Fearless (Or crazy, one of the two)

[jorgemonkey]

This is from the big Sea Otter Classic bike races in Monterey, CA last saturday. It was my first weekend spending a lot of time trying new camera settings & spending 10+ hours shooting. This was by far one of my favs from the events of the day. C&C welcome! I need them so I can get better!

In the middle of a no-handed backflip...
Show with Nikon D1h & Sigma 70-200 F2.8
1/2500 @ F4

[Vin05]

Wow, no hander back flip. Good timing on that one. I like how you got the other photog and spectators too. Well done IMO.

[cyberlord]

Square crop right above the other photog's head.

[OBie]

I don't care for the photog in the shot - would like it much more with just the crowd, or the square crop suggested above. Maybe it's because the photog seems to be taking a photo of the crowd instead of the biker? Which actually makes it kind of ironic . . .

[gahspidy]

A good moment caught , but I would have liked to see this same shot without the photog in the corner. A crop from the left (almost to the bikers hand and cutting out the photogs head) and slightly from the bottom seems to help the image, if you give it a try.

[Sebastian]

Wether to leave or include the photog and crowd is dependent on your intent for this image. But the two things that I can say about it are that A) it is soft to the point of being detrimental (was this a very tight crop?). And B) (should really be A) the rider's face is obscured.

A long-time NFL shooter once told me that there are three elements that are necessary to make a great sports image, 1) Faces, 2) the ball, 3) conflict. Clearly that is geared for a sports such as football where those three things are on the field pretty much throughout the entire game, but the most important part generally is the face. The "ball" here would be the bike, and the conflict could be either an obstacle, or some crazy stunk like this. Obviously there are no balls in biking (work with me) but the idea of what the ball stands for is pretty universal. The "conflict" and "ball" can be omitted if the shot works without them, but it's really, really tough to connect to the viewer if the face is not visible. The reason the face is so important is because it makes the viewer feel included in the action, and it creates the necessary connection with the subject when we look at the eyes. Even if they're tiny, you can still read emotion and make a connection that's simply impossible without the face.

If you want the most impact, positioning yourself and trying to get the timing right to get a face in there will make the image much more powerful, IF, the subject is the rider. You could totally get away with this if for example you shot a little tighter and made it more about the crowd reacting to the rider than the rider himself. Like I said, it's all about intent.

That being said, I don't think this is a bad shot, just sharing some thoughts on how it might be made stronger. Keep it up.

[Overbeyond]

Not bad at all but the photographer must go because he is focussing on the person in the top row, white baseball cap and fifth in from left to be exact. Had he been on his knees/belly trying to get the rider fullt airborne, he may have then aided the composition.
Tom

[jorgemonkey]

Thanks for all the comments! I'm at work now, so I can't post any cropped/edited versions. I believe this shot is uncropped. I will definately post a version with the photog cropped out later on tonite. I think for this shot my batteries were dying, and I had just put a fresh one in and turned the camera on when he pulled this, so it was kinda one of those "spray & pray" shots.

I agree with Sebastian about having the riders face in the image, and that to me is the biggest part of the composition that bugs me. The other thing is that when I use my D1 series camera, I don't have a way (yet) to remotly fire my flash, which on some of the jump shots I REALLY could have used.

For the soft focus, I'm going to go back to the original and see how sharp it is. I think some of it might have just been the jpeg compression when I saved it to post up here.

The other Photog- I agree that if he had been shooting the rider it would have looked much better. I'm gonna keep all these comments in my mind next time I go shoot, and try to improve more

[OBie]

[QUOTE=Sebastian]A long-time NFL shooter once told me that there are three elements that are necessary to make a great sports image, 1) Faces, 2) the ball, 3) conflict.
QUOTE]

Seb, that might be the most helpful thing I've ever read about sports photography. I'm going to write it down - my memory is that of a gnat these days - and carry it in my bag just to remind myself. Thanks.

[jorgemonkey]

Ok, here is the sqaure cropped version. I do think it looks better. I also checked out the original, and it is a little soft.

[jar_e]

Ok, here is the sqaure cropped version. I do think it looks better. I also checked out the original, and it is a little soft.

Looks great and much better IMO. A wonderful crop.

Well done,

Jared

[Sebastian]

[QUOTE=OBie]

A long-time NFL shooter once told me that there are three elements that are necessary to make a great sports image, 1) Faces, 2) the ball, 3) conflict.
QUOTE]

Seb, that might be the most helpful thing I've ever read about sports photography. I'm going to write it down - my memory is that of a gnat these days - and carry it in my bag just to remind myself. Thanks.

Obie,

That was said to me at a time when I was having a really hard time with sports photos. At first it seemed kind of too simple and I had my doubts. But after trying it at a few games it became apparent that I was walking away with stuff that was much more effective.

I think the best thing anyone of us can do is simply talk to other photographers and sharing wisdom.

[jar_e]

Jorge,

Great capture. Love the colors, and it's a great addition to add the crowd into the shot. The photographer I don't mind, though a square crop around just the biker wouldn't hurt either IMO. By the way, isn't it a no hander and no footer? I just noticed it looks like the feet were off too.

Nice capture,

Jared

[Sebastian]

Jorgemonkey,

I like the crop, though I think it can still go tighter around the wheels. Too bad it's soft, but the timing is great.

[amithi]

I'm just amazed at the people who attempt these things...especially knowing that they are probably in for some serious pain until they get it right (broken bone, broken neck, etc...) Cool and crazy IMO. I like the crop with just the biker, although the crowd adds that "hey watch this" feel to the photo. I'm with Tom on the photographer, he should go. But overall I really like this shot.