AMA Superbikes Take 2 - Saturday

[Chris Clark]

Well, I tried to take everyones advice in hand and went shooting today. I tried quite a few new locations, some worked, some didn't.

C&C Please. Fire at will:

1.) Not sure if I like this or not. I'm a fan of this sort of thing on cars, but still trying to decide on bikes.
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat1

2.)
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat2

3.) I tried a couple of these today: Wish they were a 'tad' sharper, but I think they came out well for a first try.
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat6

4.)
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat7

5.) Very similar to the DiSalvo shot yesterday. But I like it anyway:)
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat8

6.) Same thing:
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat9

7.) Tried some shots of bikes going away:
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat10

8.)
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat11

9.)
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat15

10.)
http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat16

Thanks for looking!
Any C&C appreciated:)

edit:

I wasn't sure about the proper protocol here, So I started a new thread rather than adding on to Fridays. Hope thats okay?....

[John Thawley]

Hey... pretty good job adjusting and working with new ideas. I think these are showing a lot of promis. I think the going away shots look good... especially #7. I would have liked to have seen #10 with the rider more in the foreground... but nice look.

Need to watch the backgrounds... #8 and #9 are lost in the noise.

Nice going..

JT

[Chris Clark]

Thanks John.

I also tried a couple of 'going away' super slow pans, similar to the first photo in this post. None of them really turned out very well, but I'll post the best one so you get the idea:

http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSat17

Do you think this is worth exploring? I'm still undecided.

[John Thawley]

Well... let's not lose sight of "content." It's easy to wrapped up in all the technical ingredients.... slow pans etc. etc. - but in the end, the viewer is emotionally connected to the content. The shooter's role is to deliver the content and use his "tools" to really tell the story. The better we are using the tools, the more we convince the viewer of the excitement of the content.

This last shot has no content. Guy on bike going through a sweeping turn... check out the bottom of the bike. See what I mean?

In #7, I see a bit more man/machine struggle going on. The riders position says something about what's happening... I see the elevation, I see him exiting... and the background is reasonably picturesque, but I can still tell it's a race track. And... though we're still looking at the back and bottom... I'm seeing an angle of the bike that I wouldn't see even if I walked through the pits. Sure.. it's not the perfect shot... but it's on its way to being a nice capture of the sport.

JT

[Chris Clark]

This last shot has no content. Guy on bike going through a sweeping turn... check out the bottom of the bike. See what I mean?

JT


Yeah, I do. I played around with this alittle more today, and while I think I got the technical aspect of that shot down on a couple of exposures, I look at them and they do nothing for me. No story.

I tried a couple more of these today and I thought, technically, this came out well:

http://themotorsportreport.com/webimages/SBSun5%20copy

Thanks John, your input this weekend has been invaluable.:)

[John Thawley]

This last shot would be pretty nice had you let the rider keep coming for a couple of more beats.... get him in the foreground. With a side to side pan, it's nice to have room in front of the subject, when you're doing 3/4 pans, you want to let the subject come to the front of the frame in a head-on and try to keep it closer to you in a going away. It'll give yo ua little more tension.

JT

[Chris Clark]

This last shot would be pretty nice had you let the rider keep coming for a couple of more beats.... get him in the foreground. With a side to side pan, it's nice to have room in front of the subject, when you're doing 3/4 pans, you want to let the subject come to the front of the frame in a head-on and try to keep it closer to you in a going away. It'll give yo ua little more tension.

JT

That makes sense.

Would you say this same rule applies to shooting cars as well? I may be shooting a NASA event at M/O this weekend, and would like to try to practice this.

Thanks again John.:)

[Jeff Kapic]

Very nice work Chris. I agree with John on #8 and #9...the backgrounds and the size of the signs compared to the size of the riders....makes it tough to bring the attention to the subject. I really like the location of #10. It would be great to capture it just a fraction sooner, so that you can see the tires in contact with the track. There is something with the very last shot you posted though. The upper right corner is overly dark compared to the rest of the shot. Maybe shooting later in the turn would balance out the background.

[Chris Clark]

Very nice work Chris. I agree with John on #8 and #9...the backgrounds and the size of the signs compared to the size of the riders....makes it tough to bring the attention to the subject. I really like the location of #10. It would be great to capture it just a fraction sooner, so that you can see the tires in contact with the track. There is something with the very last shot you posted though. The upper right corner is overly dark compared to the rest of the shot. Maybe shooting later in the turn would balance out the background.


Yeah, I noticed that too. I think what is happening is that the trees in the background ar actually further back, on the outside of the track, at that time they were in the sun. And the walk over bridge disappears behind a batch of trees alot closer to the shooting location. Several different 'layers' of trees I guess. So when I panned it kind of blends them all together and I lost that 'depth' that differentiates the layers. I think.:D

Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it!:)

Thanks everyone for the comments. I really feel like I'm improving more and more since I joined here thanks to all of your input. I can't wait to get out and shoot some more.:)