sycle stunt : Critique Wanted

DRicherby (Critique Team)

3

11 Apr 2010 - 8:03 PM

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I think the main thing you need to do is to let go of P-mode. In the automatic modes, the camera is taking the photograph but it doesn't know what it's photographing so it can only guess at what settings to use.

I recommend buying a beginner's photography book, which will cover things like aperture and shutter speed, the relationship between them and how they affect a photograph. I suspect that the blur you report in this photograph is because the shutter speed wasn't fast enough to freeze the motion of the cyclist and avoid camera shake. To be honest, I can't see much blur myself but the cyclist is quite small in the frame so it might be that it's just not visible at this resolution.

It's also possible that the autofocus system couldn't react fast enough to get the shot sharp. A useful trick, if you know where you're going to take the photograph would be to focus on the top of the ramp as the cyclist approaches by half-pressing the shutter release. Keeping the shutter button half-pressed, adjust the camera to where you expect the cyclist to be and, when he gets there, press the button all the way. This saves the camera having to hunt for focus at the critical moment.

Constructive Critique!

clicknimagine

2

11 Apr 2010 - 8:08 PM

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very interesting shot, but the problem i guess:-

1. you may have employed evaluative metering system resulting the camera has metered the light from the entire scene to determine the exposure and shutter speed accordingly, which may not be sufficient to freeze the motion,

2. in this kind of situation TV mode or manual mode can be handy, as well as spot metering of your camera,

3. the event, i guess, is going on at a distance place and 200mm (although i do not know whether you have employed 200mm or not) focal length of the lens may not be sufficient to give a close view of the event, and as a result your subject appears to be very small and a lot of foreground and background area, you can reasonably crop but i do prefer to change your position if possible to get a close image,

4. the source of light is fill light from the diffused sky, as a result the image is quite flat, although you can slightly enhance the contrast at the time of post processing,

Hope the points can help you,
wish you best of luck for your future works...

Constructive Critique!

NEWMANP (Critique Team)

4

11 Apr 2010 - 9:05 PM

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hi,
if i read you right above, you know already that you have a problem and want a little confirmation of why.

first and foremost if you are shooting action, you need to be concerned with the shutter speed and point of focus.

the first is easy because you can select shutter priority and select an aperature fast enough to freeze action, lets say 1/250 min to 1/1000sec and let the camera decide on the aperature for you. to achieve these speeds you may need to up the iso to 400asa or maybe more. the main objective is never ever use programme mode because it makes all the decisions and often assumes wrong.

focus is predicatable much of the time and may be better on manual but it also helps to get your subject much larger in the frame otherwise the point of the image is often lost in distracting detail. a larger subject also makes auto focus much easier to use.

weather is also a big element in all types of photography and try as you may, its hard to get good shots if there isnt a fair degree of light available and here it looks dreadfully flat.

hope that helps
Phil

Constructive Critique!