Tees Barrage White Water Centre

Yeah, the water certainly looks murky! Any feedback or thoughts on the shots aside from the caramel sauce? :)
 
Tony8 said:
Yeah, the water certainly looks murky! Any feedback or thoughts on the shots aside from the caramel sauce? :)
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Certainly Tony. Firstly, focus and images are sharp, suggesting shutter speed is nice and high. However they are overexposed, and I'm not keen on the processing (hence the caramel comment!).

What f stop are you at? Try getting as high as possible (f/2.8) to isolate the athlete from the background. I've not been to Teeside so don't know the course, but try to avoid some of the distracting concrete background by changing your position, and in particular get as near to eye level as possible. I normally lay on the bank side.

Images:
1: Nice scene setter, ok
2: Your best image. Nice depth, good kayaking pose
3: Paddle across face (a definite no no), horrible background, no context (where is he on the course, what is the manoeuvre, etc?), and too high
4, 5: Need to see more of the face, with athlete coming towards you.

Generally kayaking like all sport is about seeing the faces, so concentrate on getting nearer, lower, and in front of the athlete.
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
Great set I like image 3 and 4...... Focusing is spot on to me
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Thanks very much :D

Big Nick said:
No3 is a cracker Tony, great action, movement of water and very sharp (y)
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Cheers Nick, I like the shape and splash his paddle is creating too. I think this and #2 are my favourites.

aePhoto said:
Certainly Tony. Firstly, focus and images are sharp, suggesting shutter speed is nice and high. However they are overexposed, and I'm not keen on the processing (hence the caramel comment!).

What f stop are you at? Try getting as high as possible (f/2.8) to isolate the athlete from the background. I've not been to Teeside so don't know the course, but try to avoid some of the distracting concrete background by changing your position, and in particular get as near to eye level as possible. I normally lay on the bank side.

Images:
1: Nice scene setter, ok
2: Your best image. Nice depth, good kayaking pose
3: Paddle across face (a definite no no), horrible background, no context (where is he on the course, what is the manoeuvre, etc?), and too high
4, 5: Need to see more of the face, with athlete coming towards you.

Generally kayaking like all sport is about seeing the faces, so concentrate on getting nearer, lower, and in front of the athlete.
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Antony, many thanks for taking the time to provide that level of feedback - this is the kind of stuff that will really help me to hopefully get better, so I really appreciate it!

In terms of your critique, I was shooting Manual (something relatively new to me) and using the light meter to check for correct exposures, so I am surprised to hear that these are overexposed :(

I was using various apertures (from f/5 - f/11, with my lens only capable of f/4 at its widest) in conjunction with the high shutter speeds I needed to freeze the action, but I will make more efforts to get better isolation next time.

I tried a few shooting positions, but all bar one of the courses drops had the sun behind them, making for some dark faces, so I ended up using the last drop off more than the others - I guess I need to think more about what time I try and shoot these guys in future.

I appreciate the comments about distracting backgrounds/concrete blocks and the need to get lower and closer. I think that (in general and not just here) I probably need to plan my shoots a little more. Not a great deal of PP on these, raised the sharpness a touch from memory, but PP is another world that I need to spend many more hours to become comfortable with :wacky:

Thanks again for the advice and feedback, it's much appreciated (y)
 
Actual Tony, it looks like I was looking at your pics on a duff monitor. I think the exposure is fine, apologies. I appreciate your comments about sun position etc, as you say, there is only so much you can control. When I do the major events I spend a lot of time working out the best shooting positions for the day ahead. Most courses are now almost circular so there is usually one spot where the sun is ok and there is sufficient drama for a good pic.
 
Thanks for that Antony, reassuring to know that I got the exposure right at least :LOL:

You have hit the nail on the head there about planning, though. Just now I feel like I grab the camera, jump in the car, drive to a location and start shooting. I realise I need to spend a bit more time on assessing the location/light and thinking about the best shooting positions - something I will endeavour to do more of, despite the limited time I normally have (job, family, etc...)

Clicked through and took a look at your website by the way - some excellent stuff on there, very inspirational sports shots. Thanks again for taking the time to comments :D
 
Pretty sure I went canoeing here years ago and as the water is fed from a slow moving river/canal, I'm not really surprised at the colour :p

There's definitely some more spectacular looking stuff to be had there I think!
 
Phal said:
Pretty sure I went canoeing here years ago and as the water is fed from a slow moving river/canal, I'm not really surprised at the colour :p

There's definitely some more spectacular looking stuff to be had there I think!
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Indeed, the course is fed with water from the River Tees, so more "Brown Water Rapids" than "White" but other than that, it seems a great run for the participants. I'll undoubtedly be back there in future to try and capture something more spectacular (y)
 
That water is actually minging Tony!

I have a friend that works there & he's caught Viles disease 3 times from the water :eek:

When I shot Ben Fogle there last year filming a new TV series (Storm City I think) he had a decontamination shower every time he left the water!

Did you sign in as a tog or just wander round the course?
 
pixvault said:
That water is actually minging Tony!

I have a friend that works there & he's caught Viles disease 3 times from the water :eek:

When I shot Ben Fogle there last year filming a new TV series (Storm City I think) he had a decontamination shower every time he left the water!

Did you sign in as a tog or just wander round the course?
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Sounds like Mr Fogle had the right idea! Didn't sign in, just wandered round the course snapping away ;)
 
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