Some MTB Racing!

[mtbbrian]

If you thought that I had given up on photographing MTB stuff, here are is what I think was the best photograph I got at the recent NORBA Nationals at Deer Valley, Utah.
I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.
Thanks!
Brian
More to come!

[Herriot]

Wow! This is really striking, the sense of gradient is really strong, I feel as though I am going to fall backwards when I look at this image, really sharp, appears to be moving really fast, one question, were you using a flash?

Thanks
Herriot

[LeeIs]

This shot is hurting my neck Brian

I like it, although I would love to see the straight one too

[mtbbrian]

To answer your question Herriot.
Yes I was using my strobe.
This parat of the course was called a few names, the two most common were "Waterfall" or "Little Niagra", so I kind of wanted to emphasize that aspect.
Thanks for commenting.
Brian

[OldSchool]

Hi Brian,

That is a good capture there. Nice going.

I have a couple of suggestions though....

I recommend removing the tilt. I think your image is strong enough that you don't need to worry about STIL (Steeper Than It Looks -- for you non-biking photographers).

I'd try a tighter crop -- removing some of the area behind and above the rider. This might give the feeling of the rider blasting out of the photo.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it...
Cheers,
Tim

[Photo-John]

Hmmmmm.

Rider is too centered and I don't like the angle. I think I saw some other photos of that section and it looked really nasty. I think a longer shot might have showed the terrain better. I wasn't there so I don't know what kind of placement opportunities there were. So please accept my humble, and possibly uninformed suggestions.

Do you have an off-camera flash cord? If not, you might think about getting one. They aren't that expensive and they allow you to get a bit of angle on your flash and some shadows on your subject. Even though the exposure looks perfect here, it might be too perfect. The rider kind of blends in to the scene. I usually try to underexpose the background a bit to make trhe rider pop more. And having a bit of angle on the flash help adds some more drama.

To give you some positive criticism, this is an angle I haven't seen. So I'm guessing you shot from above where most of the other photographers were. That's good. I try to do the same thing. Why shoot the same thing everyone else is shooting? Take a chance and try to get something different and creative. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. If you're happy with this, then it worked. Good job. Hope my comments help.