Cycling winner

[vaaern]

Well took this shot today, cropped and changed some things, but I'm not very happy about it somehow!. help?

[mikedugganphotography]

Compositionally, I like how the winner seems to be just edging out the pack. What is the EXIF data. I feel it could be a bit lighter which would help to draw out more of the vibrant colors. I do like this shot.

[vaaern]

Originally Posted by mikedugganphotography

Compositionally, I like how the winner seems to be just edging out the pack. What is the EXIF data. I feel it could be a bit lighter which would help to draw out more of the vibrant colors. I do like this shot.

shutter: 1/2500
iso:640
focal: 6.4

I made It sharper and warmer (maybe let go of the warmth thing?)

[bradzo66]

As an ex semi pro racer here in Australia I love this photo and this sport . You live in one of the best parts of the world to see all the great races (lucky ,lucky bastard ha ha ) . The warmth may have played a part in washing out yr colour a touch but like above I love the image, you have really captured the essence of the end of a bike race , nice work.

[vaaern]

Originally Posted by bradzo66

As an ex semi pro racer here in Australia I love this photo and this sport . You live in one of the best parts of the world to see all the great races (lucky ,lucky bastard ha ha ) . The warmth may have played a part in washing out yr colour a touch but like above I love the image, you have really captured the essence of the end of a bike race , nice work.

thanks, i'll try and crop one out without applying the warmth after cropping.

[Chip]

My take is that the focus is off. The winner seems too blurry, while the signs hanging in the background appear in much sharper focus. Seems to me that the focus was too far back, unfortunately.

Composition-wise, maybe crop out the boxes on the left?

The range and depth of emotion you captured are great.

[inlina]

Originally Posted by Chip

My take is that the focus is off. The winner seems too blurry, while the signs hanging in the background appear in much sharper focus. Seems to me that the focus was too far back, unfortunately.

That's the biggest problem I see. The crowd seems to be in focus, but not the riders.

Also seems a bit noisy. Don't know if that's the PP or the ISO. If it is the ISO, you could have come back to 400 or even 200 and run the shutter slower without losing anything. I don't tend to shoot BMX any quicker then 1/1000 unless it is super bright.

CG

[emtab]

in addition to the above mentioned focus. I wondered why you warmed it up as much as you did. To me, it verges on sepia and I would say it's overly warm. I think that contributes to the color appearing somewhat muted. If the concrete was more towards grey, I think that would really pop the colors of the uniforms.

regards,
emtab

[vaaern]

well, it's a new lens, and it's a budget one, AND I'm not used to sport photography, I already cropped out a larg part of the picture, for the warmth thing, I edit on my laptop and just figured that my screen color automaticly changes (I fixed that now) small bits. It was actually just to try out sport photography but I'm not very sportive I guess =p I'll stick to landscapes and other none moving stuff

[Chip]

Originally Posted by vaaern

well, it's a new lens, and it's a budget one, AND I'm not used to sport photography, I already cropped out a larg part of the picture, for the warmth thing, I edit on my laptop and just figured that my screen color automaticly changes (I fixed that now) small bits. It was actually just to try out sport photography but I'm not very sportive I guess =p I'll stick to landscapes and other none moving stuff

You had all this going against you, and you still came close to capturing a very good photo.

I take sports photos fairly often, and more often than I care to admit, I screw up something: focus off, white balance off, I zoom in too much or not enough, I press the shutter too late or too early, I take the photo from a less than ideal place, etc. But, with practice, my mistakes happen a bit less often and my good photos improve over time.

From what little I can tell from this one photo, there's no reason for you to give up on photographing sports. If you enjoy it, just practice a bit and get to know your gear. Then, you just might be pleasantly surprised at how much progress you make.