who here checks out or buys photos from rootsandrain if they take part in an event?

I have done, thought not for a bit, as I haven’t raced for a while.

Yeah, sometimes. Or maybe if there’s a good pic of my kids.

No one else ever takes pics of me on my bike so yeah.

If they are any good ones our daughter buys hers, plenty to go at, 1041 of her at the moment. 28 of me which I haven bought any.

I’ve bought two of my son’s.

I usually have a look like I’ve a wasp in my helmet when they take the pic…

Me and my OH have some good shots from races we’ve done from R&R.

me!

id like to buy them all tbh but dont as you have to get them from each photographer which works out expensive.

Maybe 1 in 200-300 if it’s particularity dynamic pic of me (unlikely) or kids (more likely). Some of them are printed and on my wall.

I always tend to buy 1 or 2 from each event.
Some of them are amazing shots, so they earned it.

We’re always too busy riding to take shots normally, so it’s nice to have a record.

done two events and bought probably 5 pics from each. I like it and can add them to instagram/stava etc Often look great and i appreciate the photographers work. Its hard to get good riding photos of you so take the opportunity while its there!

Yep. +1 for what AlexSimon said.

Yup, I’ve bought about 10 or so over the years. Mostly from trail centre photographers outside of events though. If they are good, it’s nice to have and keep for memories (and show off how (un)gnar I am).

I was looking forward to buying pictures from my first race the other month, all the pics of me were rubbish…

Me – as above, it takes a pro to make middle aged slow blokes look like not so slow middle aged blokes! 🙂

Me, occasionally. But I develop and own the site, so I guess I’m biased…

TBH photographers are always happy to let me have my shots for free, but I still buy them sometimes to make the point that I think it’s a Really Fvcking Good Shot and they deserve to shut up and take my money 😀

I know this thread is young, but nice to see so many positive responses.

The site has come under fire a bit for large numbers of poor-quality photos from some of the younger/lesser photographers that upload.

Rest assured, I am on the case. In the last couple of days I’ve been learning about and implementing machine learning computer vision algorithms to help me notify the photographers when the site thinks their papping is a bit… pap.

See more here:

Yes. Yes, this is good. Code-driven photo-quality analysis coming to your favourite sensational global mountain bike…

Posted by Roots and Rain on Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Cheers all,

Seb
http://www.rootsandrain.com

I do… i’ll get a collection or two from most events I do (mostly enduro.. XC events rarely have the most ‘fun’ shots, but i have bought a few XC photos)..
It’s only 3 pintsworth, and much better for you!

DrP

Well I misread that and wondered why on earth anyone would want to buy photos of root intrusion in sewers.

Glad to see people generally think positively about it all and like getting their photos taken. I am a rider and photographer and have just started uploading photos so was curious to see what the response would be.

Me occasionally!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bizvcs3BXKA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Yeah, I’ve bought a few photos – the ones from the MacAvalanche are fantastic *even* with my lardy arse hogging up a sizeable chunk of them.

Yep regular buyer here…

more photos = better.

a crap one might be good in my eyes.

either way its great and were all hitting refresh after an event to see how rubbish we look

I largely agree Andy, a photo might be technically terrible, but if it catches “that moment” where you had your race-ruining crash, or sent the drop for the only time all weekend… then it can have some value.

But more and more photographers are signing up, taking huge burst shots (I have a plan for this as well…) of poorly-exposed out-of-focus photos, and it’s starting to take its toll. Not on the servers (30TB and counting*), but on the purchaser. No-one REALLY wants to have to go through 85 photos after an event, especially if there’s only really 16 “separate” shots, and the others are all just rubbish bursts.

So I’m tackling it two-fold. Persuading photographers to prune their upload rather than “card dumping”, and combining burst photos into animated thumbnails <click to expand burst> etc etc.

Hopefully one or the other of these enhancements will see the light of day by the end of the month!

* at some point I need to admit to myself that keeping 4 million photos going back a decade is RIDICULOUS when 95%+ of sales are for photos less than a month old… but I’m a hoarder.

I’ve bought a few. Used to be, less photos was better because it was so damn nearly impossible to find yourself in people’s event photos but RnR makes it simple as long as they’ve tagged right. At least one of the pics I’ve bought was actually pretty amateurish but it caught the moment which is just as important.

Yeah I’ve bought some in the past but not all of them. Tend to look through and pick the best. A few were rubbish from Ard Rock but some are up on my wall and are fab. It’s rare to get a photo of me riding as I’m too busy riding and so are the people with me so it makes a nice change.

I’ve bought some but don’t do relevant events much.

