Some shots from Central Park Snoqualmie
- Thread starter Kelmarit
- Start date
SurfaceIsdurable
Member
go for the lowest aperture you’re camera will let you I think these would look a lot better with a blurred background and a crisp shot of the skier
Long lenses are cool. And like the above post shoot with the appropriate aperture.
Here's a little explanation
Think about your framing and what's behind your subject (trees for example can make it hard to pick out your subject from the background). Don't shoot into the sun unless you are doing it intentionally. Find cool backgrounds, shoot in raw to have more options in post and go look at [tag=216063]@stefan_mahl[/tag] s photos because they are great. Shoot the same feature from a few different angles etc.
Also, you can post just the photo in the post tab. You might even get picked for photo of the day which means everyone on the website will see your shot on the landing page
Here's a little explanation
Think about your framing and what's behind your subject (trees for example can make it hard to pick out your subject from the background). Don't shoot into the sun unless you are doing it intentionally. Find cool backgrounds, shoot in raw to have more options in post and go look at [tag=216063]@stefan_mahl[/tag] s photos because they are great. Shoot the same feature from a few different angles etc.
Also, you can post just the photo in the post tab. You might even get picked for photo of the day which means everyone on the website will see your shot on the landing page
Kelmarit
New member
14509553:Lonely said:
I should probably give you some context, I've been a professional photographer in the concert scene for about 3 years now.I also own a camera repair company so the explanation on the technical side of photography I have covered.
Good point on finding creative backgrounds though, my priority has mostly been about positioning on the jumps.
What do you mean post tab? I am very new to the forum.
stefan_mahl
Member
thanks a ton for the mention bud!
Yeah it depends a lot on when and what you shoot. Getting your skiing bud framed in the sky makes it stand out for the viewer and it gets them a sense for height and the scale of the jump. Also try to mix foreground and background, for ex. a little blurred foreground which takes not more than 1/3 of the image. When you shoot with open aperture, try to focus on a spot on the ground where the skier will problably be in the air when you want to take the shot, so you get him nicely sharp. If you shoot park, always shoot in burst mode so you get sure you're not missing anything of the action. And the chances are high that you get that shot of the grab or when the skier looks great on a rail.
Most of the time I use zoom lenses or classic, high quality ones. Zoom lenses (70-200 from Canon for ex.) gives you endless possibilities.
Raw is the key for post production. There are plenty of apps that can edit raw, no need for photoshop. If you have that extra money on the side, get yourself lightroom or photoshop.
Yeah it depends a lot on when and what you shoot. Getting your skiing bud framed in the sky makes it stand out for the viewer and it gets them a sense for height and the scale of the jump. Also try to mix foreground and background, for ex. a little blurred foreground which takes not more than 1/3 of the image. When you shoot with open aperture, try to focus on a spot on the ground where the skier will problably be in the air when you want to take the shot, so you get him nicely sharp. If you shoot park, always shoot in burst mode so you get sure you're not missing anything of the action. And the chances are high that you get that shot of the grab or when the skier looks great on a rail.
Most of the time I use zoom lenses or classic, high quality ones. Zoom lenses (70-200 from Canon for ex.) gives you endless possibilities.
Raw is the key for post production. There are plenty of apps that can edit raw, no need for photoshop. If you have that extra money on the side, get yourself lightroom or photoshop.
14509553:Lonely said:
Kelmarit
New member
[tag=216063]@stefan_mahl[/tag] thanks much for the composition tips. Would love to hear more about it and how you prefer to frame your shots.
if you have any other pointers send them my way.
I’m shooting on a Canon R6ii with a 50 1.8, my 16-35 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 are currently in the mail. Im coming from the Leica world so zoom lenses and autofocus is a new concept to me. Modern day AF at 40FPS is insane!
thanks for your comments on the foreground
if you have any other pointers send them my way.
I’m shooting on a Canon R6ii with a 50 1.8, my 16-35 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 are currently in the mail. Im coming from the Leica world so zoom lenses and autofocus is a new concept to me. Modern day AF at 40FPS is insane!
thanks for your comments on the foreground
14509882:Kelmarit said:
If you're willing to hear some constructive criticism from an amateur here...
Both are sick shots, but for example, in the second shot, you've got a skier wearing dark clothing against a dark background. Fixed pretty easily with some photoshop tomfoolery but that same shot, taken from further down the landing, or from a location where the skier is against a contrasting background makes it easier to pick out. Shooting the same feature from a few angles is important and even getting low is important.
