Skimming the surface of the dirt

[MOmilkman]

Tried panning for the first time this past weekend at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis. Thanks to the help from everyone on here!

I feel I came away with reasonable success, however I still feel there is room for a lot of improvement. The image is definatly not pin sharp.

Anything you feel I could have done better please let me know.



Camera Model Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/80
Av( Aperture Value ) 6.3
Metering Mode Center-Weighted Average Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 800
Lens 70.0 - 300.0 mm
Focal Length 100.0 mm
White Balance Mode Fluorescent
AF Mode AI Servo AF

[barabe]

I think you did a great job on panning, i still have to try it for myself so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I think it would be very hard to be pin sharp on this dirtbike shot since there is not only forward motion to consider but also the up and down motion created by the surface ridden on, I hope i am making sense here.
I also think your shot would gain if the whole motorcycle were in the frame and if there was a litle more space for the rider to move into intead of being just on the verge of leaving the frame.

Hope i helped out.

[MOmilkman]

Ok, how bout this one then...



Same settings as above

[ericw]

Cmposition is better in the second shot but you definately need to leave more head room above him. Also a general guideline for action sports is to try and tell the story with your image... the story is the rider went off a jump, flew through the air, and landed. In this image all we see is the rider in the air; we don't know how high he is, how he got that high, or what type of landing he's going to have.

I'd say the panning looks pretty darn good for your first try. For the composition I'd head over to wheelsandwax.com, go into their forums, they have one for "dirt" or "earth" or something or other - lots of mountain biking but this should be very similar - and read the critiques of other peoples photos. Lots of magazine-quality shots being critiqued over there and lots to read and learn.

[barabe]

Very nice second shot, I agree with ericw about more head room and story would help out a lot. As far as panning goes, i think you nailed it again on this one.

[MOmilkman]

Great ideas guys. Next time I'll try to pull back a little on the focal length.

Appreciate the remarks.

[SydneySnapper]

Try openng up the aperture, you'll be able to increase shutter speed and (hopefully) get less blur of the subject of the photo. Your background will still blur and you'll get the motion blur, but you'll find it easier to get sharp focus on your subject.