Action shot, trying 2nd curtain

[johanmw]

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted here for a while, so here goes.

I was at a local skate park here in Denmark, with my friend Magnus, shooting him skating.

It was difficult taking pictures in there, because there were a lot of dust in the air, caused by a bit dirty floor and all the skaters whirling it up in the air.

But here it goes:


Please feel free to critique and comment the picture, and the 2nd curtain technique. How did i do?

The rest of the set can be seen on flickr.

EDIT: The photo is going for a contest, in a freestyle magazine, and i'm not allowed to edit the photo in PS, that's why i haven't cloned out the white light in the upper left corner, and the sign on the right of Magnus.

[sukanta]

Very nice shot. Well exposed and nicely timed.
2nd curtain is the only technique in action photography because it creates trail behind the sportstar (not in front of for 1st curtain). Probably because of the title my eyes are searching for a more visible trail behind him. Do you have another shot with longer shutter speed and a bit lower flash power?


Just for a quick thought :- Is it possible to pan the subject with flash?? Do you have tried it?

Sorry for my poor english. English is not my primary language.

[wulf]

I prefer 7/8 - a more dramatic pose and one that better demonstrates 2nd curtain flash to convey the sense of movement. Both could probably bear being cropped a little tighter to the subject - you still need to convey distance from the ground but don't need so much space, especially to the top and sides, to do that.

Looks like it was fun though and you have some good results to show for your experiments.

Wulf

[johanmw]

@Sukanta: Thanks for the reply. I tried different shutter speeds, as you can see on my flickr page.
As for panning. The shutter speed was at around 1/8 / 1/13, and i follow the subject while the shutter is open. This is how i get the best results.

@Wulff: Thanks for the critique. It was very useful.
I haven't gotten around to cropping anything yet, but i will play with that, a bit later today i think, although that won't be allowed for the contest I'm entering.