Some BMX photos (rim light practice)

[Destin]

Alright, so I got a chance to go down to an indoor mountain biking/BMX park in ohio called Rays MTB. 135,000 square feet of ramps and obstacles. Simply amazingly fun place to ride/shoot and hangout. Anyway, I got sick of seeing flatly lit, boring photos from there. Soooo, I set up 3 speedlights on stands and got to work. These are all from the same ramp and lighting setup. SB-600 key light 50 feet in front of the ramp, 9 feet up, 1/2 power zoomed to 85mm. Yongnuo yn-460 II on a 9 foot light stand, 90 degrees to the riders right side, 9 feet up on a lightstand. Another yn-460 II, on full power, 3 feet off the ground aiming up at the rider from behind his back right side. I'm fairly happy with the results, what do you think?

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4.) This one is a different spot and lighting setup. All I remember is that the three lights were raised to the riders level, each about 35 feet away. One behind him and to his right, one behind him to his left, and one in front of him, about 30 degrees to *his* left. Don't remember the power ratios but I THINK they were all around half power. I know they were pretty close to one another power wise.

How did I do?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

This is not my thing, but I love how the light defines the wheels that would otherwise blend into the background.

Where is this place? I think I listened to the story of how the guy got this going on NPR.

 

[Destin]

Thanks Bitter! I wish that rim light extended all the way up like that and defined their bodies too, but I couldn't get a light high enough to do it.

It's in Cleveland, OH, and they opened a new one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this year. Here's a link to their site: Ray'sMTB You probably did hear the story on NPR, the story of how he opened it is pretty amazing. Ray is a really cool guy, totally down to earth and loves talking to anyone and everyone who comes through the door.

 

[Fender5388]

lighting on the riders is great! but the compositions are kind of weak, there needs to be more of the ramp in the photo to give perspective to whats going on. I can't tell how high he is, or what ramp he is even riding! With 135,000 square feet you got plenty of space to work with! As a rider myself i wanna see the whole story! i've always wanted to ride this place, i've seen it in a few different edits.

 

[Destin]

lighting on the riders is great! but the compositions are kind of weak, there needs to be more of the ramp in the photo to give perspective to whats going on. I can't tell how high he is, or what ramp he is even riding! With 135,000 square feet you got plenty of space to work with! As a rider myself i wanna see the whole story! i've always wanted to ride this place, i've seen it in a few different edits.

Everyone says that, but I don't really agree. Personally (as a rider myself) I want to see a tighter crop that shows the small details in me and my bike. I'm not saying I don't like wide shots.. I definitely do. But outside of just having a personal preference to tight crops, this place makes it HARD to get good wide shots on alot of the lines. Part of this is due to my widest lens being my 28, but most of it is that the lines are so close to one another here that getting back far enough to get a wide shot without getting in the way of another rider is a real challenge. Yes, it's 135,000 square feet, but you couldn't fit another jump or obstacle into it if you wanted to. It's nuts how many lines they have jammed into this place. It would definitely be worth it for you to drive/fly out and spend a weekend there riding, trust me. Another thing is that with so much other stuff there, wide shots = busy, insanely distracting backgrounds that annoy me.

 

[Fender5388]

fair enough, to each their own. i prefer to shoot with a 50mm on a crop censor. I'm usually far back away from the action, and it can be a pain if the park is busy, especially indoor parks, they are a pain to shoot in general i feel like.
either way i envy your lighting in these so keep it up! :thumbup:

 

[Destin]

fair enough, to each their own. i prefer to shoot with a 50mm on a crop censor. I'm usually far back away from the action, and it can be a pain if the park is busy, especially indoor parks, they are a pain to shoot in general i feel like.
either way i envy your lighting in these so keep it up! :thumbup:

Thanks man! I'll be there again next month shooting some more, and I'm looking forward to it! I really want a wide angle lens though, it would make shooting there SO much more fun. There is a red bull wall ride/berm right after this jump that I want to shoot so bad, but I don't have a wide enough lens.

 

[Fender5388]

might consider icing up a cheap fisheye, i bought a rokinon 8mm for 175 and i love it, not something to shoot with all the time but its a lot of fun. maybe ill get to go one day, i've been trying to take more road trips for bmx lately. we drove to Austin, TX last summer!

 

[Sammie_Lou]

I like the tighter crops - the first three catch my eye way more than the last one. The last one just looks so anti-climatic when compared to the others. Having it cropped like that, they could be 6 inches off the ground and I would be impressed because the photo just LOOKS impressive. Also, loving the rider's facial expression in the first one. I think that might be lost if the crop wasn't as tight.

 

[Destin]

I like the tighter crops - the first three catch my eye way more than the last one. The last one just looks so anti-climatic when compared to the others. Having it cropped like that, they could be 6 inches off the ground and I would be impressed because the photo just LOOKS impressive. Also, loving the rider's facial expression in the first one. I think that might be lost if the crop wasn't as tight.

The first 3 photos, the rider is 10-15 feet above the ramp. The fourth photo, that ramp is 15 feet tall, and it's really just a roller to gain speed, hence the low height of the jump. I definitely agree about the tight crops though!

 

[Daf]

Great shots! You did good!

 

[DCMoney]

I also like the tighter crop, having shot and ridden everything with two wheels I would rather see more of myself and not the background.

Very nice pictures.

 

[FilmaTroy]

Not necessarily, A agree with the other guy about a wider comp. And he has a point. but It all really just depends on what you are shooting for, Most people that ride would see these and wonder what kind of ramp he is riding. Without seeing the area of the park, for all i know is that he was launching of a 1ft plastic kicker. As for you saying your background being too busy and thats why you avoided the wider angle, you can fixed that by shooting with your flasher at a higher power, and dropping that aperture to about f8.0 or f6.0 or around the and your shutter speed around 200 to 250 (if capable) that will black out the back ground while keeping your rider lit, as well as the ramps he is riding.

 

[Destin]

Not necessarily, A agree with the other guy about a wider comp. And he has a point. but It all really just depends on what you are shooting for, Most people that ride would see these and wonder what kind of ramp he is riding. Without seeing the area of the park, for all i know is that he was launching of a 1ft plastic kicker. As for you saying your background being too busy and thats why you avoided the wider angle, you can fixed that by shooting with your flasher at a higher power, and dropping that aperture to about f8.0 or f6.0 or around the and your shutter speed around 200 to 250 (if capable) that will black out the back ground while keeping your rider lit, as well as the ramps he is riding.

I'm aware of that but I don't want to have a totally black background either. I was already at 200th with my flashes running as high as I could get them while still maintaining the lighting ratio.