First attempt at snowboarding shots.

Here's two from today. Let me know what you think!

(both shot with a T1i and 70-200 f4L)

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/zach_courter/5​250869930/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/zach_courter/5​250203909/

Would be nice to see the full obstacle in number 2 and the jump in 1.

Great shots, but I didn't know John Travolta (#1) was a snowboarder.

jrad4real wrote in post #11432132
Would be nice to see the full obstacle in number 2 and the jump in 1.

Call it "my style", but I like nice and close crops on people. Cars, on the other hand, I like some space around them. But thanks for the input!

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #11433349
Great shots, but I didn't know John Travolta (#1) was a snowboarder.

Haha, one of my favorite poses of the day. It just seemed so perfect.

Courterman08 wrote in post #11441586
Call it "my style", but I like nice and close crops on people. Cars, on the other hand, I like some space around them. But thanks for the input!

Well number 1 your "style" works but on an obstacle like a box or rail it doesnt at all... just look at some mags and you'll notice no photos are like that

pretty good for your first time out

I agree with what is being said, good stuff for your first time, but maybe shoot landscape style rather than portrait so you can see more of the surroundings. They are nice and sharp at least though!

Courterman08 wrote in post #11441586
Call it "my style", but I like nice and close crops on people.---

that's cool but if your going shot action sportraits you need to see some part of the face, sorry but back side only shots don't work well for this style, try to mixup the framing/cropping styles

HarleyHuffman wrote in post #11491733
pretty good for your first time out

Thanks!

jrad4real wrote in post #11444162
Well number 1 your "style" works but on an obstacle like a box or rail it doesnt at all... just look at some mags and you'll notice no photos are like that

I'm sorry, but basing photography off something in a magazine is pretty stupid. If everyone's trying to make their photos look exactly like a magazine photographer's photo, where is the creativity? I'd rather enjoy shooting my own style than copy someone else's. Thank you for the input, though.

Zach Byron wrote in post #11492879
I agree with what is being said, good stuff for your first time, but maybe shoot landscape style rather than portrait so you can see more of the surroundings. They are nice and sharp at least though!

Yea, I'm definitely going to try landscape next time I go. (which hopefully is this Fri/Sun)

JeffCanon wrote in post #11494242
that's cool but if your going shot action sportraits you need to see some part of the face, sorry but back side only shots don't work well for this style, try to mixup the framing/cropping styles

Yea, getting people's faces in snowboarding is pretty hard. Most of the time even getting them to face you is tricky, let alone see a face. But I have all winter to get more shots!

#2 doesn't do much for me...but I do really like #1. Yeah faces are great, but this shot seems to work for me.

Nice work.

# 1 is #1 I like it a lot

Courterman08 wrote in post #11494500
I'm sorry, but basing photography off something in a magazine is pretty stupid. If everyone's trying to make their photos look exactly like a magazine photographer's photo, where is the creativity? I'd rather enjoy shooting my own style than copy someone else's. Thank you for the input, though.

I'm not the person who originally made the comment about magazines, but I think the point is that with extreme sports you need to put the rider into the context of their surroundings. The viewer can't fully appreciate the trick if they can't see where the rider came from and where they landed. That box in photo #2 could be 4 feet long or it could be 30 feet long with an 8 foot drop at the end which makes the trick so much more rad, so it's important to shoot wide and include all that info. I know that probably wasn't the case here... but its just an example.

I understand your desire to have a specific personal style...I think we can all appreciate that, but with extreme sports you want to make sure that you are doing everything you can to do to make the rider look as good as they possibly can...and you still have plenty of room to develop your own style while doing that.

Overall I think the shots are good...but agree with the others that you need to shoot wider and include more in the frame. I just noticed though that you don't have anything wider than 50mm (which isn't even really 50mm on a crop)...You may want to consider purchasing an ultra-wide or fish if you plan on doing a lot of extreme sports. Just a suggestion

dwarrenr wrote in post #11496987
#2 doesn't do much for me...but I do really like #1. Yeah faces are great, but this shot seems to work for me.

Nice work.

Thanks

keyframe14 wrote in post #11497012
# 1 is #1 I like it a lot

Thanks!

helloagain36 wrote in post #11497886
I'm not the person who originally made the comment about magazines, but I think the point is that with extreme sports you need to put the rider into the context of their surroundings. The viewer can't fully appreciate the trick if they can't see where the rider came from and where they landed. That box in photo #2 could be 4 feet long or it could be 30 feet long with an 8 foot drop at the end which makes the trick so much more rad, so it's important to shoot wide and include all that info. I know that probably wasn't the case here... but its just an example.

I understand your desire to have a specific personal style...I think we can all appreciate that, but with extreme sports you want to make sure that you are doing everything you can to do to make the rider look as good as they possibly can...and you still have plenty of room to develop your own style while doing that.

Overall I think the shots are good...but agree with the others that you need to shoot wider and include more in the frame. I just noticed though that you don't have anything wider than 50mm (which isn't even really 50mm on a crop)...You may want to consider purchasing an ultra-wide or fish if you plan on doing a lot of extreme sports. Just a suggestion

Your explanation makes a lot more sense than the other guy's. The problem I ran into was trying to find a place to stand while still getting action. I love shooting down the hill, but with those shots you don't see any faces either. So shooting up hill is the way to go. The problem I ran into with that is being able to see the person coming down the hill. It's hard to pan on someone when you can't see them coming haha.

By the way, these were taken with the 70-200. I could try the 50mm, but it's really not that fast, so I have a feeling I'd be fighting with focusing.

ps; I really appreciate the input. Someone explaining to me why something looks awkward is MUCH better than someone just pointing out that it looks awkward.

Courterman08 wrote in post #11497995
Thanks

Thanks!


Your explanation makes a lot more sense than the other guy's. The problem I ran into was trying to find a place to stand while still getting action. I love shooting down the hill, but with those shots you don't see any faces either. So shooting up hill is the way to go. The problem I ran into with that is being able to see the person coming down the hill. It's hard to pan on someone when you can't see them coming haha.

By the way, these were taken with the 70-200. I could try the 50mm, but it's really not that fast, so I have a feeling I'd be fighting with focusing.

ps; I really appreciate the input. Someone explaining to me why something looks awkward is MUCH better than someone just pointing out that it looks awkward.

No problem dude!

Maybe you should rent a Tokina 10-17 fisheye...Get low and close with it...you'll still fill the frame with the rider the way that you like...but you will also be able to include so much more of the surroundings and make obstacles look a lot bigger too. If you like the results then maybe you can look at buying one...they aren't all that expensive and are really versatile when shooting this type of stuff.

Next step is to get a few flashes setup off camera! Ha Good luck man!

I've got to disagree with what some others have said; I really like tight shots filling the frame with the athlete, as apposed to a skier or snowboarder dot in a landscape photo - so I like these two photos just fine.
Yes, I'd agree the rule is generally to get people from the front/get faces, but #1 is why rules are meant to be broken.