Rail Jam

[mattb]

I went to a Red Bull sponsored event tonight at the local university called the Red Bull Rail Jam.
Competitors were judged on tricks they could do on and around the rails that had been set up on campus for the event. Abilities varied from not-so-good to pretty impressive. Fun that they built this on campus and had it there.


All shot with a Pentax K-5 & Tamron 28-75 2.8 and Sigma ef-510 Super flash

IMGP9885 by MattB.net, on Flickr



IMGP0099 by MattB.net, on Flickr



IMGP9929 by MattB.net, on Flickr



IMGP0052 by MattB.net, on Flickr



IMGP0089 by MattB.net, on Flickr

[Photo-John]

None of these do much for me, Matt. But I don't know what I'd do to make them better, either. I've never shot any rail action so I can't claim any experience. The only thing I can think of is maybe shoot tighter and darker with slower shutter speeds to add some motion blur in the background. That might give a better sense of the action and add a little excitement. Regardless, good for you getting out there and shooting these. If you don't shoot new stuff, you don't learn anything.

How do you feel about these photos? Were you just shooting for fun?

[mattb]

I appreciate the feedback. I have a contract to shoot events around town for the city. I was trying to not be too tight so as to provide context, otherwise they could have been anywhere. I felt like they came out ok but not great. I shot some at slower shutter speeds but liked those less than the sharper ones.
We also just had a similar event in daylight yesterday that I also covered but this time the competitors were kids. I think I liked those better for the light and the kids themselves. Here's a couple from that:


IMGP0413 by MattB.net, on Flickr


IMGP0427 by MattB.net, on Flickr

Sliding on rails isn't really something I have passion for but it's all the rage right now and those are the events I need to shoot.

[Photo-John]

Did you notice that one of the pee-wee photos was chosen as a Featured Photo? I like the little kid rail photos better. I think just the fact that they're stubby little people makes them more fun. The one I picked looked a hair soft, like you focused on the rail and not the transition. But I liked the timing and body position of the kid. Good stuff!