Last weekend was arguably one of my biggest jobs so far as a sports photographer. I was pretty speechless to be working with both British Cycling and The British Continental for the first time, to follow an U23 National Road Series race and produce sports photography for them both.

The opportunity came about after seeing a tweet by The British Continental looking for a photographer to cover a cycling race in Somerset. After sending them a message and then being accepted, it was quite funny to find out the race would be taking place on a course I was familiar with, which is used for the Kalas Cup a National B race, in Somerton. Safe to say after following the Kalas Cup for the past two years (including a blog post I’ve written recently), I knew some good spots to shoot from. However, on the day I was met with some very challenging harsh sunlight, which made it very tricky to photograph, especially as the race always pointed in the direction of the sun. It therefore meant I had to scrap quite a few shots, with the rider’s faces always being in shadow.

Overall the experience was very positive and I had a very enjoyable time shooting this race. It was the first very pressurised job I’ve had, whereby I really needed to hit shots, in particular the finish line. It was also a great experience to go through quick turnovers of photos. Literally as soon as the race had finished, I had to send over images of the finish, then later that day I needed to send over race images for a report. The following day then I needed to have sent over an album. Stressful, but highly valuable and one I think I managed really well.

Finally, the race was won by Ed Morgan of Wales Cycling Academy who was very commanding from the start, so kudos for an amazing performance.

Thank you for reading those blog and if you’d like to leave any feedback on the photos, or about any of my blogs, feel free to drop a comment down below. Cheers!

James