Livestrong Rider 2009

[slider2828]

Hi Everyone,

Please let me know what you think? Thanks!

-ken

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/gaert/smaller_rider.jpg

[ChunkyDA]

Thats quite good. contrast a bit high, right foreare looks blown out. looks a bit fuzzy but could just be the shrinkage for file size restriction. The last step in your process should be unsharp mask.

[24alpha]

It's a pretty boring image. IMHO. (Is there a way to make road riding more exciting?)
And as ChunkyDA has said, looks to be OOF!

[crazyskillz07]

Read about some panning techniques and post some more pictures with your attempts.

[Biffbradford]

I think it looks okay. It doesn't jump out at me as being special because the shot doesn't put him in a special place (along the coast, or in a group), show him doing something unusual (going uphill, or turning), show him riding a new model Specialized frame, nor is it a unique perspective (shot from low or show exceptional speed). To me, the photo says "#98 was here", and if that's the goal of the photo, then you've captured that quite well. If you put that picture in a story about a ride and relates the rider to the story, then it has more meaning. You know: "Joey Schmoe was at the ride" and I think "Oh! I didn't know Joey was into riding!" ;)

[emtp563]

Ken, unless there is something to see in the background- there is a lot of wasted space. The crop could be a little tighter. I wouldn't go too tight though, as the picture is slightly out of focus. According to your EXIF, your camera setting look to be o.k. for the shot. What AF-point did you use for the shot? Do your use Automatic Focus Point Selection (AFPS- this is where the camera chooses the focus point) or Manual Focus Point Selection (a single AF point)? If a single focus point, which one?

It appears as though you are not shooting in to the sun, it's shining on the riders face- that's a good thing. Since your Exposure is Manual, how did you Meter? It's maybe 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop over exposed. I see it was shot at eight o'clock in the morning, with it being slightly over-exposed, it looks more like noon.

As for the post-processing, I already mentioned the crop. There was a tad too much contrast in your image and not enough saturation. These are personal preferences, I prefer my cycling shots to be slightly to moderately over-saturated to bring out the colors of the riders kits. With a shutter speed of 1/160, you have to watch out for camera shake, which may explain why your image is ever so slightly out of focus. Luckily, it wasn't too bad and was easily corrected in Photoshop.

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of touching up your image. I cropped a little tighter, decreased contrast, increased saturation, (levels were o.k.), unsharp mask, added some vignetting, and framed it. It makes a big difference ;-)

http://velocycle.smugmug.com/photos/598559682_BMHDp-O.jpg