The images will end up on a Flickr feed this year anyway
Less images will give me the ability to move around more
More atmospheric/pits images and images from practice/course walking, spectators etc
Perhaps a VitalMTB style audio/visual presentation of the event
More behind the scenes stuff

And also, what do you think of video interviews after the riders have finished their race run? Is there too much video already, or is there room for more. Would audio suffice?

This year, by the time you arrive home, there should be, at the very least, top 5 in each class, quotes from various riders and a handful of images up on the site. 

BC are very keen to get stuck into 4X and DH but admit to finding it traditionally very difficult to cover successfully due to a few factors where the sport differs from traditional, 2 hour blasts around a city centre with all facilities on hand and everyones home for tea and medals pretty quickly.

So, let me know.......don't let it turn into a BC bashing, email them if you want to do that. Concentrate on what you want to see from a photographic/report point of view.

To recap, there's 2 questions for your really:

Do you visit the BC website after an event?
and
British Cycling website design aside (as that may well be changing very soon for the better), how do you want to see NPS 4X covered by me this year?

Cheers

Andy

[JamesOliver]

Video would be ace as to be honest, there is virtually no one doing good/proper videos of the whole event/every event.

I think everything else you mentioned sounds good, especially the more creative photos. I could live without the audio if there was going to be someone doing good videos but having both would be even better.

I think having behind the scenes photos and info like you said will really help to promote the sport aswell and get new people into it.

[andyd0001]

Video will be well catered for this year as Chris has done a deal for every round to be filmed. Something that 4X has needed for a couple of years.

Thanks for your other comments too.

[chump]

Yo Andy

From the 4x side of things, myself and many other racers viewed the BC galleries after the events.  Links to the galleries were usually posted in the NPS4x board on here after the race.

I really liked the NPS4x slideshow you put together at the end of the season, some really inspiring photos in there.  They're the sort of images I would like to see from a race weekend, I'd definitely favour quality over quantity.

[dorny]

The vital style stuff and quick post race interviews are great ideas. The pits/campsite/trackside/trackwalk type photos also show more to the unknowing public, shows a greater depth to the race weekend I imagine. All good stuff, I'm always glad to find any coverage from the weekends racing

[Pat @ Ison]

Hi Andy,

You got some pretty sweet shots last year from the series.

I think by doing what you want to do with the lens would be more beneficial in capturing the racing. 4x does not stand out enough in photos which is aggravating when there is often a great deal of atmosphere!

I think rider quotes/interviews is also a good idea, but I always take a lot more from a decent photo than a quote though. Picture says a thousand words and all that....

I'm glad you're on board again this year!

Pat

[domb]

Hi andy

 im likeing all the ideas bout getting less higher quality pictures because you simply dont need 3-400 pics, as long as most of the catagorys get a few gd pics aswell as the pro guys so that everyone is happy. I think that 4x in the Uk can only get bigger, getting more indepth better media coverage is what the sport needs to get it better recognition. There is huge media potential in 4x style events for example everone knows how popular the skier/border cross was in the olympics shurely 4x is at least got this much potential if not more, all it needs is to get some live coverage on a more main stream channel. The online sites like freecaster are hugely popular but they are hard to find if your not in the 'loop' imagine if they were easy to find, the sport would get big fast! Overall loving the idea's you have here well done mate

Dom

[andyd0001]

Cheers Dom. I know what you mean about the Boarder x in the olympics. When I've told people before about 4X events they've just not got it (probably as there isn't a football involved), but these people loved the boarder cross and were glued to the TV everytime it was on.  I think wider publicity is the key. People like Chris and Scott and the 4X alliance are moving it in the right direction. It can only get better from this year onwards.

Also, yes, I'm mindful that it's easy to cover just the top riders but most of the action happens further down the field and usually off the track!

As for coverage for BC, I've got some pretty decent things up my sleeve for 4X this year. And they don't include time lapse footage of sunsets/people milling around/cats/dogs/snails etc...............

Lets hope i deliver.

No pressure eh.....

See you at UKBP or elsewhere.

[Mini Idiot]

awsome stuff, this is going to be my 1st nps ever so for people like me these ideas are awsome as it will help me no end to get tips from pro riders through watching interviews and comments made at each event.

hope this happens!

big thumbs up 

[domb]

sweet thanks for the reply and yer probly because we dont dive enough lol and yer the sport is in safe hands i think at the moment good luck with your coverage this year im shure you'll do it proud
 cya at U.K.B.P. my race kit is pretty nuts so i dont think you will miss me lol cya dude