2 pics (extreme sport)

If the only point of this is to show the trick, then it's not photography. If you don't care about the lighting or the background, but only to show off the trick, how can you call it photography? You must always consider composition. Facial expressions aren't an absolute necessity, but it helps to convey the attitude, the emotion and the concentration of the skater. The same applies to football (soccer), ice skating, running - sports shots.

As a photographer, you're job isn't first and foremost to think as a skater, but as a photographer. If a photograph is good, then photographers can spot what makes it good, regardless of their field. Basic composition is always important.

That shot on page 2, that wasn't particularly good, imo.
What else would you call it? It most assuredly is photography. Just because something doesn't meet your definition of what is or isn't photography doesn't make any less or more THEIR idea of what is or isn't photography. I don't care for his images either but that, in and of itself, is not germane to the conversation.

As a photographer his job, first and foremost, is to get the photograph that fits the subject. If that subject breaks all of your so-called rules of photography then so be it. They may not be his rules. If a particular sport necessitates getting the area around the skater in the image then so be it.

Magazines and newspapers are full of photographs that break every conceivable rule of composition simply because sometimes there isn't time to worry about it. The world is not composed and sometimes it just won't stop long enough for the photographer to get in the most advantageous position for a shot. Sometimes you just shoot what you can get.
 
In my humble opinion, if you don't sacrifice a thought to composition, then you're not a photographer. I'm not saying the OP didn't.

What I am saying is that whether you're on a shoot and planning, or on a contest shooting whatever you can get, you still need to think about your composition. If all you care about is capturing the trick, and not thinking about the photographic elements in the shot, then I wouldn't call you a photographer.
 
In my humble opinion if you spend your life worrying about composition you will miss the shot. There are times to worry about backgrounds and lighting and whether the background is clean. There are other times that you throw a camera up, hit the shutter release, and hope like hell everything was set somewhere close to right. If I'm shooting a race and there is an accident down the track I am not going to stand there worrying about whether the horizon is perfectly level or whether everything adheres to the so-called rule of thirds or whether the drivers are looking at the camera or whether the subject is in balance with the background. All I am going to do is get the shot. Period. I am going to sacrifice absolutely zero thought to the composition.

And before everyone starts jumping on my case I am NOT advocating that composition be ignored all of the time. But sometimes composition takes a back seat to reality.
 
I agree with you there. Of course in such moments you need to just do whatever you can to get the shot. However, I mean in more "controlled" environments in which one simply aim to capture a "trick", and not give thought to how to compose it, which angle to shoot from, where the lighting is coming from, how the background is and so on, that does not sound as "photography" to me. Should the skater suddenly lose balance and turn in the air, then I'd shoot and hope for the best (for the image, LOL... jk)
 
If the only point of this is to show the trick, then it's not photography. If you don't care about the lighting or the background, but only to show off the trick, how can you call it photography? You must always consider composition. Facial expressions aren't an absolute necessity, but it helps to convey the attitude, the emotion and the concentration of the skater. The same applies to football (soccer), ice skating, running - sports shots.

As a photographer, you're job isn't first and foremost to think as a skater, but as a photographer. If a photograph is good, then photographers can spot what makes it good, regardless of their field. Basic composition is always important.

That shot on page 2, that wasn't particularly good, imo.

Are you talking about the one I posted of Eric Koston? I can tell you, as a skater, looking at that picture makes me want to get on a skateboard and it's 30 degrees outside. :mrgreen:
 
I agree with you there. Of course in such moments you need to just do whatever you can to get the shot. However, I mean in more "controlled" environments in which one simply aim to capture a "trick", and not give thought to how to compose it, which angle to shoot from, where the lighting is coming from, how the background is and so on, that does not sound as "photography" to me. Should the skater suddenly lose balance and turn in the air, then I'd shoot and hope for the best (for the image, LOL... jk)
I agree. When time allows then certainly composition should be considered. Your comments about not giving a thought to the background and composition just hit one of my sore spots and I apologize if I came across hard, it was unintentional.

