MTB race

[cm_mtb]

Shot part of and XC race a couple weeks ago, after I finished my race. It's a fun course to shoot (and to ride ).

[Photo-John]

Those are nice photos. But did you purposely put a vignette in there? If so, I'd take it out. It just makes the photos look soft and muddy to me. They need a little more snap in them. I'd add some contrast and saturation and maybe a border. But the vignetting is not helping. Other than that they're really nice. Your timing and locations are great and make the race look interesting. I would think that might be a challenge if this was in Florida. I have ridden at Ocala, though. So I know mountain biking in Florida is not what most people would think

[cm_mtb]

Thanks for your comments, John. This trail is similar to trails in Ocala, in that part of it is built around several pits from an old quarry, creating some good elevation change and technical sections.

I did add a vignette to #2 and #4. The vignette was a lame fix for the blown-out sky, since I haven't been able to selectively edit parts of image in Photoshop very effectively. Definitely need to work on that!

I know this is isn't the critique forum, but I wanted to post an edit of the last one to see if you thought it was an improvement. I removed the vignette, increased the saturation of the green, and bumped up the contrast and brightness a tad.

[jorgemonkey]

I like the second retouch much better. In re: the blown out sky, some cases thats all you can get and I don't think it looks bad in the photo. I tend to only add a slight vignette on my photos that dont have light edges since it makes it look muddy. But thats just a personal preference to me. You've got some nice color & expression in the first one.

[cm_mtb]

Thanks, Scott. After removing the vignette, I realized that the sky didn't bother me nearly as much as it did when I first edited these. If anything, I think it helps the rider stand out even more.

[SmartWombat]

I know it's not critique, but its good to see the changes you made.
I felt that vignette was hurting it, making it look rather too dark and muddy, low-contrast.
But being stuck with the laptop in the hotel in Miami, I couldn't tell for sure until I got home.

[livin4lax09]

if you have photoshop, try using ACR for vignetting instead. Post crop vignetting sort of just tends to layer a gray outline over everything, while vignette in ACR darkens the edges in a more natural looking way.

[cm_mtb]

Thanks for the tip, livin.

[EventShooter]

Hey mtb shooter.

I'm based out of south FL and have covered a bunch of races down here, and up in Gainesville, Ocala area. Specifically the 12 hours of Santos at the Vortex up in that area. Sounds like your description.

Here's one from Hailes Trails


Here's a couple from Santos/Vortex





These are pretty much unprocessed. I shoot thouuuuuusands of images at these events...maybe a little punch in lightroom.

I've got all my stuff up on EventPictures.com. http://www.waynedayberry.eventpictures.com/mtb

[cm_mtb]

Yup, I was referring to Santos and Haile's.

Nice shots; thanks for sharing. I have seen some of your work before, through links on GoneRiding.com.