Skateboarding Foto for critique

[picturetaker1239]

hi. This is my second time posting one of my pictures on the critique forum. most people liked my first photo and I hope they would like my second. I am mostly taking pictures of skateboarding and action photography and I enjoy it alot. This picture was taken about 5 hours ago. I didnt think it was going to look very good because he never landed it in that picture. He's actually bailing but you cant really tell the differnce. I usually dont have bail photos that look like bail photos but this ones an acception. I like the lighting and I recently got an external flash. this is my third time playing with it so I know its kind of close to the action. I learned that the closer it is the harder it is to properly illuminate the subject. but anyways I hope you enjoy it as much as I did taking the picture.

[Chunk]

I'm no expert on action shots or flash lighting so I'll let others address any of those issues. Composition-wise there are a couple things you could change on this shot. There are strong leading lines on this photo - the ceiling lights, lines on the floor, the shuffle board arrow - the problem is that they don't lead you to the subject. You might be able to position the camera so they do rather than lead the eye away from the subject.
Another thing is that the eye is initially drawn to the point of most contrast in a picture. Artists use this to help delineate the subject of their artwork. Photographers have to contend with it to prevent the eye being drawn away from their subject as the brightly lit ramp does here.
I think you could have a much stronger shot if you have your subject and the great shadow on the ceiling fill more of the frame, perhaps by positioning yourself somewhere on that shuffleboard arrow.

The old fart in me enjoys seeing this kind of activity taking place in a space designed for shuffleboard. I'd title this "Boardroom".

[LoudPicture]

had this been an outdoor shot, it would have been perfect positioning, however, as it is indoor, i would move much closer to the skater. The flash positioning seems fine, but try moving next to where the flash is. and make it so that you can see him, the ledge and only that, the windows and ceiling draw away from what you want people to look at. Otherwise, your set up is great, and i also like the setup of that skatepark.