HS Track Meet

K. T. Woodman HS Track Meet held at Wichita State University. C & C Appreciated

1. Winner
.

Awesome stuff as usual Phil. I love the tight crops, it really brings the emotions into the shots. I'll dig deep for a little bit of criticism.

A couple look a little red to me- skin tones on numbers 1and 2 notably. It seems like they could stand a touch more contrast as well.

#6 is interesting- I can't say that its really soft, but the sharpest part seems to be the starting blocks. Since she is leaning forward, she's out of that plane, and slightly less sharp. Did you pre-focus on that one?

Love your work- in truth- it raises the bar for the rest of us.

I see what you mean about the pink (reddish) complexion. What's odd is that the arms look fine but the face is definitely red. I've got more pics with the same issue. Other runners seem not to have the problem. I wonder if these athletes faces just become flushed during running, or if they have a touch of sunburn? My face is sunburned from being outside all day.

A. Slight Pink
.

I've noticed a lot of that in my own shots- My theory is that even in AIServo, the "tracking" is not constant- the camera focuses, then as the subject gets closer, it has to fall out of focus enough before the camera/lens will reset. I think I am noticing it more as I am upgrading equipment and using faster lenses. My take on your shot, as it is with many of mine, is that she was probably in focus when she started, then just hadn't become unfocused enough to warrant the lens re-adjusting.

Just a theory. Still a great shot.

Something to note is the difference in background between shots A and B. In shot A, I stood in order to shoot down and superimpose the runner on the green grass background. In B, I was kneeling to shoot at the level of the hurdles. That slight change in angle resulted in a very busy, distracting background for B.

I stood to take #3 above, where normally I would be sitting on the infield, in order to get that same green, grassy hill in the background. A clean background would have really helped #5.

There's more track today but the tornado alerts are incredible. Yesterday afternoon they moved tonight's prom to a location with an appropriate tornado shelter. There are predictions for widespread devastation tonight. Even cynical Kansans are paying attention to the coming storms.

For only the second time since 2003, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has designated a section of Oklahoma, Kansas , Nebraska, and Iowa under a “high risk” of severe thunderstorms more than 24 hours in advance.

The last time SPC issued a high risk assessment more than 24 hours ahead of time was for the outbreak on April 7, 2006. During that outbreak (which spanned April 5-7), 73 tornadoes touched down, 13 people died and $1.5 billion in damages resulted.

I'm skipping the sports photos and may aim the camera toward the skies.

Phil,
what, if any, is the red track affecting the red cast, do you think?
also, a couple others look a little soft on my monitor,too.
very nice set.
thanks for sharing.
B

very nice series, looks like you were right in front of a few of them

Your points on the background are correct of course, but really- they are all so well blurred, I don't think any would really qualify as distracting. Keep raising the bar though.....

Stay safe with the tornadoes!

sfinkernagel wrote in post #14264393
Stay safe with the tornadoes!

They're talking about hail of 3-4 inches, winds to 80mph, and a 90% chance of tornadoes within 50 miles. The good news is that its been cloudy all day--So far. Winds are already gusting to 40.

Great shots as usual Phil. Definitely gives me something to shoot for (and ideas on where to be) when I finally get out to shoot track and field.

Stay safe with the potential weather!

el mierdo wrote in post #14264105
what, if any, is the red track affecting the red cast, do you think?
also, a couple others look a little soft on my monitor,too.

I wonder about this, too. The reddest complexions are noticed when the athletes have their faces angles toward the ground. In the high jump photos, the facial colors seem spot on.

As far as the focus goes, I'm guessing you used AI Servo(?!?) Can you select a point above center for that? In a couple of the shots, the body or uniform is razor sharp and the faces get a little softer.

You may be right about reflected red light affecting the faces--especially those that are facing down. Good point. Compare also the legs in shot #1 and #2. The part of the left leg facing down is quite red. The part of the right leg facing up looks fine.

I understand that Lightroom 4 will allow localized white balance tweaking with the adjustment brush. That may be the way to try to correct for this. I'll have to go back and try that once I get LR 4 up and running.

good stuff