Wakeboarding C&C

[BoRyan]

I shot this for a friend, who has developed into a client. Never shot watersports before. How's the look?

 

[Mully]

Very nicely done.

 

[412 Burgh]

1st one is a killer to me! Don't know much about the sport though

 

[NorrellPhotography]

Nice. On the first one, you might even the lighting some. It's a bit dark top left and quite light on the right. Applying some gradient filters and bumping contrast might give more punch.

 

[BoRyan]

Nice. On the first one, you might even the lighting some. It's a bit dark top left and quite light on the right. Applying some gradient filters and bumping contrast might give more punch.

Thanks, Greg. It's had a gradient added to it, and a vignette, as well. Small vignette, but added. I'll move it around and see if it makes it better.

 

[Tony S]

I like the action, but I think a smaller aperture giving a much shallower depth of field would really pop the boarder out from the background.

 

[manaheim]

Color balance issues in the second one?

 

[pgriz]

I'd think that when shooting at sunset, you'd get that glow, which I really like. However, there is not enough separation of the subject from the background, and the tones are such that he blends in with it. So Tony's suggestion makes a lot of sense to me. It also would have put more emphasis on the spray of water in the first. I think your images are really good, but could be even better if you can reduce the background intrusion.

Edit: looking at it some more, maybe the next time you do this, you could also put a flash on (at maximum long-range setting) and arrange to have the backlight (as in the first image) really light up the water spray, then fill in the shadows (ie, your friend) with the flash. Chances are that your flash exposure won't be visible in anything except the darker areas, which is what you want.

 

[BoRyan]

I'd think that when shooting at sunset, you'd get that glow, which I really like. However, there is not enough separation of the subject from the background, and the tones are such that he blends in with it. So Tony's suggestion makes a lot of sense to me. It also would have put more emphasis on the spray of water in the first. I think your images are really good, but could be even better if you can reduce the background intrusion.

Edit: looking at it some more, maybe the next time you do this, you could also put a flash on (at maximum long-range setting) and arrange to have the backlight (as in the first image) really light up the water spray, then fill in the shadows (ie, your friend) with the flash. Chances are that your flash exposure won't be visible in anything except the darker areas, which is what you want.

Great feedback. I agree with the shooting a larger aperture comments. Because this was my first time shooting anything like this, I was cautious about slowing the camera down too much, and having a blurry subject, or having an unusable backlit shot. Because we were going back and forth from great lighting, to the subject being backlit, I tried to find the "sweet spot" in the settings to get consistent shots without needing to tweak settings as we did the run. I think with practice, I can get it dialed in to making 1-3 stop adjustments and still getting the shots.

The flash is a great idea. I'll bring it along next time.

 

[pgriz]

The other thing you might consider is doing it all backlit, or all front-lit per session (or at least sequence), so that once you get the right exposure combination, you can concentrate on capturing the images and not chasing the light. If your flash is strong enough, I'd even consider using a relatively slow shutter and deliberate ambient underexposure to create a blur of water, with the flash freezing the rider.