Picking the right line in the turn..

[jaymzx]

Hi, everyone! This is my first post in Critique (and I think my first post here lol).
I'm here for some constructive feedback about composition in action shots. I've been to other sites but they just seem to pat each other on the back for their Photoshop techniques :confused:

A group from my car club went to Portland International Raceway for some 'High-Performance Driver Education'. I didn't think I'd have time, but I grabbed some impromptu shots between runs. :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/2322180276_202a9dae90.jpg

This was shot with my D80 and my 18-200 F/3.5-5.6 VR lens, 1/200 shutter, 130mm focal length @ f/5.6, ISO 200. The only processing is just some cropping of some distracting foreground elements.

I chose this composition because it kept the car in the right third, with ample roadway and a cone ahead of it to give the image some direction. The car has some serious roll on it in the turn which I feel gives some 'action' to the picture. I don't like the fence in the background but you really can't avoid it at a race track. I feel the shot is a little underexposed (1/3 EV possibly?) but it was tough to pick out a bright white car on a bright overcast day without blowing it out completely :)

More shots in the set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaymzx/sets/72157604078733092/


Thoughts are appreciated!

[RexK_Cozumel]

The fence does not bother me as much as the cone does in this shot. Maybe because of the color. If you add a little background blur to the fence and grass it will not be as distracting. If you shot this in raw then it would be easy to bump up the exposure on this a bit. Otherwise a shadows/highlight adjustment will bring up the exposure on the car nicely.

[Jesta]

I prefer it as is, except without the cone and the white line in the bottom left corner, but you wanted to know how itd look... i dont like it myself, i think the fence, although ugly, gives it a sense of purpose and also makes the picture less empty

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh236/MCNJesta/2322180276_202a9dae90.jpg

[jaymzx]

Interesting change and I agree, after looking at it, the fence does look better there and better without the cone. Too distracting.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I look forward to posting up a few more soon. Any additional comments are also appreciated.

[xxpinballxx]

much better with the cone gone...the comp is fine for me....nice lines and placement is great going right to left into the frame....
I think taking the fence totally out would leave the photo unbalanced from top to bottom.
I say a bit of adjusting to bring the car out a bit and its fine....
seems to be a little of white to me
nice work!

[jdepould]

Settings look good, I would probably crop tighter, especially on the top. Also, you might get a better sensation of speed a few frames later with some panning, more of a side-on shot.

Something sort of like this:
http://www.pbase.com/jdepould/image/82600799/small.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/jdepould/image/82600799)

[jaymzx]

Settings look good, I would probably crop tighter, especially on the top. Also, you might get a better sensation of speed a few frames later with some panning, more of a side-on shot.

Something sort of like this:
http://www.pbase.com/jdepould/image/82600799/small.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/jdepould/image/82600799)

I agree regarding the panning. Unfortunately, I could only get so close to the track and this was the only turn I had time to visit. There are a few other shots in the Flickr set that involve panning the shot.

[Drew84]

I agree it has to be cropped closer to the car. But still leave some of the rumble strip on the inside of the curve. Its funny I fine a lot of people who are into cars are also into photography, it must be the mechanical aspect of it.