Anyone got any photo question?

[quote="gp":20zzmpdn]Thanks Paul, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this stuff.[/quote:20zzmpdn]

Hey don't feel bad, I've been doing this for 32 years and I'm still figuring stuff out.

Hey Squid, no blue at all, nice! A little levels correction in PS will cut through the haze, that and a saturation bump. I'd try to watch the backgrounds and try to keep them clean so they don't distract from the action, I know that's tough at a local race when Hangtown's not all decked out for a National.

Longer lenses and bigger f-stops will give you more background blur but what meant was to watch what's in the background, sometimes you can step to one side just a few feet and miss all the junk, sometimes get down lower, sometimes higher and the stuff behind your subject will disappear.

Here's one of them with only a levels and saturation adjustment.

The before photo is on the left, after on the right.

[img:kwwtysae]http://www.buckleyphotos.com/IMG_0181.jpg[/img:kwwtysae]

This one could be cropped a little tighter but there's no real rule, it just depends if you want a cover or a gatepic.

To handle 300 shots you need some automation and Photoshop is great at that.

When I have to process a few hundred photos from a local MX race here's what I do with a Photoshop droplet.

1. Set the image size.

2. Crop with the marquee tool

3. Convert to LAB mode

4. Run auto levels on the L channel only (that affects the lightness/darkness only, no color change)

5. Sharpen the L channel with un-sharp mask

6. Convert to RGB

7. Bump saturation by 15 to 20 points

8. Add a copyright line that also includes the track and date.

9. Save as the same name but to a different folder

10. close, next please.

Homey post the photos here if you want me to take a look at them, that way everyone could benefit from your photos or my comments.

About the eye dropper tools, I never use them, it's too easy to click on a wrong spot and wreck an image especially if you don't have a calibrated monitor. If I do one image with levels I start with the black point slider, holding down the option key and slide until I just about have a solid black somewhere, then onto the white point slider with the option key down to see what's blowing out then maybe a little mid tone adjustment (no option key for that one.)

SIMX, post a couple here and we'll see what ya got

[quote="motodude":2ep01paj]Hi Paul,

This is awesome you are doing this. I have a question regarding shooting photos in the woods. I have taken a number of photos in situations where I am outside in the forest with lots of surrounding trees. I usually shoot something in ISO 400-1600 range and shoot at a wide aperture like 2.8 – 5.6 to avoid using flash for action shots. I have had little success.

Here is the problem. In between the dark shadows of the trees you have ambient light coming through also. I often get blowouts plus underexposed areas in the same shot.

I think the answer is using a high powered flash. The flash photos I have taken make a natural setting look fake however. How does one get natural looking photos in these settings with flash? Any tricks you care to share? Thanks!
Here are a couple samples of the problem. (no post processing)[/quote:2ep01paj]

It's a matter of balancing the light, set your aperture and shutter speed to the highlights and then add just enough flash to fill in the shadows, that might be minus 2 or three stops flash exp comp. Using manual exp mode is a must in situations like that since the sun streaming in through the trees will fool a camera's meter every time.

To keep those streaks going set your ambient exp to 1 or two stops below the correct exp. then set your flash's exp comp to give your subject enough light

[quote="wildbill":wvgblg49]Speaking of trees, my track is Washougal and it's full of them but let's back track a bit and focus on focus. My rig is a panasonic slr type with a funky focus window in the middle of the view. I normally auto on dirt close to where the riders are going to be but usually fail miserably in coming close. I also use the P mode because M is too complicated. How much does my range of focus increase by increasing the fstop, and is this a way to help out? On the Lewis shot, I remember autoing in on the lip of the jump. Manual focus is really hard to see in my window. (don't worry bout the crop... " title="Laughing"> )

Thank you, Great idea!
Bill
[/quote:wvgblg49]

Bill, give manual a try, it will really help when the track is all rich and dark brown (the perfect recipe to over expose a rider) set your ISO to 400, the shutter speed to 1000 and your lens to f11 and as long as it's a sunny day you'll be in the ballpark. If the shots look too light go to an f stop with a higher number, too dark go to a lower number (think of f stops as denominators in a fraction so f2 is one half, f16 is one sixteenth, f32 is one thirty second)

A smaller f stop will help your depth of field, it just takes practice predicting where a rider will be when you push the button.

[quote="brownracing":h5zg7so4]Not shooting MX right now but my son is playing basketball. A lot of the schools do not allow flash, and some of the gyms have low light. What kind of settings and suggestions would you recommend with a Canon Rebel XT? Also your suggestion with flash as well. Thanks.[/quote:h5zg7so4]

Brown, try the highest ISO you've got on your Rebel to see if that works for you at the biggest size print you're likely to make. See if that will give you something like 500 shutter speed at f4. Use the AI servo setting for the focus and try to catch the peak action moments, that split second when a player is in-between jumping up and coming down. Also try asking the AD if you can use bounce flash, a small strobe even an on camera one bounced off a nearby wall will help and the flash won't be pointed at the players.

I leave my WB on "Cloudy" almost all the time, the only time I use auto is if I'm inside shooting some weird lights combined with flash.