Sports/Action Critique

[Daniel Veazey]

I'm brand new to photography, at least brand new to anything beyond point and shoot. I just bought my first DSLR a couple weeks ago and decided to put myself to the test. What I'm looking for is suggestions on how I can improve, such as composition, what I could do to make my image sharper while shooting. I had a UV filter on the lens for this shot. I certainly appreciate any feedback I get.

From Joe Martin Stage Race

Camera: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3000
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Focal Length: 55mm
Flash Used: No

I have a few more photos from this event on my website:
Joe Martin Stage Race | Daniel Veazey's Stuff
and:
A few more photos from the Joe Martin Stage Race | Daniel Veazey's Stuff

Thanks for looking!

Daniel Veazey

[kuvahmagh]

I'd use a higher ISO setting to allow you to use a faster shutter, that would reduce any camera shake as well as freeze the moment better.

I might also try cropping it so as to remove the two in front and the one way back, turn it into a Portrait Orientation as opposed to Landscape as the 2 behind her are much sharper than those in front.

On a side note your timing was good as you can see she is still really falling though if it were me I'd be kicking myself if I didn't have the whole thing on continuous shooting...

[Daniel Veazey]

Originally Posted by kuvahmagh

I'd use a higher ISO setting to allow you to use a faster shutter, that would reduce any camera shake as well as freeze the moment better.

I might also try cropping it so as to remove the two in front and the one way back, turn it into a Portrait Orientation as opposed to Landscape as the 2 behind her are much sharper than those in front.

On a side note your timing was good as you can see she is still really falling though if it were me I'd be kicking myself if I didn't have the whole thing on continuous shooting...

Cool, cool. I had not thought about the ISO. I mean, I had thought about it in the sense that I should always leave it as low as possible to prevent noise from showing up in my pictures. But I guess I should change my paradigm to understand that sometimes it's OK to turn up the ISO. Next time I'll try putting it at 400. Thanks for the tip!

[kuvahmagh]

Originally Posted by Daniel Veazey

Cool, cool. I had not thought about the ISO. I mean, I had thought about it in the sense that I should always leave it as low as possible to prevent noise from showing up in my pictures. But I guess I should change my paradigm to understand that sometimes it's OK to turn up the ISO. Next time I'll try putting it at 400. Thanks for the tip!

I use an Olympus E-410 and routinely shoot at 800-1600 though at these levels the noise is not so nice however there are programs to remove it. Personally I use Noise Ninja Pro Standalone. I don't like having the camera do that (Noise Removal) since IMHO it is doing a lot of other things at that moment and I'd rather let a dual core P4 handle w/e processing I can. At 400 though you shouldn't see any noticeable problems.

[hey joni]

i agree with everything kuvahmagh said.

Great moment to capture and I really felt myself saying 'ouch' for that cyclist.

[tan2sie6]

Good capture....that must of hurt a lot