Motocross...

I've only had this camera for a short time so please, go easy on me. Here is a pic I took of my son on the track. Other than resizing it, I made no changes. What can I do to make it better?

Thanks!
Tanya

http://www.kevinraymx.com/Pics/Kev.jpg

Why would you think it needs to be better.

Ok the only thing I would suggest it to lighten his face/chest area BUT under these conditions I dont know if its possible.

Its sharp, shows great action, and I think its a great shot. Congrats.

There is no blurring in or on the tires to show that he's actually moving. You even managed to get the spokes of the tires frozen in time which in most cases is very good work.

In order to achieve the motion blur you need to manually set your shutter speed. Set it to what you ask, well setting is either half to full stop slower than how fast the subject is travelling. The shutter speed is still going to be fast enough to get the detail of your subject ... but there be a slight blurring with the spinning of the tires.

Another technique that is good for motorcross photography is called panning ... and it can be fun as well.

Again good work, next time just try reduce your shutting speed with each shot you take and note what your settings are. Then study your notes compared to the images and see the effects of motion blur or panning.

Hope that helps you some, can't wait to see another.

I agree with soup
The photo is great but it is strange to look at due to the shutter speed. Lots of things in the photo suggest movement...body position and dust behind the back tire, but the tires show no motion blur. It is a good job on stopping the action but i think a little blur would be beneficial too.
Great photo!
Jason

I think there are enough other elements to suggest motion that it's fine without the blur.

I added a little motion blur to show the idea, though.

Good edit Dave.
As for feedback on the original shot, good job on one of your first attempts, you stopped the action and you composed well and your exposure looks fine.
Can you provide for us a little more info as far as camera, ISO, shutter speed, etc. If you are using a camera with no manual mode, that is something to consider.
I shoot at motocross quite often and have a few shots showing different options if you would like to see I can email them to you with some advice on the subject. Let me know :D

Thank you for all the comments, tips and tricks.

Dave - I like what you did and your right, it does show more motion. I would love to do some editing but have not gotten that far. It's kind of hard to edit a photo if you don't know what to edit! :grin: What software did you use?

Callady10 - all I can say is that it's a Canon Rebel XT. I would love to see some of your shots if you don't mind sending them to me.

Thanks again!

Tanya

all I can say is that it's a Canon Rebel XT



Then you have all the manual modes and a great camera all around! Try some of these shots in Tv mode and use vaious shutter speeds to get different effects. I will send some pics your way

I use Photoshop Elements, Tanya. It's a good, basic editor. If you get any editing program, I suggest that you just experiment with it-open up the various features and apply them to see what they do. Also, get a book, not just the manual that comes with the program.
Taking good photographs is the first step, though, and you're going in the right direction there.

Thank you for all the comments, tips and tricks.

Dave - I like what you did and your right, it does show more motion. I would love to do some editing but have not gotten that far. It's kind of hard to edit a photo if you don't know what to edit! :grin: What software did you use?

Callady10 - all I can say is that it's a Canon Rebel XT. I would love to see some of your shots if you don't mind sending them to me.

Thanks again!

Tanya

Tanya,

Not to knock post-editing, cus I do it myself, but from my personal experience is learn it in the camera then learn how to post-edit. If you learn how to make motion blur in your camera ... then that less editing you have to do in the computer, thus time saved.

Keep trying, I'm sure you'll hit it soon enough.