Newbie Ski Racing Submission #2

Shot my last race session using the camera in RAW mode and learning DPP and Photoshop elements. Still working on the motion part of this type of photography. This is a 50% crop from the 24-105l. Any comments on color balance, composition lighting etc is appreaciated.

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

That shot isn't too bad considering the focal length you were working with. You did a good job capturing the emotion of the racer too.

The only real problem with the shot is that the timing was a bit early. The gate in front of the face is a bit distracting.

One other suggestion would be to crop it tighter, I realize you had limited focal length so that presents a problem. But the tighter the better in sports.

Sort of like this...
http://img.photobucket​.com …ussieskier/RB_-0341-1.jpg

It’s a very interesting photograph, and I like it, but...
As far as the composition goes I would have liked to see the trees and the red turn completely cropped out, as well as some of the snow to the left, and to a lesser extent the right (try to keep some ski tracks in) of the skier. I think your white balance may be a little off because the snow looks off (that may just be my monitor, though). A little sharpening in Photoshop would help bring out the texture and intensity of the scene as well. Also, what speed ISO did you use? Again it may just be my monitor but I’m getting some grain.
Good effort though, I like it!

Hi sjc*2: if you shoot this kind of shot again, maybe try shooting form a lower point of view, kneeling or even laying on the ground to emphasize the compressed form of the skier as they crouch through the edging of the turn. Also, if you don;t want a tight crop, but an image that has more environment in it, try leading the skier so that the action is frozen at about a third of the way from the right of the crop, leaving a good amount of space in front of the skier for the skier to "ski into". The skier is usually looking one or two gates downhill by the time they hit their gate, so their eyes will be looking into that space instead of looking completely out of the image. You could also try to get in a position that offers you more of a head-on shot so the skier is coming toward you instead of across you. Try shooting in burst mode to get a sequence of images through the turn, giving you more options to select your keeper. Nice shot - looks like a lot of fun shooting.

Kirk

I would have suggested the same as Kirk.
A lower point of view would sort of emphasize the photo.
Otherwise, I think that it would be nice to see more of the trails the skier has come down, although it is challenging due to the sufficient but still undistracting dof.