motox first attemps

never shot moto sports so i just took the ones i liked.

i see others take very tight closeups but in my own mind this is great for recognizing an individual rider but not much for showing certain aspects of the sport.i have shots of the the intense side by side rivalry but, to me. they afre pretty much lifeless comapred to the action i am obswerving. these are the shots i would want to see as a viewer.

granted i know nothing of the sport other than the first one to get around wins.

along with any critique on the shots could those that do this more often than me express the reasons for or against this practice?

your moto x knowldge would be greatly appreciated.

thanx for your help

I love numbers 1 and 5. I liek how in number one like you said its further away and it shows the jump and surroundings. This can be a godo method but make sure the background isn't too distracting. If you look at your number 2 the bridge almost grabes your eve before the rider. Very clear shot and all just the background is a little distracting. On an angle liek that is where Id use a more "close up" angle. Number 5 is great for me because I find it looks real urban. The track looks like its built underneath a bridge in a tight area near a river. This shot gives it that feel and the strcture of the bridge gives a solid background colour type idea and makes the rider stand out great. All great pictures but 1 and 5 stand out for me the most! Kepp on working with angles and playing with settings! Im an ATV racer myself actually! I also enjoy shooting motocross! You'll see lots of my stuff in the spring when the race season starts back up again!

Josh

thanx for the help josh. i see what you mean about the back ground. i actually framed it that way but i am not a moto photog and i can see that it could cause a problem for those more interested in the sportr than the scenery.

thats the info i was looking for. i'll be watching for your stuff.

I know what you mena by you purposly had the object back there for something interesting in the background. In some cases it works and make the photo better, but you just have too choose carefully what you put in your background. Im like you aswell. I love shooting motocross but at time my scenery love comes out of me and I take all the attention away from the rider with something else haha happens to the best of us! I see your from Cali. Must be a lot of tracks and such around you? I would love to move to Cali.

i'm a rider and a shooter, and for me, #5 is outstanding. it makes the rider clearly stand out, which is something the others lack.

wp.

thanx for the info.

i will shoot some more here very soon and ask for your further help!

yfz, yes , we have 2 tracks in the little town i live in but that is becae there happens to be two awesom river bottoms that are dry and sandy 99% of the year.

yuba city and marysville. they are about 3 miles apart but on 2 different rivers. the feather and the yuba. this is the yuba.

the more i look at that number 5, the more i like it. the rider is obviously pretty skilled (the first requirement to a great moto pic!) and you have him framed against a backdrop that adds interest to the photo without taking any away from him. very well done!

wp.

barP wrote in post #2950956
the more i look at that number 5, the more i like it. the rider is obviously pretty skilled (the first requirement to a great moto pic!) and you have him framed against a backdrop that adds interest to the photo without taking any away from him. very well done!

wp.

thanx for the nice words

#5 and #6 are the same guy. he seems skilled in the high jump but you can also see that he is a "ball's out" rider as he came close to getting a good close up of the ground one the nextjump.

then again, ya don't win races without pushing the envelope!

nah, that last pic is just a standard landing from a whip. if he can whip, he's used to having to pull out of it, and landing on the front wheel first is always best. he probably didn't even blink!

wp.

barP wrote in post #2955784
nah, that last pic is just a standard landing from a whip. if he can whip, he's used to having to pull out of it, and landing on the front wheel first is always best. he probably didn't even blink!

wp.

i'll take your word for it

sounds like you've done it and lord knows i never will

Have any more shots from that day to share?

i dug out a few more from a different perspective. they could be cleaner and some could have been lighter but i am after subject/pose right now.
i also cropped because i had background that should have not been there. i originally put the back ground in as i thought it would be interesting but it became a distraction instead.

another quetsion? i shot these stopped down and got plenty of dof.

would it be better to blur the background completely or perhaps just slightly to give the impression of speed or leave it clear.

thanx for any help!

i think 2 and 3 work well, but the background in the others detracts from the action. slowing the shutter and blurring the background helps, but it's not always an option. i think (and don't mistake me for an expert!) that the best defense is positioning. check your line of sight to see how the background will affect your composition. also, getting closer helps. that way you get a tighter crop without having to enlarge.

wp.

barP wrote in post #2972098
i think 2 and 3 work well, but the background in the others detracts from the action. slowing the shutter and blurring the background helps, but it's not always an option. i think (and don't mistake me for an expert!) that the best defense is positioning. check your line of sight to see how the background will affect your composition. also, getting closer helps. that way you get a tighter crop without having to enlarge.

wp.

i think i understand your comment but no sure .i can close in with one of my bigger lenses but as a sepctator, rather than a rider , i would have nothing but the same shot of a guy sitting on a dirt bike.

2 and 3 are what i consider good action showing speed but that shot is pretty much the same to every other one in that curve. the only variety would consist of a dirt spray, 1 wheel off or 2 wheels off.

okay for one shot but hardlty showing the reason i would want to watch moto x.

am i missing soemthing here?

i have no problem turning the background to just color by opening the aperture while still keeping the bike and rider sharp. would this be something to try?

thanx for thre feedback

Good start . The shots where the rider is small must be thoughtully composed or there will be a loss of impact -even when the rider may be doing something dramatic. As a place to start with, keep the action tight and use a small depth of field to blur the background out. Also make sure you keep the shutter speed high enough to ensure the shots are sharp but don't be scared to slow it down to experiment with speed blur and wheel motion. Spend a lot of time crouched down in corners as thats where you can get some action shots (the lower angle will lend impact). Check out the work of top MX professional photographers like Simon Cudby (www.cudbyphoto.com) or Geoff Meyer (www.mxlarge.com) to see what you like and figure out how they got it.