MTB: Leckhampton - Help!!!

[GeForce Junky]

Hi

I'm looking for some constructive critisism and tips please. This was my second attempt at biking photography with my Canon G9. Some were on camera flash with a Jessops 300AFD flashgun, some were off-camera with PT04s. Some came out ok, but i really struggled with lighting up the background, and focusing on the rider. I was always using full manual mode, but what focusing mode should I use? How can I make them sharper? They were mostly taken at 1/250, iso 80/100. I was going to up the iso and reduce the shutter speed but the flash wouldn't sync any faster. I used Photoshop 5.0 LE (old skool!) to do a bit of PP, I think its time I brought CS4, and tried shooting in RAW,

Cheers for the help
Chris

1.

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3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

 

[schpleep]

#2 and #6 work for me (although I'm not a big fan of the PP in #6)

I'd suggest pre-focusing with the G9. For example in #1, pre-focus on the log in the bottom left of the frame, then, keep the shutter half down but reframe the rider and pan round with them. Fully press the shutter just before his head is above the log.

Also, rather than increasing the iso, try dropping it and/or the shutter speed to get some movement into the back ground.

And, I wouldn't worry about trying to light the background and the rider (apart from that great tree in #3: that deserves a light all of it's own!) with one huge burst of flash. Get the lighting right on the rider first. If the background's a little dark it's no big deal as it helps the rider pop out of the image more. ie in your shot#2 some -ive flash compensation would've darkened the background, but stopped the rider burning out.

And, how flat is that landing in 5?! I hope he cleared it!

Good stuff with the G9 though. They're good aren't they?

 

[GooGaBu]

You have done quite well with the camera you have.

THe flash seems quite harsh on some of the shots, and I agree that you don't need to light so much of the background of the image. Also the slower shutterspeed is something that seems to work on these types of shots.. so time to learn a good panning technique, me thinks :bonk:

Also one thing that I notice is that you have quite a lot of the photo in focus, having the focus more on the rider will also help to make him/her stand out of the image a bit more.

From what you posted here, number 3 is the strongest image. Like the low position you taken it from, the tree at the background contributes nicely to the image

 

[martint]

Hey GeForce,

I like number 6 the best, the way the track seems to lead down into the woodland makes this one for me.

I try not to use flash, I know it's not always possible to do this, however this is the number one cause of the dark backgrounds, the camera is making sure that it exposes correctly for the main subject, in this case the bike/person in the foreground.
In photo number three the flash is very balanced and the back ground and foreground are much more even in exposure, I would take a look at the settings you used on this image and try replicate these again.

I have not used your camera before and could not see an option for the use of a "balanced fill flash" when I had a quick read on the camera spec’s on line, there seems to be a lot of options for the flash that you can start to explore though, which is good.

When I shoot MTB’s I will try to stick with a shutter speed of about 1/400 for head on shots where the rider is coming at me quite fast, this just adds a little blur to the wheels but keeps most other parts of the image sharp, when panning with side on shots I go as low as I can get away with 1/100 upwards ect, like must things this is a practice makes perfect thing, panning, panning, panning & more panning will see you improve your shots at lower shutter speeds!

I have added a couple of my MTB shots, no flash was used in these, the shutter speed was 1/500 and the iso was set at 800 due to being a dull over cast day.

If you have any other questions fire away

 

[wysiwyg]

With biking youve got to convey speed, thats what biking is, its fast, gotta get some motion in there imo.

 

[GeForce Junky]

Cheers for the help. Next time I will try some panning. Most of these we taken fully stationary on a tripod because I smashed up both my wrists and still can't hand hold my camera properly.

 

[richpips]

I think the composition in 3 is good. A touch too much light on the rider. If there was a tad more detail in his face it'd be a fantastic shot.