BMX Photography

Went to the local indoor skatepark with a friend of mine (BMX'er) and took my camera for a change since it's the first time I've taken this kind of photography!
After ages trying to get the right shutter speeds and figuring out when to shoot due to the fucking shutter lag I think I had a decent setup with the built-in flash.

I'd appreciate your feedback on the shots I took
some jumps, some flatland!

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edit:
Just a small note I'd like to add. The guy doing the flatland stuff won a few of the amateur competitions at the NASS festival, he's good :D
edit 2:
fucked up the URL to #4 as it's a duplicate to #8. Fixed D:::
Comments
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Pics are big, didn't want to waste up space because people would probably moan :{
Parent
the ones using mozilla wont whine!
Parent
awesome!
wow panda this is rly nice!
you got talent for this !
Decent pics (if he didn't look so gormless !! :v ). Pity about the blurry red outline of his top... 'n did you do smth to his top on pic #7? Looks altered - the line on his back.
No alteration in any of the shots other than boosting the contrast a touch :}
Parent
Doesn't look real ~/
Parent
Read my reply to quad. May answer the reason why it has such ghosting effect :P
Parent
I don't know how this sort of photography should be like, but they all seem made with the same settings... I noticed you used (at least in a few) longer exposure time, since the background is a bit blurred, but the fact you're using the flash freezes the subject pretty much to a stand-still... I guess you had no other way of doing it unless it was outdoor and really sunny outside... Anyway, nice pics :)
It's my first time doing things like this as I'm mostly shooting landscape/wildlife shots, so it's something new and I wasn't sure what settings to use.
I tried a 'slower' shutter speed than normal so I could pan my shot, yet keep the subject nice and sharp, hence the reason for trying flash! Quite low lighting conditions in the building so I couldn't achieve the shutter speed I wanted.
Thanks for the comment :)))
Parent
what iso/shutterspeed did u use?
ISO 400 most shots because I was able to get a slightly faster shutter @ 1/60 compared to a few other stuff I tried out. Lighting wasn't that good so couldn't get much higher + anything over ISO 400 on this camera I'd get some stupidly annoying noise :(
Parent
almoast every camera has noise with iso over 400, still if u dont have an external flash, its prettymuch impossible to get the shutterspeed right so it doesnt get blurred.
2 possibilities: if u have too much time on ur hands, use higher iso and remove the noise manualy in photoshop, wich usually makes the picture kinda plastic-looking.
you could also try shooting with 400 iso and shutterspeed like 1/125 (in RAW-format this gives a little bit lighter image but it has less contrast than jpeg). it will become too dark, so use fotoshop to get it lighter again, altough the contrast gets fucked by this.
Parent
I've got a few external flashes but they're all for my old 35mm SLR d:
I'll be getting a new camera xmas time so I'll be able to achieve a few more stuff compared to my Fuji s9000 so far \m/
Parent
wich camera?
Parent
I hate shooting in RAW unless I got time and even still I only use it for my sea/landscape shots because this camera has such a slow buffer it takes over 10 seconds for one image.
Although it is an option if I have time for such shots when I go back to the skatepark :)
Parent
i dont realy shoot in raw either, but it is an indoor-solution-like-thingy ;)
ohyea, try holding something in front of the flash, so it sort of reflects backwards, it still gives the flash but wont make the body like jesus ;)
Parent
I was getting impatient shooting at the skatepark as it was because it would take about 5 seconds just from shooting one picture, by then I'd have missed a decent scene :{
At least the 450D will be nice, and I'd be able to make an action sequence shot of a rider in various positions on the jump :_D
Parent
you should take a look at sony's camera's, they took over minolta and some other companies.
they produce better camera's than canon imo (altough i have a nikon D50 myself for 2 years now)
Parent
I think I'll stick with Canon as my main camera (when I get my new DSLR anyway) as I've got a few Canon 35mm film setups here, so I can switch lens' around :)
Parent
1.blurred
2.blurred
3.blurred
4.blurred
5.blurred
6.blurred
7.blurred
8.blurred

