I took these photos last September, but kinda sorta forgot to post them. So I am proud to present the most tardy Cross Vegas Cyclocross race photos ever.

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This annual Las Vegas cyclocross race is unusual in that the pro races take place after dark. This makes photographing the event an interesting challenge. I traveled out to the Interbike trade show with a very minimal gear kit, but I wanted to make sure to get some shots at the cross race that were unique. Of course I wanted to use off camera lighting to capture some dramatic images that differ from the throngs of on camera flash shots being captured by the hundreds of other photographers.

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The above image has a similar lighting style to the photos from the US Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado this summer. But instead of a high powered Alien Bee and HSS Hack, I was able to use Nikon SB900s and regular sync speeds since there wasn’t much power needed at all.


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I also used a lower shutter speed to add a little motion blur to impart the sense of speed. In fact, as the evening progressed, I played with using a longer and longer shutter to add some motion blur to the images. I love the color and the motion the blur, as well as the water spray frozen in mid air.

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I didn’t feel like taking part in the scrum of all the photographers looking for that quintessential finish line shot, so I camped out around the corner. Lars van der Haar takes the win.


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Third loser Rob Peeters shows the agony of defeat … but I’m sure he’s not losing any sleep about this loss after his silver medal at the World Championships yesterday.


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