Which Edit Works Best?

[steelerdirtfreak]

In these shots, all from the same original file, which crop works the best?
I know about the active space rule for moving subjects, giving room for the subject to 'move' into, But I'm not sure that is the best for a sprint car moving slideways thru a turn.

The 2nd shot gives more of an impression of where the car has been and the speed with which it is moving (I think)

And the 3rd option sort of puts parts of both of the first two options together, but is having the car centered a bit too boring?

What are some of your opinions?

[specradio]

I like the first one.

[jorgemonkey]

First one, with possibly a little more space on the right side of the car

[desmo13]

First one, with possibly a little more space on the right side of the car

Same here.

Normally, I know it breaks the rules, but I like shots of action moving out of the picture (like number 2. But, I thinkt it only works if you something in the foreground it is moving too.

Btw, those are all really nice shots!

[tadrscin]

I vote for number 1, but cropped a little tighter on the left side. I'd crop just enough to get ride of the truck. That still leaves a bit of a distracting background, but not too much. I went down to a shutter speed of 1/125 on sprint cars, but now I think I should've gone even slower to get a really good blurred background.

[JSPhoto]

I'd take some off the front and add a small amount to the back. The part at the front gives a place to go, the dirt flying gives the movement

JS

[SmartWombat]

If that dirt was more clearly defined (and it might be in a larger image) then I'd use the third, with a bit taken off the right and a bit more to the left.

I agree the flying dirt shows the action, and I'd rather see some action in the image than some space for action to be imagined in.

[steelerdirtfreak]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Part of what frustrates me a lot of the time is that I try to make every crop a 6x4 crop, as that is what 99% of our sales are. It just seems hard, to me, anyways, to do a lot of creative stuff in a 6x4 crop.

[JSPhoto]

Paul,

Not sure how much you charge for 4x6 but I found it wasn't worth messing with them any more so I just sold 8x10's and larger. Time costs money and 4x6's just weren't worth the effort.
BTW - Wal Mart did my printing, and gave me a discount.

JS

[steelerdirtfreak]

I've tried to wean our customers away from the 4x6 mentality, but here in western PA they just seem to be determined to buy those nasty things. At least half of the racers even buy 4x6 to give to their sponsors. I can't convince them of how chintzy and redneck that is...

And this is also one instance when having so many tracks in a relatively small area is hurting - there are a couple of tracks where the photographer is selling 4x6 photos for 50 cents, and boy do we get reminded of that every week! And then there are 2 tracks around here that pretty much let anyone with a camera in, as long as they don't sell their photos. But giving them away is fine, so more than a few people wander in with their point and shoots, take photos and then print them and give them to the drivers! And those tracks think they are 'protecting' their photographer!

Western PA is just horrible for trying to make anything on racing photos.

But I will also add that there are some drivers who approach racing as professionals, they have no problem paying those of us who actually put professional effort into our work and charge for professional service. Those are the folks who keep us going and sort of make it worthwhile.

[steelerdirtfreak]

BTW - Wal Mart did my printing, and gave me a discount.

We get our 4x6 at Wal Mart and sometimes our 5x7 and 8x10 as well, especially for those people who place an order on Friday night and expect it on Saturday night.

For most of my special orders - large prints, statuettes, and most 8x10's - we use Mpix

For some reason, the same folks who won't even buy a 5x7 print for their sponsors, WILL buy a magnet for their fridge that is made from a 5x7 print. We've sold the heck out of those this year, and I actually raised that price 2 bucks from last year. We get all of those 5x7 at Wal Mart...