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What do you guys think?

I think the guy on the bike is either stupid or has nerves of steel ...but the photo's great and your lighting choice has done a great job highlighting the rider and framing him at the same time
But I'm a bit lost as to what he is actually doing (ok jumping , but what?) ? or what the relationship,if any, with the 'cement' curves framing the shot ? ...but I'm a granny who rides her bike on flat roads so not 'with it' but it's certainly made me interested enough to look and ask questions ..
DebT

Apologies I failed to explain what's going on, which is a fair question.

Basically he is leaving the quarter pipe on the right, doing a 360 degree spin taking his hands off midway, and landing backwards on the bank on the right.

It sounds complicated, but in a magazine it's fixed with the caption '360 old school no hander to fakie across the channel'

Brilliant capture James!

How many goes did you have before you got this keeper?

The only thing I could think of would be to drag the shutter and make the background lights streaky to add to the sense of movement. I guess it's hard to play around when you need to nail a shot like this. If the rider misbalances, you may have to wait several months before you could re-shoot.?

It is certainly dramatic and draws you in.

Thanks James appreciate the explination
- makes your timing even more spot on - just don't hope you get any splat shots
Deb

jamesw wrote:What do you guys think?

Interesting subject..... good framing.... great lighting. My first thought was the chap is a bit 'squished' in the frame... but after looking at it a bit more I think you've nailed it.

jamesw wrote:..... '360 old school no hander to fakie across the channel'

ummmm.... yeh.... ahhhhhh..... one of those. I think we used to call them 'jumps'

Nice work James.

James,

How did you solve problems with focus? [apart from using Nikon ]

Pretty cool as always.

surenj wrote:Brilliant capture James!

How many goes did you have before you got this keeper?

The only thing I could think of would be to drag the shutter and make the background lights streaky to add to the sense of movement. I guess it's hard to play around when you need to nail a shot like this. If the rider misbalances, you may have to wait several months before you could re-shoot.?

I think we shot this maybe 3 or 4 times to get the timing and framing right. It was quite difficult because i was lying down underneath, and trying to keep my feet and legs out of the shot. And trying not to create any shadows from the lighting! It was also very dark, and I couldn't really see where his arms were when I was looking through the viewfinder. I was pretty much guessing, so it was lucky to get this shot in only 3 or 4 tries.

surenj wrote:James,

How did you solve problems with focus? [apart from using Nikon ]

With the 10.5mm fisheye, the maximum focusing distance before infiniti is 0.50cm. So basically if you are further than half a meter away from your subject, it will be sharp and in focus.

It's pretty handy but it makes it more or less impossible to limit depth of field unless you are very, very close to what you're shooting.

In general (with other lenses) I pre-focus where I expect the rider to be when I want to take the shot. This works in about 95% of situations for me.

Very interesting shot...did he land it?

I was just about to ask about the lens, but the 10.5 makes great sense, and the pipe has hidden the distortion (or did you de-fish it?)

I would like to see a bit more space above the rider, but you have done VERY WELL.