Couple from Formula D NJ

[Jacob Leveton]

First, a pair of shots... "does it work" ? meaning... these break some conventional rules, but in my eyes, i think they work

Tarzan - the only part of the car in focus is the front passenger corner (the Noritz logo), which normally would be bad. But I feel like the added blur adds to the shot. agree?
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012754259.jpg

Robbie Nishida - cropped super tight, front of the car isn't on focus, rear of the car is cut off, but I feel like the facial expression makes the shot.
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012755025.jpg

Now, some boring 'conventional' shots
I eat bumpers for breakfast
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012757118.jpg

tryin to get the car on the bottom of the frame
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012800212.jpg

got vert?
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012822993.jpg

the "rear" shot is much harder to get in drifting
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012827900.jpg

holy steering angle
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/733/733730/formula-d-20060920012826337.jpg

more pics here:
http://cars.ign.com/articles/733/733730p1.html

I'm trying to get more 'out of the box' shots, so i'd love to hear feedback.

[John Thawley]

Hmmm.... not sure what "conventional rules" you're breaking... but these are all in need of some serious post processing work. No color. No pop.

You also seem to be trapped in the center with all of the views rather high.

Nothing here really raises the heart beat. Know what I mean?

It's a bit soft... but if you send me the hi-res of the white/blue Nissan, I'll show you what I'm talking about.

[Todd Corzett]

I feel like the added blur adds to the shot. agree?
Agreed. IMO, as long as something is sharp (and I really don't care what) the blur will work. Now, the composition could use a little work (I know, I'm asking for a lot now).

Robbie Nishida - cropped super tight, front of the car isn't on focus, rear of the car is cut off, but I feel like the facial expression makes the shot.
Agreed, personally I would like to see the rear wheel of the car rather than the front.

these are all in need of some serious post processing work. No color. No pop.
I agree about the need for some post. It may be amplified by this monitor, but they all seem to be "washed-out" a bit. Looking at the histograms, there is quite a bit of room to work on the left side (black point) of the images. Bringing-up the black about 25 points does wonders on several of these, IMO.

You also seem to be trapped in the center with all of the views rather high.
Agreed. I completely understand that the cars are often the focus, and the backgrounds are often less than desirable, but I think the shots would work better if they were less "centered". The last shot is a good example, but it could be even more extreme (imagine the image being cropped from the current bottom left to the railing by the crowd in a 2:3 ratio). I look at shot #4 and like the car being at the bottom of the frame, but really wish it was in the bottom left corner so I could see more of the smoke. Drifting is one sport where I actually want to see where the car has been (room behind it), rather than where it is going (room in front of it). Most of the images have my brain wanting to see more of the image. It's not that it doesn't like what it sees (trust me there, it does), it just wants to see something more than a car in the center of the image.

Nothing here really raises the heart beat. Know what I mean?
I disagree. While not a big fan of drifting, there is something compelling to these images for me. I like the sense of motion and action. #2 really calls to me, I love being able to see the driver's expressions (which is so often lost in motorsports). However, there are some compositional/processing issues that could use some work.

-Todd...

[Jacob Leveton]

Yeah, none of these have any post process work (minus the resize and watermark). I tend not to process my event coverage, and as I mentioned, thee were shot in Jersey, so some of the blandness can be blamed on that ;)

Todd - I tend to try and expose to the right to get the most out of the file, so that would explain why the black point could use some modifying.

Keep em comin, guys!