McPump McJump

[DurtGurl]

A great little pump track and jump line have been built recently at McDowell Mtn Park near Fountain Hills, AZ. Yesterday I went out with my 5D3, 24-105 f/4L lens, 430EX II, and remote Vello triggers to capture my riding pals on a beautiful November day. 'Twas my first attempt at off-camera flash in the bright sun and it really did help to bring out facial and other features that would have been lost in shadows. Comments, good and bad, are very welcome! Thanks for looking :-)

[Bob32]

DurtGurl,

I like the user name! My favorites here are #4 and #8.

Slower shutter speeds than the 1/332 on most of these shots would be desirable to prevent freezing the spokes. An extreme case of frozen spokes is #5 where the SS was 1/664. #7 shot at 1/197 has the best spoke blur which imparts a sense of speed.

Most of these images would benefit from substantial cropping.

In editing these images lightening of shadows would help. Most of the riders are shrouded in shadows.

Regarding #2 faces are important in sports photography, but backs usually much less so. In this image the flash appears to have brightened the upper half of the rider but not the lower half!

Bob

[DurtGurl]

DurtGurl,

I like the user name! My favorites here are #4 and #8.

Slower shutter speeds than the 1/332 on most of these shots would be desirable to prevent freezing the spokes. An extreme case of frozen spokes is #5 where the SS was 1/664. #7 shot at 1/197 has the best spoke blur which imparts a sense of speed.

Most of these images would benefit from substantial cropping.

In editing these images lightening of shadows would help. Most of the riders are shrouded in shadows.

Regarding #2 faces are important in sports photography, but backs usually much less so. In this image the flash appears to have brightened the upper half of the rider but not the lower half!

Bob

Thanks Bob! This kind of critique really helps as I try to figure things out. I've been shooting DSLR for a year now (started with a T3i) and am having a ball. Shooting in the harsh sunlight is challenging, which is why I brought out the flash. I realized afterwards that I was shooting in aperture priority the whole time, instead of shutter priority. Doh. I also think I just left ISO at 200 instead of experimenting. So many knobs to turn! I will keep working at it...

[DurtGurl]

At Bob32's suggestion, I cropped and worked on shadows last night. Much improved! I can't thank you enough for the feedback and look forward to what you or others have to say about the revised photo set.

I'm hoping this is a more effective "back action" shot than what I included before because you can see the rider's face and it definitely has better lighting:


For this shot, I didn't crop as much because I liked the DOF and wanted to show the dirt puffs:


This shot has a bit more wheel blur than my previous shot of Carmen in the air:


Same with this one, and I like the background showing other riders but not the jump feature:

[Bob32]

DurtGurl,

You get a gold star for the most improvement in a single post!

#1: I still can't get excited about this shot showing the rider from the back, but I agree that the lighting is better than on the previous "back shot."

#2: Big improvement! This was the previous shot most needing to be cropped, and you have done a good job. However I suggest that you crop even more from the bottom to get rid of those distracting boulders. I'd also suggest additional lightening of the shadows so that the rider's features are more apparent.

#3: Great shot! Good action! This is the pick of the bunch! The rider looks like he is really engaged.

#4: I like this shot except for the facial expression. The rider doesn't look like he's involved at all. Faces are important in sports photography, especially if they are showing emotion or excitement, like Carmen in #3 above who looks like he is having a ball.


Now that you have demonstrated your prowess at image editing I'd like to see what you could do with photo #7 in the previous batch. It was my favorite and showed a guy in a red shirt on his bike. (Is DurtGurl up to the challenge? I'm betting that she is! Stay tuned, sports fans, for further developments from Phoenix!)

Bob

[DurtGurl]

DurtGurl,

You get a gold star for the most improvement in a single post!

#1: I still can't get excited about this shot showing the rider from the back, but I agree that the lighting is better than on the previous "back shot."

#2: Big improvement! This was the previous shot most needing to be cropped, and you have done a good job. However I suggest that you crop even more from the bottom to get rid of those distracting boulders. I'd also suggest additional lightening of the shadows so that the rider's features are more apparent.

#3: Great shot! Good action! This is the pick of the bunch! The rider looks like he is really engaged.

#4: I like this shot except for the facial expression. The rider doesn't look like he's involved at all. Faces are important in sports photography, especially if they are showing emotion or excitement, like Carmen in #3 above who looks like he is having a ball.


Now that you have demonstrated your prowess at image editing I'd like to see what you could do with photo #7 in the previous batch. It was my favorite and showed a guy in a red shirt on his bike. (Is DurtGurl up to the challenge? I'm betting that she is! Stay tuned, sports fans, for further developments from Phoenix!)

Bob

Thanks for this feedback - it helps so very much. I will give it my best shot on original #7, but this means I might have to actually employ Lightroom 4. It took upgrading my 2007 iMac's memory and hard drive but I finally have LR loaded and ready to go; to date, all that I've used for any editing is iPhoto. I know, I know... Get on with it, DG! But I've been skert to mess with a tried and true system. Baby steps, ya know? Over the last year I've been trying to do as much as I can with the camera, and the camera alone. I got my first DSLR just last fall, and as an enginner/scientist type I've thoroughly enjoyed developing this new skill. But I realize that the picture taking part is only half the art. Time to step it up!

P.S. Carmen in 2nd batch photos #1 and #3 is actually a 53-year old "she" !! In addition, the red-shirt "guy" in the first set of photos is an almost-40 "girl". Flying thru the air is quite fun... all the ladies should be doing it

[Bob32]

DurtGurl,

My first Mac was a 20" 2007 iMac. I splurged on a 27" iMac last January and sent my old 20"er to my son who is now carrying on the Mac tradition. After five years into digital photography I'm still using Photoshop Elements. I considered going to Lightroom but wasn't able to find an easy uncomplicated way to move my many thousands of digital images from iPhoto to Lightroom. I also considered Aperture, but it's inferior to Lightroom and at this late date still doesn't have the capability of correcting lens distortions problems. So I continue chugging away with Elements, but I've gotten pretty proficient using it by now. It's easier carrying on with the known than having to start all over again with a new editing program which might not give you any better results than what you are now obtaining!

I'm an engineer type as well. I got my engineering degree so long ago that at the time there were only two females in the entire university pursuing engineering degrees!

Sorry for the gender mixup with the flying females. With the helmets and shadows it wasn't obvious that this was a ladies outing.

Best wishes as you venture forth onto the Lightroom learning curve! I'm sure that you encountered tougher assignments on your way to a degree. After surviving organic chemistry courses everything seemed easier for me from then on!

Bob