Drag Bikes

V-Spec · 20 Sep 2007 at 23:05

Sorry...

More drag racing stuff from me.. been going through a few more and messing around, again shot in raw with MkIII, 300mm f2.8. I really like the bikes because depending on their helmets you can sometimes see their facial expressions as they're launched practically into orbit on these insane machines!
Brightness brought up a little on the duller ones, levels changed ever so slightly.. default sharpening off the camera.

Paul11 · 20 Sep 2007 at 23:08

awesome pics..

Darryn · 20 Sep 2007 at 23:12

Id love to see a tight crop on the first one, the perfect reflection in the riders visor could look amazing if it was larger. Imo, the area behind the rider, including the wheelie bar dont add to the image, and having a nice distance in front of him+the reflection in his visor really let you see where he is going.

Overall, I really like them all, 3rd being my favourite, but a re-composed 1st could be a winner.

V-Spec · 20 Sep 2007 at 23:26

As requested..

Is this what you meant?

They;re almost 100% crops.

PardonTheWait · 20 Sep 2007 at 23:47

I didn't notice it on the original version, but the reflection in his visor is very cool indeed.

All nice shots

Darryn · 21 Sep 2007 at 08:18

That 2nd crop is exactly what i was meaning and imo it works better than the original. As its getting near 100% crop it isnt looking its sharpest, but, given the speeds involved, distance from subject and also maybe a splash of USM i think its great.

V-Spec · 21 Sep 2007 at 10:23

DreederOcUK said:
That 2nd crop is exactly what i was meaning and imo it works better than the original. As its getting near 100% crop it isnt looking its sharpest, but, given the speeds involved, distance from subject and also maybe a splash of USM i think its great.

Thanks for the comments

I get what you mean now, i've done those kind of shots before some of them look great, admittidly it isn't the sharpest pic and imo looks better in the first example.. Trouble is with the speeds involved and the perspective changing whilst panning at 125/160 and having the camera track focus on something moving at over 200MPH can be quite difficult.. Im happy with the results though, might go through a few more later tonight.

Scam · 21 Sep 2007 at 17:52

Great shots. I cant imagine how hard that must be to shoot!

It might be my imagination (because you said you havent done any) but i think a bit of selective careful sharpening (i.e just the subject) could really give the shots a bit more pop and bring the rider/bike out of the frame. I think a couple of them could go a bit lighter still, but i'm just nitpicking really. Great shots

dirtybeatfreak · 21 Sep 2007 at 21:33

Paulus said:
awesome pics..

V-Spec · 23 Sep 2007 at 11:33

Scam said:
Great shots. I cant imagine how hard that must be to shoot!

It might be my imagination (because you said you havent done any) but i think a bit of selective careful sharpening (i.e just the subject) could really give the shots a bit more pop and bring the rider/bike out of the frame. I think a couple of them could go a bit lighter still, but i'm just nitpicking really. Great shots

Thanks for the comments

The problem is that the pictures arn't 100% sharp due to the perspective of panning, even if you track the subject perfectly, its orientation to you is constantly changing which means it'll never be 100% especially shooting at 125/160th, i've always found that using USM on shots that are ever so slightly blurred ruins the picture as you have to go overboard on to make a difference to the lines/edges, and you end up with a horrid oversharpened picture, i'll have another play and see if they look any better..