Snow Surfer

[paulboh87]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition, Post processing
Trying to make it look more dramatic feel, better colors and etc
The Splash of snow not define enough, cant make it pop out to look more power

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
This is my 1st time trying out sports photography, was trying to capture a moment of power over nature, Speed and agility. The art and beauty of Sports. Hoping when people look at the pic thinking, the snow boarder got skills, look cool, standout.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Extreme cold, -24 high up in the mountains. Not used to it, cant feel my fingers and face.
Was there for work, so not allowed to move around too much from where i took this shot.
Was shooting burst mode and hope i can go closer or a longer lens but i cant.
Took this pic with a D600, 70-200f2.8VRII at 200mm Max
1/800, f6.3, ISO200
Cropped it to tighter shot.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
Not good enough, very blend. Although i can do nothing about the posture and the type of stuns the snow boarder is doing, i feel i still didnt gave this pic the best treatment i could give.
I tried to make the colors,contrast pop out but either ends out too Fake or too blend.
Dont like the feel of the snow, looks grainy, maybe because i had to cropped alot.

 

[zaren]

not bad for first time, just a few suggestions...a tighter crop/framing, shallower DOF, adjust brightness so that the snow looks white.

 

[paulboh87]

Thx. I was actually afraid of cropping tighter. Afraid the quality decreases because of cropping. Oh so what I did with the snow wasn't nice? I was trying to give the snow more details so I made the shadows darker to pop out and allowed it to look like it was shot under some shade from sun

 

[zaren]

i think what makes the original photo look a bit bland is the surfer looks like he's surfing on flat ground. changing the angle of the shot slightly so that a greater sense of "slope" can be seen will give the image more impact and energy.

 

[paulboh87]

oh ya that seems to be one of the issues too. subconsciously it gives me the feeling of not powerful enough. maybe because of how the slope looked liked. thx for the tip

 

[alwaysjerricky]

Both the posture of the surfer and the timing of this picture are great!

Actually I wanted to ask you to zoom in a little more but then I saw 200mm max so another alternative is to crop. I don't think cropping will reduce IQ because now almost all DSLRs more than 15 megapixel. Cropping a bit should be no issue. I think maybe you should have used f2.8. The DOP will be great and can isolate the surfer. May be a little difficult as well cos it's quite far so maybe more difficult to focus. Also f2.8 can allow for lower ISO/faster shutter speed so can capture the quick action a bit more. Overall, very nice for a first attempt!

PS: I have never shot sports photography in my life before so don't trust me 100% haha. Just voicing out my views of what I think can make the pic look better

 

[daredevil123]

Not a bad shot actually. Personally I would actually frame the snowboarder to the right side, giving more negative space to the left.

 

[paulboh87]

but wont i lose the shadow he created on the left side? doesnt the shadow add more dynamic range to the colors?

 

[daredevil123]

but wont i lose the shadow he created on the left side? doesnt the shadow add more dynamic range to the colors?

The problem with the shadow is, it is cut off already. Either get it all in for the impact and frame the surfer to the left, or go for negative space route and have the surfer lean "into the picture" where you give room for the surfer's moving direction.