While @downhiller is here can I suggest that the way results are shown is changed. It seems a shame that the women (who tend to be only say 10 to 20 riders are put right at the bottom and you have to scroll past everyone to get to the results. The other way round would barely register for the men.
Or at least put Elite women at the top above or below Elite men as befits their status?

Sometimes. I tend to go for the cheaper ones and / or those that do bulk discounts, unless it’s a one off really good one.

Not that pictures of my riding is anything to look at but as said, no one else takes them.

Though the best photo I’ve got is also the same shot of another thousand people at Ard Rock, same photographer and location 😄.

Very rare shots show I actually have weels off the ground so they’re worth something to me. Though they always come out with me looking down, not ahead.

And yeah, wading through burst shots to find one that’s good is a pain. Take one shot per rider or burst and pick one. Though it’s more effort when shooting a big event.

Another one who has purchased a few photos. Some have been rootsandrain. I think my fave photo of me was by them. I have the look of a young geex in action LOlZ

While @downhiller is here can I suggest that the way results are shown is changed. It seems a shame that the women (who tend to be only say 10 to 20 riders are put right at the bottom and you have to scroll past everyone to get to the results. The other way round would barely register for the men.
Or at least put Elite women at the top above or below Elite men as befits their status?

It kinda seems obvious to me that more men race, so more men are looking at results, and more people are interested in the men’s results, so put them at the top.

To put the women’s at the top feels like positive discrimination to me.

And to mix them in is—I think—a mistake as it means it becomes faffy to compare (say) senior women to elite women.

I think the best option would be to have a setting so users can choose which comes first, M or F. Dead simple to implement as well, I’m surprised I’ve not thought of it before.

Yay/nay?

Nothing wrong with a bit of positive discrimination to the minority. If you are looking for yourself you go in by name but for me anyway if I’m looking for National or WC results for example I’m generally looking for Elite men and women but finding the women is a multi button press. Press ctrl/end then scroll up for a bit in national events. They just seem to get lost in the mass of results.

Hot off the press:

https://www.rootsandrain.com/settings

They’ll still be separate I’m afraid, not mixed in, but you can choose to put them at the top if you prefer 🙂

Downhiller – your hoarding of old photos is actually quite useful. All the family race, and I finally got round to a catch up for a photo book at Christmas. RnR made it really easy to scroll back 3 or 4 years so we now have a permanent record of the kid’s progress.

The lap time data also lets us track them getting ever faster whilst we are in slow decline….. 🙂

Keep up the good work – in just a few years it has become quite a powerful database.

@downhiller I totally agree its a pain to see a lot of burst photos that havent been checked properly before being uploaded to the site which dont feature the rider or are WAAAY out of focus.

I upload my card into my computer and skim through the photos first before uploading to the site but keep multiple photos of the same bursts because its always subjective as to what of the 3 or 4 photos i took of the rider are going to be there favorite. Like i say im just new to this game so I will make an extra effort to make sure I only upload what i would buy.

No reason not to buy them if you like the photos, and I think photos are nice to have, so that you can grow old and grey and look back. Your kids can look back. Your grandchildren… Photos are great.

If price is an issue, just try to remember that these photographers spend thousands on kit and you might have half a dozen at any one event. Then all the images have to be processed and tagged. All the work that goes into the site. Etc. It’s a few quid at the end of the day. You could get a couple of pints instead but you’ll probably just regret them in the morning.

@downhiller if you’re taking suggestions it would be great to be able to select a limit amount of riders in a race to compare their times directly.

i.e. click on all my mates in a race and just be able to see their times rather than having to scroll up and down to compare

Love Roots and Rain btw, seriously damages my work productivity on the Monday morning after a race

Yeah I often buy if they are good photos. One time events like Ard Rock were great as I won’t ride that a lot so nice to keep a snap.
It’s always race photos for me. Like a lot of people I don’t make time for taking photos generally as I’m always just out riding

I’ve bought some.

I’ve also taken some at a fairly niche event and uploaded them as a way of sharing them. Some even bought them!

n.b. Much love for R&R from me. Love the combination of results conglomeration and race photos. However watching the margin between the fasted rider and myself increasing as times go in is a bit depressing 😭

I often buy pics of either me or the Mrs racing as it’s nice to have a record, especially if I don’t look too red faced or technically inept in them.

I’d say Roots and Rain is a real sucess and one of the few established sites in cycling that works.
Everyone I know that rides events has been on the site to check photos, results & nemisis’.
Congrats @Downhiller !

Please keep the legacy stuff too. Would be a shame to lose all that history.