This is the second photograph in a set of 3 that I'm featuring from the Warriors Never Die workout. Treefrog was doing knees-to-elbows on the rings and she happened to be wearing a red athletic top which perfectly matched the bright red mats along the wall. The fact that she is in a near fetal position suspended in the air against a red backdrop almost reminds me of a baby in the womb.
Normally I don't like to leave my photographs in color, but in this case, the vivid color IS the photograph. I removed some distracting white PVC pipes using GIMP's clone tool, and tweaked the levels just a tad to give her skin some more color. I have heard that some cameras do not photograph well when the picture is predominantly one color, but in this case, it didn't seem to be a problem.
For more pics from this workout, visit Warriors Never Die
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4 comments:
Hi, I've been enjoying the blog for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I'd delurk and say hi. I'm also an amateur photographer and crossfiter. I've only one critical suggestion for you: for some reason (it could be many) your pictures lack focus. Not metaphorical, optical focus. They are soft. I went over all the pictures in the picasaweb album for this workout and none of them have crisp focus. It might be a problem of too shallow DOF using too big an aperture or using slow speed (1/60 handheld is the rule of thumb for me). Have you noticed this? is it an artistic choice?
Hi bentzurm, thanks for commenting! It's nice to know that somebody actually reads this blog.
Yes, I've noticed my pictures tend to be soft as well and no, it's definitely not an artistic choice. I don't seem to have this problem when I'm shooting outside or in well-lit interiors, so I suspect it's because I am not adept at compensating for low-light conditions.
I think you are right about the shallow DOF and wide aperture for many of the shots, particularly this one. I was using my 135mm manual focus lens at its widest aperture and that lens is always soft when it's open wide.
I used two other lenses on this workout as well- the kit lens and my 50mm; both have autofocus and both were used at 1/90s or faster. In the case of the 50mm, yeah... the DOF is really shallow and it's tough to get sharp focus when your subject is moving all over the place. But I've found that if I don't use a wide aperture in the gym, then I don't have enough light and the ISO creeps up. I hate to use flash but maybe I need to start employing it more often...
I'm certainly open to suggestions, though. Part of the reason I post my pics is in the hope that people might comment on them with suggestions for improvements. I've never had the benefit of a class, so I'm kind of learning as I go. My greatest frustration is that I know what I want it to look like but I lack the technical skill to make it happen (the Steamy Photograph post is a perfect example.. argh, I'm still pissed about that one). So any feedback you can give is greatly appreciated!
I agree that moving targets in less than ideal lighting is challenging. I would suggest to bump up the ISO as far as you can. The product will be grainy but for me grain is better than soft focus. set the ISO and shutter (I'm guessing not lower than 1/125 if you are trying to freeze action) and let the camera choose the aperture. The 50mm is tricky because in this setting it will drop the aperture to a place where DOF is problematic, so you might get better results with the kit lens.
Which body are you using? I'm asking because recent DSLRs have made significant improvements in managing noise levels at high ISO.
Here is a link to a an album. Check out picture 6,7 which were taken at very high ISO 3200 (still slow at 1/13 and 1/25) but grain adds a nice feel:
album
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely give them a try next time I'm in the gym (which may not be until next week since we've got a hurricane bearing down on us tonight......)
I like your shots in your album; My Pentax K10D only goes up to 1600 ISO but I think the noise reduction is pretty decent, even at the higher end. I think you're right though, it may make more sense to allow higher noise if I can gain better focus. Especially in a gym setting where noise might add a desirable "gritty" quality.
We'll see how it goes!
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