Big Air Landing

[Luftschiff]

I shot this at a Big Air Contest..
The shots ot them in the Air didnt work out too well (I had the Boarders with an all black Background but nothing else which looks kinda boring, there is no motion) but I quite like this one

What do you think?

[robackja]

Looks underexposed, snow is grayish (should have used a gray card to help properly expose the snow). Composition seems ok. Nothing that _pops_ out at me though.

I also looked at your post of the "Jumping Skier". I like the composition more there (except the top of the right ski pole is cropped), but it also looks underexposed and the snow looks gray.

I would suggest looking at this:

http://books.google.com/books?id=v4l...4p7Q#PPA120,M1

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Luckily for you, google preview of the book has the 2 pages that talk about exposing for snow (or other mostly white subjects)

thanks for sharing! look forward to more posts.

[Sandie]

I like the movement and the color of the snowboarder. I like the spray of snow in the back. I like the extra snow on the right, but agree that it needs some adjusting to make it pop a little more.

[Sid]

I retouched the photo to show you how I saw it when I looked at it. Some simple things in photoshop, sharpening, correcting colour balance, fixing levels or curves (whatever you like) and a dramatic crop. Also I had to clone in some snow because the black background was HUGELY distracting.

Anyway hope that helps

[Luftschiff]

Thanks a lot for the advice.

@ Sid: I really like what you did to the photo. I guess I have to learn a lot more about using photoshop (at least the basics)...

Any suggestions where to find good tutorials?

[Sid]

Glad you like it. Yeah Photoshop (or some other image editing software) is more often then not a priority with digital photography. Basically it's the darkroom of the digital age. You should definitely get up on one of them.

As for a website I never really use them, I learn a lot from different designers and through my own experimenting. Though I check this one out on a regular basis:

http://psdtuts.com/

Oh and of course DPS itself has lots of tips and ticks.

[Luftschiff]

I will definitly check out that Tutorial page...You guys will see my results on here ^^

[Sandie]

While I like the quality of the snow better, I disagree about the black for two reasons, one you loose the spray which is a nice element and two the black gives depth-distance to the image as well as makes the colors of the snowboarder pop more. I really think some black is necessary.

[robackja]

5 min take on this photo.. I still would have preferred the white balance and exposure correct "in-camera" using a gray card to properly expose the picture.

[e=me]

Other than what has already been said; I feel the picture lacks a story and action. I understand the jump shot was unusable, but this look like just another boarder taking a turn down the pass and not someone in a competition or whatever. There should be some sort of dept to the shot showing what is going on, maybe having the jump in the background or something that shows what or where the rider is at.