I see a lot of posts on various forums that pertain to action shots. The comments are frequently posted by the more artistic members of the forum and usually follow the lines of "Oh, it would have been so much better if the subject was just turned a little bit more and had just a touch of more light right where the other car was hitting." They give no thought to the fact that sometimes life does not wait for someone to compose a shot. Sometimes you just take the shot and hope for the best.

When I shoot action events I normally try and not crop things very tightly so that some issues can be cleaned up in post processing. When I shoot races I position myself as best as I can to take advantage of the light and the background (although the background around race tracks is usually lousy no matter what I do). I never, ever use a flash at a race. Other than that I get what I get and frequently hope for the best. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.
 
"composition" doesnt matter as much in skate/bmx photography... yes it does play apart but not much... lighting would be second... watch this video (How-To Shoot A BMX Photo With Ryan Scott | Ride BMX) angle would be next... straight on shots look bad but at the angle they do it it looks good! after angle you make sure your obstacle is in the picture! you dont wnat a dude just floating there! you have to know HOW he got there!!

i think his bmx picture was GOOD! his skate pictures needed more light and a little zoomed in just enough that you could see about a foot of the lip and then him at the top of the frame...
 
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If the only point of this is to show the trick, then it's not photography. If you don't care about the lighting or the background, but only to show off the trick, how can you call it photography? You must always consider composition. Facial expressions aren't an absolute necessity, but it helps to convey the attitude, the emotion and the concentration of the skater. The same applies to football (soccer), ice skating, running - sports shots.

As a photographer, you're job isn't first and foremost to think as a skater, but as a photographer. If a photograph is good, then photographers can spot what makes it good, regardless of their field. Basic composition is always important.

That shot on page 2, that wasn't particularly good, imo.

Are you talking about the one I posted of Eric Koston? I can tell you, as a skater, looking at that picture makes me want to get on a skateboard and it's 30 degrees outside. :mrgreen:

Notice you can see his face and his eyes dialed down waiting for the bolts to pop back up.

"composition" doesnt matter as much in skate/bmx photography... yes it does play apart but not much... lighting would be second... watch this video (How-To Shoot A BMX Photo With Ryan Scott | Ride BMX) angle would be next... straight on shots look bad but at the angle they do it it looks good! after angle you make sure your obstacle is in the picture! you dont wnat a dude just floating there! you have to know HOW he got there!!

Angle IS composition. :)
 
If the only point of this is to show the trick, then it's not photography. If you don't care about the lighting or the background, but only to show off the trick, how can you call it photography? You must always consider composition. Facial expressions aren't an absolute necessity, but it helps to convey the attitude, the emotion and the concentration of the skater. The same applies to football (soccer), ice skating, running - sports shots.

As a photographer, you're job isn't first and foremost to think as a skater, but as a photographer. If a photograph is good, then photographers can spot what makes it good, regardless of their field. Basic composition is always important.

That shot on page 2, that wasn't particularly good, imo.

Are you talking about the one I posted of Eric Koston? I can tell you, as a skater, looking at that picture makes me want to get on a skateboard and it's 30 degrees outside. :mrgreen:

Notice you can see his face and his eyes dialed down waiting for the bolts to pop back up.

"composition" doesnt matter as much in skate/bmx photography... yes it does play apart but not much... lighting would be second... watch this video (How-To Shoot A BMX Photo With Ryan Scott | Ride BMX) angle would be next... straight on shots look bad but at the angle they do it it looks good! after angle you make sure your obstacle is in the picture! you dont wnat a dude just floating there! you have to know HOW he got there!!

Angle IS composition. :)

yeah i realized that right after i posted it... by composition i meant more like what is in the background...
 
While getting the riders facial expression isn't necessary, it can make the difference between a good and a great shot. I quick google search on Morgan Wade and half of the shots capture his expression.
 

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