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Tony, I’m glad to see you back at it. I always enjoyed looking at your stuff. I appreciate you posting and sharing. I look forward to more!
Yep, they both matter but yes distant backgrounds help the cause and can have a similar appearance with a smaller aperture if your subject is close to filling the frame.
Glad to hear it, Its nice to contribute
... I wouldn't mind doing some photography for the industry again on a limited basis. I just don't have a desire to be a fixture anymore. I'm 55 now and like before...I want to pursue the art - ever changing as it may be.
Ill have to do a distance/aperture test and post up the photos in off-topic.... I'm curious now to see how this would play out.
example: shoot 5 images all at F4 from a descending distance to subject.... then shoot 5 from the same distance to subject (at F8) but moving the background to subject further away each time and see the differences in bokeh
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I think it comes down to the size of the subject, the FL, how distant the BG is, and also how busy the BG is. You can shoot a bird at f/8 and completely blow out a fairly busy BG if he's filling your frame. But shooting a rider at f/8 you would need a distant background to get a similar bokeh look to a larger aperture shot and the rider would need to be close to filling the frame. Down on the beach or lakes with distant backdrops you can simulate nice bokeh with a smaller aperture but I always prefer large apertures unless I'm stuck with a lens like my slower RF 100-500.
Awesome photo, OP!
Hi TOE,
Welcome back...nice shots. BTW, weren't you doing some metal sculpture work awhile back? That is art too, right? How did that go?
I like your current attitude towards photography. While I loved shooting motocross I kinda grew out of it - you know life and work priorities and all that... Last year I changed directions and went to the Leica system! Trying to become the "Simon Cudby of Street Photographers"
Good Luck!
Rex Backman
Hi Rex...Thanks
Yes, Still making things out in my shop, one of my many respites from the grind of daily life, Ill see if I can find some photos of my work and post them up. I totally understand moving on, were humans having a human experience and that's part of the deal. At the end of my run I didn't enjoy photography for a variety of reasons (mostly personal) but some of it was the travel and all of it cumulative...I promised myself to never let that happen to anything I was passionate about ever again so I took the time I needed, regrouped and now 15 years later I'm very happy to be shooting again, I'm searching for moments and I'm very excited about creating... I have a trip planned to Katmai National park next summer to shoot grizzly bears over 6 days and haven't been this excited in many years
...Very cool on the move to Leica and your aspirations, we all need goals 
Here’s “Yggdrasil” (Norse tree of life) it took me 470 hours to build this behemoth (weighs 130lbs) it’s 5 feet wide.
Current project, Jack Skellingtons house made entirely of flat bar and square stock for the window dressings and awning poles… several hundred hours in this one as well.
Happy Independence Day everyone
Great quality, vibrant colors, backgrounds aren't cluttered. Great pics! Love everything you've posted, might make that Jett shot my phone background haha
Thank you, glad you like em... I still miss the days of banners and people lining the tracks but I get its gotten faster and more dangerous as a spectator sport. clean backgrounds can still be found though
That's a great pic! I bet Freddy would love to have that.
I'm still going through these images and finding ones I like to share
Pit Row
Curious, how did the 1DX compare to the R5 shooting moto stuff? I recently picked up the R5 recently but took about a 2-year break from shooting moto. I used to shoot moto with 5dmkIII. I love the R5 for portraits and studio work, which I mainly do now. But with getting it, I think i would have to jump off a bridge with a 45mp sensor lol
The R5 works great for moto. The first time I used an ML body for moto I hated the EVF experience and was convinced I was going to keep the 1DXIII to shoot all action specifically for the the optical viewfinder. That didn't last long. I quickly learned all the other benefits of the R5/EVF and I sold off all my mirror slapper bodies. In electronic shutter mode, the R5 has a slow readout speed which can cause some rolling shutter effects (distortion) but it's plenty fast for moto and it won't affect your final output. I shoot pretty much 100% in ES mode @ 20fps, but you can shoot in mechanical mode @ 12 fps if you prefer. Files are big but if you're not already shooting in cRAW then I would suggest that as it cuts the file size nearly in half. The R5 is a hell of a camera for everything. If I shoot the R3 and R5 side by side, the R3 is better of course but I don't feel I miss anything with the R5. If anything, I just have more files to throw away with the R3. The R3 does have some cool burst features for certain things but for moto the R5's are more than sufficient. My R5's have been serious workhorses for a couple years now and I'm perfectly happy with them. We should be seeing the R5II soon.
Appreciate the info! I do want to get back into shooting some moto stuff, we shall see. Maybe ill give some video stuff a try
Back in 1990 I went to visit my cousin back east. I got the chance to ride at red bud for a practice day and man that place was a dream. Little harder than I thought it would be but we all had a blast…. I rode his 1987 or 88 can’t remember kx125. Trying to hit the leap didn’t even cross my mind….. yep
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