Splish Splash

[ST1]

I ventured down to the local white water centre which; is a place that I've not bothered to visit for photography purposes before today. I now think I may visit more regularly. However looking at these images on here via Flickr, I think I may have to practice my processing for images for this type of sport as these seem a tad over sharpened but...the edited images in Lightroom look fine

After a nights sleep and reading all of the comments on this thread, I decided to reprocess and not crop or sharpen (apart from capture sharpening at 25% which is automated in LR) the original raw files and repost them against the originals I first posted. I've not tried editing a post and adding additional images before I hope I don't make a mess of it. I shall also add one other image showing a different water vehicle.

Thank you everyone who commented and added advice I really appreciated them all

#1 Water in my helmet
ISo100, f6.7, 1/2000 sec


#1 version 2


#2 I'll close my eyes and concentrate
ISO100, f6.7, 1/350 sec


#2 version 2



#3 Hands up
ISO100,f6.7, 1/1500 sec


#3 version 2


#4 Apply the brake
ISO100, f6.7, 1/250 sec


#4 version 2


#4 Group Bonding, added as it shows a little more of the environment.

_V1A7380-Web-Edit.jpg by Peter Stockton, on Flickr

[Geoff F]

Yes, the water in particular does seem a bit on the 'harsh' side to me. Do you have any straight from camera shots as a comparison?

[Rebel]

Great shots Peter! I enjoyed them.

[ST1]

Yes, the water in particular does seem a bit on the 'harsh' side to me. Do you have any straight from camera shots as a comparison?

Geoff, I don't shoot jpg so I have to edit the raw files. If you click on one of the images it should take you to my Flickr photostream, if so I would be really interested to know if the images there look over sharp to you?

[ST1]

Great shots Peter! I enjoyed them.

Thanks Matt, I had to delete quite a number of images as the paddlers were facing away from me. Next time I shall try shooting from the other bank.

[Geoff F]

The water still looks 'odd' to me in #1 & #3 but they were both shot at a much faster shutter speed so maybe that is part of the issue.

[ST1]

The water still looks 'odd' to me in #1 & #3 but they were both shot at a much faster shutter speed so maybe that is part of the issue.

Thanks for looking Geoff, I will have a go at editing them again to see if I caused the problem with my processing.

[Shadowman]

I think your main issues have more to do with time of day than your post processing skills. Granted, how you handle the processing will determine how natural or unnatural the images will look. On your next venture experiment with some blurring and this will also help with the hardness of earlier captures. Nice series, you obviously have the focal reach to fill the screen, try also adding some additional environment within the composition.

[Loose Canon]

Hi Peter!

I pretty much lived this sport for 35 years. Back when I started we were considered the lunatic fringe. There were no manufactured boats. You had to know someone with a mold and build your own boat! Fiberglass molded in top and bottom halves and glass taped together! Been all over the US doing it. Still do but more on a “semi-retired” basis!

I’d definitely say these shots are over sharpened. Obvious sharpening artifacts. Could be downsizing for the web. But they strike a chord with me.

If you are going to visit the Run more, notice the shorter boats (like #4). These are freestyle boats and the guys paddling these will play in the river features doing “tricks”. Great opportunity for action shots including aerial moves and a lot of dimensional stuff. The longer boats are downriver boats. They play but are not as capable of the dimensional stuff.

Hope to see more of these Peter!

[IzzieK]

You must have done sharpening after downsizing, Peter...You see in tinypic, I noticed that when I do my last sharpening, when uploading to a webpage like CiC, they tend to be oversharpened...or too soft when sharpening isn't done before uploading...a subtle sharpening after downsizing is in order...but not too much.

[bnnrcn]

I think the crisp look of the water is not only because of oversharpening but also because of very fast shutter speed Peter. Apart from the crisp look I really like the images as they show the action and effort made very well

[Geoff F]

The reworked images look a lot better to me.

Incidentally, I always avoid any resizing methods which apply automatic sharpening to images. Such as various 'Resize for web' options which use Bicubic Sharpener. I found I was getting poor results and over sharpened images. Now I use another method then, if needed, I apply a little bit of unsharp mask. Typical settings for me would be around 50% at 0.5 pixels and 1 threshold level.

[Donald]

The reworked images look a lot better to me.

Agreed.

There are a number of subjects (water being one of them) where, for me, the conventional 'rules' about sharpening just don't seem to work. It's very much a case of less is more and taking your hand off the sharpening tools, .... or at least applying a much lighter touch.