Motorsports composition

[adrianh]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Framing and composition. This picture has been cropped slightly to remove the barrier on the left of the subject. I have included a blurred rider in front as i think it makes the subject seem like he is chasing his opponent.

I am unsure of what to do with the green and white tyre barrier at the top left corner. I could crop it further to remove it entirely, but wouldnt it be too tight a crop?

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
To portray a sense of speed and the adrenaline rush associated with motor-sports.
I am aspire to be a motorsports photographer (just got my camera though! long way to go)

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken?
Picture taken during an open track session at sepang f1 circuit. The day was hot (extremely) and sunny

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
In my opinion it may be better had i taken the picture with the subject's front facing me as his body posture would further emphasize the sense of speed

 

[phazed1]

did you 'skew' the pic?

 

[adrianh]

hi Phazed1,

I only cropped the picture using GIMP. no other alterations done to it.
When taking the pic, I did tilt the camera abit

 

[2evans]

The blurred rider seems to distract from the main rider and my eyes keep going back and forth between the two riders.

Nice panning work and sweet bike.

 

[adrianh]

thanks 2evans!

hmmm now that you mentioned it, i agree with you, the blurred rider is pretty distracting. Since this was a track session, i wanted to show some form of racing. Perhaps this is not the best way to do it. Will try again.

what about the white and green tyre barriers on the top left of the picture? Should i tilt the pic and crop them out?

 

[2evans]

what about the white and green tyre barriers on the top left of the picture? Should i tilt the pic and crop them out?

I think it's ok to leave that.

 

[Snapperholic]

No pro here but felt that it would be more dynamic if the main rider was shot panning with him coming towards us than away from us.

And yes, the second rider is quite distracting~

Other than that, :thumbsup:

 

[adrianh]

2evans, Snapperholic,

Thanks for your comments, i will try again soon!

 

[alcohollywood]

I'm just going with gut feel here.

I find the subject to be slightly out of focus, probably because of the speed. I'm sure if you had a few more tries you'd have a good chance of getting it tack sharp.

My preference is for the front rider not to be in the shot. Alternatively, the front rider should be further in the distance, i.e. smaller, so as not to distract from your main subject.

If I may add, I think the angle at which the track is aligned within your composition makes it a bit more 'artistic' than 'journalistic'. It may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you're aiming to achieve.

Having said all that, I still like the shot in general. All the best with your future attempts!

 

[TheTerror]

Newbie's comment here:
I believe it would look great if you convert to b/w. The cyan on the top left would not be distracting and the 2nd rider would become something else for the viewer to imagine.

 

[yukikaze26]

I actually like the "moving back and forth" between the 2 racers thingy actually... isn't that the whole point of the spirit of racing? You will know what I mean when u see Lorenzo & Rossi chase each other on TV.

 

[adrianh]

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies so far. truly appreciate it!

alcohollywood, yes i agree its not tack sharp. was my first time taking a pic. will practice more.

theterror, thanks. i will try converting it to b/w. and see how it is

yukikaze26, that was how i felt about the blurred rider, but i think its proximity to the rider and its position in the picture could be the problem