I almost deleted it

[seesaw]

But after playing with it a little bit, I kinda like it! But I know it can be better to make the bike stand out more. Any suggestions? Also I cropped showing the jump more rather than the destination. Which would be a better perspective?

 

[elle]

I only had a really quick play, with a bit longer I could probably make it a bit better... but here you go. I played with the levels a bit and upped the saturation.

 

[koda-46]

over exposed..... it looks as if u took it with a disposible camera

 

[neogfx]

It's actually underexposed. The sky is blown, but the ground and bike are underexposed. Also there is a bad case of lens flare.

 

[DigitalDiva]

No offense to you, elle, but your adjustments created major banding in that image. It looks incredibly digital now.

 

[LaFoto]

Hmm. This photo is one that only you can know if you want to keep it or not. Technically it went horribly wrong. But if capturing THIS moment (of the bike being airborne) is what makes you happy about the photo, so happy that your feeling of success overrides all the technical flaws given, then do keep it by all means.

Lighting alone (not to mention your crop and subsequent composition as we see it here, which does not leave the bike much room to fly into) is really a problem.

Is the photo underexposed? Or overexposed? The histogramme of your photo as shown here is the craziest I have ever seen:

So where to begin if you want to rescue this?

My steps ... leading to my edit, though I am not even sure you asked for one? Tip for next time: don't photograph such an action scene right against the sun. The dynamics are against anything your camera can deal with (so I think).

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

And I decided to end with Step 5 as "my edit" (but I am not happy with it and if this were my photo, it'd be gone):

 

[LaFoto]

DigitalDiva, what is "banding"? Can you tell me? Did I create the same, maybe?

 

[seesaw]

Yep, technically speaking, it sucks, but there was just something I liked about it. But I've liked seeing what some of you have done with it. I'm just trying to get some different perspectives- I am new to this and only know what I like, not what is good in the technical sense. And maybe I'm fond of it because it was different from the other pictures I have seen from the race track- almost like a sillouette.

Corinna you are a wonderful teacher! Thank you for going through those steps so thouroughly.

 

[nabero]

Okay, yeh, I agree that technically this is something of a disaster...

BUT I actually really like it. The lens flare makes the rider glow...there's something about it that I like...but I'm not sure how to explain it....kind of otherworldly. Godlike-adrenaline-induced-something-or-other...it conveys urgency....Like I said, I can't figure out how to explain it... but I do like it

 

[DigitalDiva]

DigitalDiva, what is "banding"? Can you tell me? Did I create the same, maybe?

Hi, LaFoto. Banding is noticeable transitions in areas of smooth color. When you make adjustments to a digital image, you run the risk of this happening. It is incredibly apparent when you print as there are sort of blocks of colour instead of a smooth transition that you get with continuous tone that you get with a traditional film image. If you look, especially where colours meet, you will see a sort of blockiness. HTH!