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Photo feedback and Critique

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One of the riders wanted profile photos which clearly show off his sponsors.


3 second exposure grungy look, I wanted to get people going off the box behind him in a blur but obviously that didn’t work… :( just looks like ghost smudges


Wanted to get something non standard so opted for the over exposure and him looking out of the frame like he’s not really paying attention smile

 
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You’re getting paid for this, right? (just checking)

I like the colours of the first one. Actually the look of the 2nd one is cool too. good work.
I think you need to work on your posing though.
When you have a subject looking out of frame it’s best (most of the time) to leave space for him to look. The first shot works, the 2nd one feels awkward since he’s on the right side and he’s looking right.
In the 2nd one, because his shoulders are pointing in the same direction as where he’s looking, it doesn’t look like he doesn’t give a damn, it looks like he doesn’t know you’re taking the picture. If his body language is saying I’m posing for the pic so I’m facing the camera more but I’m looking away so I don’t give a damn, it’s easier for the viewer to understand.
Back to the first one, having a little box in the background does not give me a ‘pro’ image.  A massive kicker, yes, a box that a beginner can ride, no. Also, having someone else riding the box in a sponsored dudes’ profile pic is weird. It takes away from the subject. If you want to get creative, since you seem to be that sort of guy, why not take a double exposure? One of him standing there looking at the box, and one of him riding the box. You’d need a better angle to show the box clearer though (possibly). I think the overall feel of the pic is dark and grungy like u said, so people might not pick up on the fact that it’s the same guy.
I don’t know about keeping a facemask on for a profile pic…but that’s the riders’ problem.
There’s a pole after the box in the first one - move it.

 
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Awesome, like the feedback.  Should take more photos next time.  Only took two photos and those are it, more poses to choose from would have been good.  Will try this again when the big park opens.  The pole in the first one is a snow gun unfortunately.

 

Maxcimus took this photo and reckons it is not very good, I tend to disagree… He wouldn’t post it so I’m doing it for him haha.. thoughts?

It’s taken on ben lomond, tasmania btw..

 
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this is a great photo for personal use ie facebook, as your bw avatar etc.
the hang loose sign, the tongue stuck out, the rolled up sleeves and sunglasses all indicate you’re having a sick time with your brahs.
would this be run in a mag? no. but if every photo you took was for a mag, then trust me, you would not be having fun snowboarding.

 

yeah obviously the photo was just shot for fun etc.. but as a critique, what would you do to make it better? change the angle/lighting?

 
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the lighting is great. look at that sky! awesome.

things you can easily do: take a step or two back and to your left so that the landing is included. no landing means he seems to be jumping out of the pic, which is awkward. It also gives a sense of scale which is very important. Oh yeah, and doing so will mean the rider is not centered anymore which is more interesting. Look up 1)rule of thirds and 2) the golden mean

things that are harder:
-you could put a flash on the right, near where he is going to land. Right now, there is one light source (the sun) coming from back left, so if you sandwhiched the action with a flash right front it would be pro lighting.

- get the rider to grab for legit style points

 
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Haha very amusing Jono!

Thanks for the compliments and feedback Gamblor.  I’m keen on getting a flash and the gear to set it up remotely to play with but i just purchased a new lens so it’ll have to be my next piece of gear to get!

Also there is a photo that got posted on the front page or in the SoHe thread that I took on my mates camera on ben lomond.  Any feedback on that one? I overexposed it a little using the exposure bracketing function to try and make the snow look a bit whiter.

 

Haha yes well as you can see it is a mammoth bush we were jumping off, I didn’t quite have time to get the grab haha!

 
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maxwell_cimus - 19 July 2010 02:08 AM

Haha very amusing Jono!

Thanks for the compliments and feedback Gamblor.  I’m keen on getting a flash and the gear to set it up remotely to play with but i just purchased a new lens so it’ll have to be my next piece of gear to get!

Also there is a photo that got posted on the front page or in the SoHe thread that I took on my mates camera on ben lomond.  Any feedback on that one? I overexposed it a little using the exposure bracketing function to try and make the snow look a bit whiter.

since I’m too lazy to look for it, how about some linky links?

 
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This one, right?

- strange crop which means you didn’t take a good picture. if you crop in post keep the aspect ratio the same.
- for your question about exposing for the snow, do this:

turn your camera to manual. take a shot at 1/1000 speed, F5.6 iso 100. look at the lcd. Histogram would be best, but learning to read that is later maybe. if you see any blinkies (aka overexposed bits of snow - not including the sun) then bump the aperture to F8, shoot again. repeat until there are no blinkies/ or the odd tiny speck is ok.
on the other hand, if there are no blinkies on your test shot, bump your aperture to F4. still no blinkies (if it’s overcast), bump the iso to 200. repeat until you have blinkies and then use the setting before, so you are at the max brightness before blinkies.
Then tell your rider to go.

-get the spray on the left edge of the photo so you give the rider some lead space to head into
-choose a spot without a track in it for maximum oomph! this might mean that you give up the pow turns and go down the side instead

 
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I didn’t do post processing on this one so not sure what it looked like before hand apart from what i saw in camera.

Haven’t used the histogram feature as of yet, sounds handy though i’ll get onto it cheers! I have mainly been shooting on AV and adjusting the exposure compensation by eye.

I had the first run down this one thats why there is a track wink

 
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shooting on manual is the way to go. plus, it makes you feel good when you look down on other people still using ‘sports’ mode lol

 

i have a canon 40d and it comes with software for adjusting your photos…dpp….never shot in raw as i only have 1gb card..so went up the hill and took some raw photos and then adjusted the white balance by moving the eyedropper? to a section of snow in the shadow and the result was ...??? too warm???

here is the same photo orig and adjusted….i like the blue/white tone vs the softer yellow tone….

i nearly always shoot the snow on auto as i do not have the time to sit still and adjust the camera settings..most of the time the shot is good ..also i have no idea how my computer monitor settings may be making the photos look brighter or not?

jib contest on this weekend so am hoping to get some good photos…..thanks for any feedback

auto settings

white bal adj

possibly the best wb is betwen the two?