canoe in white water - framing

[andrewdt]

I am trying my hand at a new sport every so often, and this one I am battling with. I am undecided as to whether I should be in close to get the face and upper body (but risk not telling the story at all to the vast majority of people who don't quite know what they are looking at), or to be this far out and potentially have a boring but busy shot.

I think before I even look at the more technical aspects of what I have not done well here, please give me feedback on how you would frame this in camera.



Thanks in advance

[Hill Country Hack]

I personally feel this is framed well. Nice Rule of Thirds. Background is not busy. Good use of DOF. Compositionally, it works for me.

Granted, in this image not much is going on. She is not digging a stroke, or crashing through or over a wave etc.

Is this a competition with gates? If so, getting a shot working through the gate would be more interesting. Use multiple perspectives. Try to get higher and lower. Panning is an option not to be excluded.

[Doug Sundseth]

I would shoot both the wide open shot and the tight close-up, assuming that you can get close enough that your lens will cover that range or that you have two bodies. Neither shot will tell the whole story by itself.

[danbaileyphoto]

Nice job. Kayaking can be a tough sport to shoot, and in my experience, the best way to ensure good imagery is to put the camera on high speed and fire away, all the way through the rapid.

I think you did a good job here, the kayaker is looking into and traveling through the frame, and I agree, getting in somewhat close is your best approach, especially when shooting with longer lenses.

[andrewdt]

Thanks for the good feedback. I think I need to save hard for the 100-400 which I have spent a long while really wanting. Much apreciate the comments

[dlambert]

I like it as-is. Although the kayak is centered in-frame, the girl is positioned so she's got room to move to the left, and her face is well-placed in the upper right, so the framing feels just right to me. I'm just about certain that any tighter and I'd be complaining about cutting off part of the kayak or a paddle.