This is one of mine that I like, but I beat myself up over it because if I had been shooting from a lower angle, the skier would have been completely contrasted against the sky. Instead, he looks headless because his black helmet is right in front of the dark trees in the background. Just changing the angle slightly would have made a big difference.
Here's another one where, besides many other issues, the background is pretty sharp and chaotic with trees everywhere so it's hard to focus on the skier when there is so much else going on.
But again, I'm a total amateur and the shots are super sick. Just being really picky.
In regards to posting the photos direct to the site
The post tab is in the upper left, clicking on it will take you to the option to post news, videos and photos.
Kelmarit
New member
14509928:Lonely said:
Totally agree.
The dark on dark shot was suboptimal in so many ways. Didnt bring my flash with me. I actually did brush tool the subject and bring up the exposure slightly. Not too much that the grain started to show, but enough.
But thank you very much! I appreciate the sounding board. I'm eager to get to know my space better and get more and more shots. I gotta keep tuning and figuring out the angles. Definitely agree on the shooting the same feature from multiple angles.
Those are sick shots yourself.
Thanks again.
Cheers,
SmokedGouda
Active member
In my opinion, youll get much better photos once your 70-200 comes. What others mentioned here with a blurred background is not only a control of your aperture but depth of field. Wider the focal length, the wider the depth of field is. This is why with your 50mm, the background lacked any reasonable blur at f1.8. To get more emphasis on the skier, the best thing to do will be to stand further back with the 70-200 and then zooming in further. 200mm at f2.8 will offer much more background blurr than a 50mm at f1.8. Photography like most works within the realm of ratios. Each time you zoom in at one aperture, your focus plane will shift drastically. As a landscape photographer, I spend a lot of my days fighting this ever present depth of field. This is why as a landscape photogapher, I stick to aperture such at f11 and f16 in order to get the overall image sharp and with wide angles, I delve into a bit of focus stacking with vertical shots...Horizontal shots usually dont, but obviously it depends on how close your foreground is. Hopefully with those other lenses, youll dive into some other aspects of photography like landscape. Theres more than plenty of opportunities for such in Washington.
From a compositional standpoint, try to maintain as much focus as possible on the skier. What can really help is removing messy backgrounds from the shooting point or find a background that is cohesively the same color overall with a different color on the skier. That will really help. Its a similar concept to wildlife photography as well, but with people, youre in more urbanized or developed environments and its really key to get that focus. I could see using a smaller aperture like f11 or f16 with a wide angle and pointing it up towards the skier. Just keep in mind that not only will you get more in focus with a smaller aperture, but a wider focal length will exacerbate that focal plane by A LOT!!
From a compositional standpoint, try to maintain as much focus as possible on the skier. What can really help is removing messy backgrounds from the shooting point or find a background that is cohesively the same color overall with a different color on the skier. That will really help. Its a similar concept to wildlife photography as well, but with people, youre in more urbanized or developed environments and its really key to get that focus. I could see using a smaller aperture like f11 or f16 with a wide angle and pointing it up towards the skier. Just keep in mind that not only will you get more in focus with a smaller aperture, but a wider focal length will exacerbate that focal plane by A LOT!!
SmokedGouda
Active member
14510153:SmokedGouda said:
Heres my recent work from just a week ago.
**This post was edited on Feb 14th 2023 at 1:55:51pm
Kelmarit
New member
14510158:SmokedGouda said:
Nice shot, Do you mind if I ask you for more tips for shooting skiers? Mainly the angles on features and placement of the subject. I assume leaving the ground in the frame helps accentuate air time; avoiding using the snow as a background will help the skier look more like they're flying. Placing them above the trees in the background seems to do a lot as well.
I just switched systems so the 50mm lens was suboptimal, but all I had at the time. I really appreciate your feedback as I get familiarized with the unknown territory of Ski photography.
I'd like to add to what you said by over complicating it just a bit. It's actually incorrect that the focal length of the lens determines depth of field. It's the camera to subject distance that effects the depth of field of an image. Focal length, when combined with camera to subject distance, determines magnification, determines depth of field. Youre right that the 70-200 would improve my depth of field from the same place. But I'm not confident in my ability to track the subject. Unfortunately, coming from the world of exclusively using 28 primes on my Q2 and M, means I have a lot of learning ahead of me on how to handle a telephoto lens effectively. I would also appreciate any tips on target acquisition and tracking.
I'm super hyped to try out the 70-200. Just a few more days to put the lens back together again and I can get to finally using it! I really appreciate the feedback and overtime ill update the thread with more images for critque. Thanks!
**This post was edited on Feb 14th 2023 at 2:13:58pm
**This post was edited on Feb 14th 2023 at 2:15:41pm