I went back to the skate park again last night to practice some more. I was happy to see some good action on the half-pipe finally so that was fun. Plus I tried some shots with a slow shutter speed and 2nd curtain sync. These didn't turn out as well as I would've liked though. C & C welcomed.


http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate18.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate19.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate20.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate21.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate22.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate23.jpg

there ya go! you're starting to get the hang of slow syncs with that last shot. try mounting it on a tripod though, and that way you will only get the motion blur of the biker, and not the background blurred.

Actually only the last one is with a slow shutter. That was just the best of what I got. This was the first time I had guys really going for it on the half-pipe and I didn't want to experiment with them. As for a tripod, I don't think that's a good idea there as I need to be able to move in a hurry some times to stay out of the way. I'm not even sure they'd allow one. Perhaps a monopod when I get one. Here's another one.

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate26.jpg

I've been working hard at improving my focus and keeping the focus point on my subject which isn't always very easy. Here's a couple that I cropped at 100% and I'm curious what you think of the sharpness straight out of the camera. The only PP I did was to make a few tweaks in Camera RAW and crop. These were shot at 1/200 f5.0 ISO 400. The flash was the primary light source so I assume that I'm not getting any motion blur from the shutter speed.

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate25.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tadrscin/skate24.jpg

Your timing and exposures are right on. The problem, for me, with this environment, are the backgrounds. You have to work really hard to make images where a scuffed-up drywall or ceiling rafters aren't a distraction. Two things that you can try are slow shutter speeds and panning, or larger apertures. Both of them will blur and effectively minimize the ugly backgrounds. I prefer slow shutter speeds and panning because that also adds a feel of motion.

Thanks. I definitely want to try some panning and slow shutter speeds, but without the flash next time. As I said before I think a tripod is out of the question there so everything will have to be handheld. Any tips you can give would be appreciated. I agree with you on the backgrounds, but I'm limited with respect to lenses so that's what I have to deal with for now. I may try using my 50 for the half-pipe and shoot wide open, but the DOF may be too much with that lens too. Perhaps the 28-135 at 35mm and f3.5 would be better. That's the max focal length I can use and still get f3.5. I used the 50 my first time there and it's good for the half-pipe and a few other places, but for the rest I can't get very close and then the skater doesn't fill up the frame very much making it very hard to keep the focus point on them. The poor lighting just makes it that much harder for me.