First try at MX. C&C welcome

[billtils]

Thought it was time to try something different and went down to the local MX track to catch the bikes in action. Feedback very welcome!


Flying high




Jumping for joy




Kickin' up the dirt




Pressing on

[IzzieK]

Your shutter priority shots looks better, with the right amounts of sharpness and blurriness on the right places. I particularly like #2 for the sharpness, composition and just the right blurriness on the wheels to indicate movement while suspended in the air. 'Could have upped the exposure on the last one. How far were you to these kids? Maybe a lower ISO could have helped with the sharpness, as sticking to base ISO or a little bit full stop will still keep the quality of the shot. Just a thought...

#1 is perfect -- right aperture, right exposure time, composition, sharpness...but I would have shot it Shutter Priority because this is action, human movement...but that is me. To me #3 could have better dirt spray if you use SP too with the exposure time around 1500 or 2000 to free the dirt behind him. Not that I am an expert here -- just studying your and some shots like this..

HTHs.

[Shadowman]

Good first attempts, the shots with a bit of landscape work best; although the first sky only shot looks impressive.

[billtils]

Thanks Izzie. Two and 4 were taken with the D7100 crop and 1 and 3 with the D750 Full frame. My default is Aperture priority and adjust shutter and ISO to suit circumstances - the D750 wins out there re how far you can push the ISO. I have several in the batch that do all the things you mention, but these 4 were my favourites, especially the first as I like the colours, and although it was caught suspended in mid air, the attitude of the rider suggests motion and getting ready for a bumpy landing!


Here are a couple that perhaps are closer to what you would look for:

Hitting the dirt:





ET's Brother

[billtils]

Thanks John

[ionian]

If these are a first try, I'd be really proud of them - excellent stuff and you clearly got a nice range of images.

The wb in picture 4 is off, too blue - this should be an easy thing to correct in post. The other thing I'd suggest is a little sharpening on the panning images using a high pass filter.

I'm now googling to find out where my local mx track is...

[billtils]

Thanks Simon, yes first (and so far only) two times at the track**. I basically used my birding settings without the 600mm Zoom. You are basically correct re number 4 being too blue but it was from over-zealous application of the colour editor not the WB as shot (it was a cold, mainly grey day, and I went over-board on one of the few moments of blue sky).

** I'll be back now that something that is a decent approximation to "Summer" is here. I'd like to get one at the same place as "Kickin' up the dirt" but face on rather than from behind.

[rpcrowe]

Great captures. Your shots have given me the incentive to shoot some local MX.

I am researching the events. However, the event would need to be on the coast or in the fall when the weather will be cooler. It is too hot inland right now. It was close to 95 F. (~35 C.) at my house yesterday. It was 68 F. (20 C.) at my daughters home on the beach, 25 miles from me...

BTW: That is why we were able to sell a tiny home on a postage stamp size lot, right at the coast and purchase a far larger home on over an acre of property inland for the same price. We have about 3 months of heat but, then we have 9 months of lovely weather...

[IzzieK]

Bill, I still prefer the original postings...I am not looking at something or for something in your photographs here. I was trying my hands at studying shutter speed/aperture/ISO combination and what is best to use. I have only ever used Shutter Priority on airshow shots and lately I have been taking an intensive course on the Fundamentals of Photography which I find enjoyable really. Kinda like thinking about how one can use a lower ISO at a certain shutter speed and aperture combination without degrading an image one way or the other using higher ISO. It is difficult for me to translate because there are so many examples in the course itself including how to choose a lens to use in a certain scene even before you open your camera bag and using the base ISO of your camera, etc...hence my sort of being chatty about a scene, your scenes here...

P.S. I am still coming to terms about using Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority in my shots as I came from films and cannot comprehend much about those two modes. I have always shot manual.

[billtils]

Izzie

We are saying the same thing but approaching it from opposite ends. Once you decide what you want in a shot, setting the exposure elements can be achieved in different ways. So for example, to either freeze the action or introduce some motion blur in the MX ones, your choice would be to first set the appropriate shutter speed, but you then have to adjust the aperture/ISO settings to give the depth of field that you wish. I start from the aperture and DoF point and then adjust the ISO to give the desired shutter speed.

It seems that you are interested in some serious study. I have just completed a course run by the Open University and Royal Photographic Society (OU/RPS) that was mentioned in CIC a few months back, and got a lot out of it. It is online and there are no geographical barriers to participation (but there is a fee). If you are interested, you should be able to obtain the information needed by folloing this link.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set, Bill. The ones with blurred BG effects are nicely done to give the sense of motion. Looks like an interesting event to shoot. Some challenging opportunities.

[billtils]

Thanks Dan. Yes, the track is everything you say

[IzzieK]

I had read about the RPS when it was mentioned. I looked at it and then was distracted. Recently, with KimC posting her images from her sessions with Cliff Mautner, she mentioned Robert Valenzuela who wrote the Perfect Picture series (3 books)...wandered off and discovered Valenzuela at Creative Live. who is also one of the instructors there. Meandering further, I went to his website and enrolled in the Miami course for October.

Browsed further and discovered Fast Start Nikon D810, why not? I might learn something more than just the brand/model of my camera. I was pleased with the instructor, John Greengo. So I enrolled in my next class, The Fundamentals of Photography.

Fundamentals covers some shallow topics and some in depth ones. The lessons are bite-size, so to speak. The course is about something one take before embarking on any chosen genre after taking the course, a stepping stone. In reality, it is a 7-day course. In my reality, because I tend to take copious notes, I can start/stop while I do so to remember some talking points. (I just just bought a pack of Steno notebooks yesterday...) There are quizzes, Q&As, image analyzation, what is best for a certain scenery, etc. You can download the videos (which I did) and the bonus giveaways for each study sessions. The best way for me is to watch it online so I can start from where I left off automatically even from 2 days before instead of loading each chapter from my computer. My kind of lessons system. I found I am becoming more passionate about perfecting my shots and thinking about shots I have seen even only for the first time, analyzing other people's images is a new thing for me too. My best yet is to know which lens I can use even before I open my backpack. It is a fun learning experience for me. I am totally enjoying it.

For those interested in other genres, there are a whole heap of topics to choose from, including tots and baby photography, by Anne Geddes.

Izzie

We are saying the same thing but approaching it from opposite ends. Once you decide what you want in a shot, setting the exposure elements can be achieved in different ways. So for example, to either freeze the action or introduce some motion blur in the MX ones, your choice would be to first set the appropriate shutter speed, but you then have to adjust the aperture/ISO settings to give the depth of field that you wish. I start from the aperture and DoF point and then adjust the ISO to give the desired shutter speed.

It seems that you are interested in some serious study. I have just completed a course run by the Open University and Royal Photographic Society (OU/RPS) that was mentioned in CIC a few months back, and got a lot out of it. It is online and there are no geographical barriers to participation (but there is a fee). If you are interested, you should be able to obtain the information needed by folloing this link.

[billtils]

Thanks Izzie. I was not aware of Creative Live, but am now and have signed up for John's D750 class.