Ski Competition

JSPhotography

They put a huge pile of snow in the middle of downtown and held a competetion. Makes for a great party. I'm headed back down today to shoot the snowboarders and mayby get some night shots. I didn't crop in tight because I thought the busyness of the backgrounds matched the atmoshere of the venue. Sorry for the large number.
#1 Tail Grab

#2 Look at your landing

#3 Twistin

#4 Look Ma, I'm on TV

#5 Tongue's out and the girls are screaming - Good Day

#6 Monster Skis

#7 Grabbin crossed up tail

JSPhotography

Wow, tough crowd, you like these better?
#1

#2

#3

Mike J

JSPhotography wrote:

Wow, tough crowd, you like these better?

Yup - I do. The crops are a lot better. The first set were just too cluttered. It does look like a fun event.

JSPhotography

Thanks Mike, I knew I was not playing by the rules with the wide crop, thought it might generate some comments. I need critique.

So let's here it folks, I can take it. What wrong with them?

MNGirl

I like #3 (cropped) the best. It seems the sharpest and nice to see the face. I also love the bit of spraying snow that is seen.

The colors don't seem to pop and the first two seem a bit fuzzy. But my guess is that is maybe due to the tight crop.

It's always fun to see what people are shooting and how they are shooting. Thanks for the post!

Mike J

JSPhotography wrote:

Thanks Mike, I knew I was not playing by the rules with the wide crop, thought it might generate some comments. I need critique.

So let's here it folks, I can take it. What wrong with them?

#1-#5 Backgrounds are too distracting and you have deep depth of field. Almost everything is in focus. Look at #5 - the green tent and the text is sharp. Almost like the focus was on the banner.
#6 and #7 looks like you opened up the lens (smaller f-stop) which decreased the depth of field making your subject standout a little better.

Your tighter crops eliminate much of the distracting BG and force one to see the main subject.

Question for you - what settings were you using? The EXIF is not readable.

JSPhotography

"Question for you - what settings were you using? The EXIF is not readable"

The light was changing so much that I shot in Tv mode, setting the shutter at 1/800. ISO was set at 400. The aperture bounced around F6 - F8.

I worry about shooting at wide open F stops and having DOF/focus issues. I was using a 70-200 F2.8 on a 40D.

torags

They all look like snapshots taken with a P&S. The images have "event" value.

There is little to no subject separation.

You might like to choose backgrounds before you even start shooting.

If you're shooting for pleasure (& not a newspaper) keep walking until you find the spot that will satisfy. It took me thousands of deleted images and hours & hours of working with raw, to come to that conclusion. I'm not even counting the grief of great subject captures ruined by bad background

Just my .02

Mike J

JSPhotography wrote:

"Question for you - what settings were you using? The EXIF is not readable"

The light was changing so much that I shot in Tv mode, setting the shutter at 1/800. ISO was set at 400. The aperture bounced around F6 - F8.

I worry about shooting at wide open F stops and having DOF/focus issues. I was using a 70-200 F2.8 on a 40D.

For sports, you will hear most people say to shoot in Av mode or Manual mode. For me, if the lighting is consistent, I will shoot manual. If it is bouncing around quickly, then I will go to Av mode. In Av mode, just make sure that your ISO is set so that you get the minimum shutter speed that you can live with.
At 2.8, DOF will not be an issue. Here is a shot at f/2.8 done in manual mode. I'm satisfied with the DOF and sharpness of it.



Focus is a different story. This takes practice. I don't know the Canon system but you want to use dynamic focusing so that the camera helps track the subject after you do the initial focus. Practice, Practice, and then practice some more. I still have a long way to go so I'm no expert on this. I bet if you spend a few minutes looking at other sports posts noting which photos you like, you will find that a shallow DOF and a tight crop are common elements.

I just remembered that you said you didn't crop because you wanted to show the atmosphere. For me, you got stuck in the middle - not wide enough for atmosphere and too cluttered.

JSPhotography

Thanks for all the input.

"They all look like snapshots taken with a P&S. The images have "event" value" I see that, getting to the next level is why I am posting here. I can work on "seperation". The building in the background was on purpose. I checked out another spot that would have given me just snow but went with the building due to the venue. Guess it didn't work.

"For sports, you will hear most people say to shoot in Av mode or Manual mode" I started out in Av mode but my shutter speed was bouncing way too much. Next time I'll try manual as well as 2.8. I can take a reading at the start of each run.

Thanks again, don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. I'm putting it out therre so I can improve.

torags

Hey I don't want to hurt your feelings. If you wanted the building in the shot you're describing a venue shot; you succeeded.

But even with that, you have a photographer in 6 shots of the 7 posted (first series). I'm suggesting you be more sensitive to your backgrounds before you shoot. It's all in the procedure to develop an "eye".

I'm trying to be constructive.

JSPhotography

Torags - It's all good. I appreciate your input. We are on the same page, the background, even though it was by choice, didn't work well.

Camara Photography, LLC

Agree with the crowd. First set... the skiers should be isolated more, either with a shallow DOF, or a get low and get them in the sky (sky background). Second set... They're not sharp. It looks like a pretty bright day. These should be shot at least at ~1/2000th's. Also, I'm guessing you didn't have the opportunity for this, but if you go with a super wide (fisheye) and get low (AND close) it would make them look like they were going bigger than they were. Not trying to bust balls, but trying to help.
Peace,
Dave