Just checking the tyres

Broncoaurus
You are absolutely spot on with your post above, thankyou.

just to save any confusion here, some details...
No way are my pictures racing shots they are of a top display team performing a series of ariel manovers, absolutely incredible to see.
my intention was to shoot at high shutter speeds in order to totally freeze any movement of both the rider and machine, working at 1/2000th to 1/5000th.
with 1D Mk2 fitted with 300mm f2.8 L is and ISO 500.
I have to say there are many ways in photography of conveying "motion" to the viewer, this can be blurred or frozen as we all know but each style is worthy of trying out.
we can also create movement in a photograph by simply using diagonal or curved lines / shapes within the compositional element of any image,
I have for over 40 years shot all forms of action and many other subjects and so far as I'm aware there are no set rules that say each action shot needs some movement recorded to convey motion.
action photography can be very sucessful at 1/2 second or at 1/30,000th second and each very definately shows movement.
this should be a personal choice, and what suits your own style.
I do recall way back in the seventies shooting for approx 2 hrs with 120 medium format & 300mm lens at a Mallory Park race meeting and using shutter speeds 1/8th to 1/60th, these were not record shots but pictorial images, just me trying something different.

at the other extreme, I have done talks and shows about high speed photography, this time working at 1/25,000 to 1/30,000 sec. with many test shots done on polaroid back on Bronica to get it right.
Much easier to post it here to explain (although not everyones idea of sport, most certainly high speed action )

Cheers
Martin
http://www.pbase.com/h​uckaback_photo

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Do you think this shot shows motion, I do and yet we do not have any indication of the wheels going round and no blur etc.
certainly works for me.
enjoy.

Martin

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Lenzflair wrote in post #2179230
My appologies for the tone, I just think that telling someone they have a good image when they havent, or it could be improved greatly isn't helpful.

Ever heard of an opinion? That's just what you posted. Critiquing someones work is very subjective. I pesonally like some shots where the action is frozen.

Crypto
totally agree with you, well said.
all to often these days we see the use of photoshop to put in the motion blur at wheels and of course blur the background .
I do lots of judging photo comps, often I see a first class sharp picture ruined by someone trying to create movement or motion , Why is it done ? possibly because someone has read how all action needs it...untrue in my view.

What suits one photographer will not suit all, develop your own style and stick with it until you perfect it then move onward, try something different.
I used to teach photography for a while and recall showing all how to pan with a moving subject etc, set them a challenge to shoot a roll of film half the roll to be shot panning in the direction of the subject and the rest shot with panning the oposite way these latter pictures were far more interesting.

cheers
Martin

Always a good idea. You never know what you'll come home with!

Martin, I don't care if the tires are spinning or even if the engine is running. Those are some pretty cool shots in my opinion.

Frank
I forgot to thank you for your imput and comments in previous posts, also thanks to others for your posts.

Now with regard to your beautiful image above this clearly demos a great style and flair with your work, yes indeed we all know it's been done before, theres not much photographically speaking that has not already been done...
but this is the important picture " this is the shot were viewing at this moment in time"

This is not a true record shot.....it has gone far beyond record photography, gone up to the next level if you like.
This is a photographer being creative, developing a style, using the tools of his trade
coupled to a "seeing Eye" or shall we say an eye for a picture.

why does it work so well ?
look at all the dark areas in shot and note a very slight blue cast, now look at the main colour the strong red, if we understand how colour works ...the blue makes the red stand out, the highlights on the helmit are fine and good detail in that area.
in all other areas of this image theres sufficient detail within the blurs to work , composition is nice.
the gold on the tail needs to be there, but try a version toned down .

the other thing to do with this superb image is frame it and start selling it.
I hope you did a series of these not just one or two.

Cheers
Martin

John
thankyou for your comments.
just saw your avatar, is that a new sort of L series lens or a fine bottle of wine, either way
cheers

Martin

Thanks, Martin. Now give me a minute to stop blushing.

Actually, this was a photographer who was covering the ARRC (American Road Race of Champions) for the week & was a lot bored during all the practice sessions? So I burned up a few rolls of 36 on these & that shot was the best of the bunch.

I like shooting blurs because, no matter how I plan them, I'm always surprised at the "out come". (Never surprised at how many I have to throw away, though.)
Here's one of a co-operative seagull. Tri-X & a red 25A filter to turn the blue sky black.

Well you may not have liked my critique but it certainly brought the post alive and I m sure that we have all learned alot from it. To me this is what the forum is about.

Lenzflair wrote in post #2175930
good angles but no motion

I've got to say that the second image of the rider frozen mid-air just did it for me.
I agree some images need motion but the surreal nature of this pose is just great. More please...

Nigel
Thanks for your comments, glad you liked my pictures.
a bit more info...
The riders in this display team were approx 30 to 40ft in the air, it would have been pointless to shoot them with the panned method as no background to show blurs behind them only sky, also because the long duration in the air I think the wheels were not actually revolving for much of the time, therefore even longer shutter speeds may have captured good sharp detail.

Cheers
Martin