Get yourself an air-rifle and shoot birds lad xD
SHOOT birds?!?!?
I'm an avid bird watching meight! I don't care what they did 'back in your day' old man :D
Parent
I'm talking about putting your time to GOOD use instead of spending your hard earned dole money on some telescope with a capture function!
Like I said, get an Airgun and shoot some bloody pidgeons ffs...
btw, wheres my coastal wallpaper without the dinosaur birds on the thing?
Parent
what wallpaper? :s
I used to have an air rifle but that was just for target shooting, not at birds. Although I wouldn't mind one right now to shoot some cunting crows in the garden :{
Parent
:p
seriously tho, u did a coastal pic I really liked...There was some fucking albatrosses on it, so I commented and the Journal got deleted I guess......
need that same pic without pterodactyls on the fucking thing ...:)
Parent
Hmmmm, which one was it? D:
My photostream = http://flickr.com/photos/inyunyyn/
Parent
http://flickr.com/photos/inyunyyn/2658980937/in/set-72157606225803422/

shit, I did a real nice pic from my window overlooking the rhein with a 3.1 kodak digital camera...the sky was amazing, so many colours...I only got an A4 size print out of it now tho :(
Parent
Ahh, thought it may have been that one :P
those mongol gulls were swooping at me, I think their nest was close as I climbed up the cliff onto the ledge :D

I have a pile of shots from that evening somewhere on my ext hdd. I'll have a look in the morning for a similar shot without the gulls and I'll PM you!
Parent
<3

btw, one of the best weekends I ever had was at Cemaes Bay visiting a mate who was in the air force with me.......get yer self up there its gorgeous for photography..
Parent
North Wales I see.
I much prefer the coastline along the south (Glamorgan heritage coast <3) examples = here :>
Parent
http://flickr.com/photos/robspages/645825647/

thats a beaut. (I miss my sea, was brought up on coast here :- image: 800px-Bardsea_From_Birkrigg
Parent
Rob Hudson has some awesome photographs, was reading his book he has out which is mostly based on the southern coastlines :P
Wish I lived near the sea. All I got around me are small mining/steel towns in the valleys :D
Parent
he does indeed..."almost" wallpaper material...but I'm waiting for yours..Öö...gn m8
Parent
I guess you've used the built-in flash panda? :)
concerning the blurry pics, a faster shutter speed and play around with the lightning in general next time
the pictures of the guy wearing no tshirt are the best for me in terms of sharpness, but his body is over enlightened + you should've used a higher ISO

nice pics btw, great work :)
Thankyou.
Build-in flash indeed, I tried messing around with the various options you have like fill flash + red eye reduction (which did work well with the dual flash it has!)
Was shooting at ISO 400 as mentioned. I'll be going back soon so will try some stuff as mentioned in this journal (RAW + high ISO like you mentioned)
Body was pretty much that light due to the flash, but if I spent more time editing the shot I'm sure I could have sort that out :@)
Parent
which flash mode did you use, 1st or 2nd curtain?
and yeah working in RAW is best .. IF you have the abilities ofc (e.g. big memory card)
I guess you don't need an external flash for landscape and wildlife pics, so you can carry on with the internal one without spending on that, just mess around and remember the good ol' saying :p Good photography comes with experience. Experience comes from bad photography!

I myself need to buy an external flash, a local club contacted me for party pics :D
was thinking about the (SB-600 or) SB-900 which is like 400€ in total, need to save some money for that atm :p
Parent
I used a variety of both, just trying to see what they do etc :>
Will you be getting paid etc for taking those party shots then?
With most of the photography I do I've never really used a flash, but if I do need one for macro, I'm sure a built-in with an home made diffuser* would be good enough.

*The DIY diffuser is usually done with a coke can cut up with some kitchen paper on the front, don't know if you seen them? :P
Parent
yeah, 10€ / hr (free entrance/drinks) and the hours are pretty nice, from 00 till 04am (1 or 2times a week, depends).. its perfect since I've got school once a week (fridays) this coming semester :D

and yes I've seen it on youtube, pretty nice (and cheap) alternative indeed :D
can't seem to find the link atm :( it's in my bookmarks at my other laptop (will post it if I find it)
edit got it: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCmuExlHvM&feature=user
Parent
I've seen one with the end of a plastic ketchup bottle too (all kinds of diy lightspheres), this cola can is new to me ;D
and well.. taking pics of animals or landscapes with this is no problem, but do you see ppl walking around with this on parties/weddings? you're kidding me right :D
Parent
Haha, you'd probably get some strange reactions if you use one of those at a wedding :D
Anyway, sleep time for me, we got a big continental market in our town in the morning, so I will be up there trying to get some nice candid shots :P

NN!
Parent
was checking out Lord V's flickr, shitloads of nice macro photography!
same here btw, nn and hf tomorrow!
Parent
i think he should put a top on!
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