Advice for a newbie

I was playing around with flash one evening. I was trying to bring the color from the sky without under exposing the rider. I Know there is still something wrong with pic but really don't know where to start. any advice would help.

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Welcome to POTN - You'll probably receive varying opinions but what makes you so sure the picture isn't OK?

David

Well, The background looks kinda digity and not crisp. My ISO was set to 200. I wouldn't think that would be too much. The colors also don't pop like i would like it. I edited it in photoshop elements and it looked better(still not up to my likings), but when i down sized and reduced the image quality to post , it doesn't look so good anymore. I shot with 7d and 50mm 1.8. I can get some good results with the nifty fifty in good light, so maybe its the dark lighting of the background. It really took me 2 nights of playing around to get this good of a pic. I played around with length of rope for flash(approx. 40 ft.), messed around with aperture and shutter speed to bring out the color of sky, but fast enough to keep the rider in focus.

What aperture did you end up using? The nifty fifty usually comes out during the evenings but I find 1.8 is more of a stated value than one of use, my 1.8 shots don't come out looking crisp.

Apeture 2.0/ shutter speed 250.

I think we are sometimes our own harshest critics. I like the shot. I might straighten the horizon a bit and see what that does to the aspect of the skier.

Your BG is a bit too dark for my tastes. Try dropping the shutter speed or raising the iso to get more ambient light. And use the flash to full the skier.

I would try to level the horizon too.

Horizon yes, too harsh on yourself, yes. Can this be better? Of course, but this is where experimenting with the settings is really the key. Those of us who have to use flash at night do all sorts of unnatural things, like angle of light, umbrellas, etc., to it's a limitation of the time and the gear. What you shot was well thought out and well done. I would try a faster shutter, higher ISO.

Thanks for all the replies. I will keep playing with different things. This flash photography is really a different animal.

You are trying techniques that pros take years to figure out. One of the best night time photographers here with different light settings is Lloyd, Picturecrazy. He's amazing.

Just remember ISO and Shutter expose for the ambient.

Aperture exposes the flash.

I would have shot in AV, cranked the ISO up some, and play with FEC to get the rider exposure how you want it.

With about 5 - 10 minutes in Photoshop this could be a really spectacular image. Being on a boat trying to get a straight on photo is next to impossible especially for a newbie. But as far as composition is concerned, you're pulled back far enough so that you can straighten the horizon and you can even position the subject better. You don't have IMAGE EDITING OK on otherwise I'd show you what I would have done with it in PP. As far as exposure is concerned, play around with different ISO settings and what not until you get the best exposure possible.

You're off to a good start.

looks like blacks are under exposed. if you have lightroom adjust blacks to 7 and use the gradient tool and adjust exposure just on the sunset

Everyone else has said the same thing but I just want to put it together as I see it.

1) You needed to expose for the background and 1/250 of a second is way too fast for that low light situation. As a result of that and the motion of the boat the background is too dark and out of focus. This is a very tricky shot from the back of a boat. I doubt if I would do any better either. This is where an expensive camera that can handle ISO 6400 without too much noise comes in handy

2) Having the horizon that far off level is distracting to me. I would prefer it to be level whenever water is involved.

3) Having the subject dead centre isn't working for me either. I'd chop off a little bit of the right hand side getting him closer to one of the "thirds".

Other than those things, this is a pretty cool shot. Love the flying water. Well done.

Is image editing OK?