That sand corner again C&C please

[oldguy]

I guess I like shooting this corner as much as Spider and his friends like railing it. I like both shots but something just seems wrong to make them step up into the better then average level.
What am I missing?

 

[ryankdx12]

The backgrounds aren't crisp enough. Likewise the riders seem less crisp than the foreground. Shadows dull them up too.

 

[IndyMX]

I agree, focus seems to be a bit off.. Beautiful Roost though!!

 

[Chili]

Dave it's hard to tell on this crap monitor and with web sized files but it looks like the actual focus point is in front of Eric in both shots. Are you prefocusing the Rebel, Using sports mode to get the Servo or another method for these? How you post process can have a large impact on the final look, we'll play with a few of your shots at Millville on my laptop in Photoshop to see if the results differ from what you get from your normal PP technique.

 

[oldguy]

I was shooting in the sport mode and did a quick prefocus on the top one using the weeds in the corner figuring they were where he would come into view. The second shot I was just walking across the track to get in position when he hit the corner and I just threw up the camera and shot.
I think after 3 comments saying the same about focus that between that and the shadow swallowing detail may be what I am seeing as missing. They are still good enough for now to be my desktops tho.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Dave - When you are shooting a sand corner like that the metering can sometimes have a tough time dealing with all the reflected light from the sand.

It might be worth trying spot or center weight metering off the rider so the sand isn't such a large part of the metering calculation. If you are setting up on a single corner for shots you can easily use manual metering and really nail it.

Your shots are definitely getting good. :cool:

 

[Squid31]

It might be worth trying spot or center weight metering off the rider so the sand isn't such a large part of the metering calculation. If you are setting up on a single corner for shots you can easily use manual metering and really nail it.

I was thinking the same thing. Only trouble is that you can not set the metering mode on the Digital Rebel. So that leaves you with 2 options.

1 -- Get used to what your camera does in that kind of light and set your exposure compensation to achieve proper exposure. I shoot 95% of my stuff with my 1D set to the right 1/3 to 1/6 of a stop. I'm not sure if you can use exposure comp in sports mode or not. ----- Ok, I just played with my Rebel, and it looks like no exposure comp in sports mode :(

2 -- Shoot full manual and learn how to read the histogram (something I really need to work on). Thing that sucks is you have no AI servo this way.

I messed with the first shot in PS for a few seconds and it can be made to look a lot better in just a few steps. Try the shadow/highlight recovery and set the shadows slider to 25. Then go into the exposure tool and set the Offset to minus .015 Lastly smart sharpen with the Amount set to 90 and the Radius set to .4 You will notice that the weeds on the right side look a bit over done now, but if you do the above steps on a separate layer, you can always use a layer mask to take care of that problem.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

I was thinking the same thing. Only trouble is that you can not set the metering mode on the Digital Rebel.

DOOOOHHHHHH :bang:

 

[oldguy]

Only trouble is that you can not set the metering mode on the Digital Rebel.

Not sure if it will have that option but I am waiting for delivery Friday or Monday on a XTi maybe gain that option.
Right now I have Photoshop elements 5.0 so as I try learning to use that hopefully it has the controls you mentioned
Thanks for the advice :nod: