Criticism needed.

(hunter660) · (hunter660) **Join Date: Aug 2007** 08-04-2008, 8:47 AM

This is my first try at water sports photography. I just got my first decent camera a couple months ago and every time I take picture I wonder why I waited so long.

Anyhow, here are some pictures I took of my dad yesterday. The water conditions weren't so great as you can see, but we made the best of it. :-)

Dad had not ski in 15 years and has put on a little weight since then, but I talked him into giving it a go anyhow.

Give me some tips of photography if you see something I'm doing wrong.

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Is there anyway to link the image from another host? I had to compress these ALLOT to upload to the server.

(bigdad) · (bigdad) **Join Date: Apr 2002** 08-04-2008, 10:25 AM

First - They photos aren't very sharp. May have to do with the compression but it's possible to put tack sharp photos on here. If you have photoshop, use the Save for Web and use a 800X600 pixel size with a 70 Quality.

Second - You put your subject in the middle of every picture. Generally a no no for photography. Using the rule of thirds you can create a more interesting photo. I hope you don't mind but I did a quick crop of your 1st photo to show you what I mean.

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You notice how I put the skier in the left third of the photo? The ski line also creates a nice linear diagonal line that shows you where the skier is going to go and your eyes naturally follow it.

(Walt) · (Walt) **Join Date: Jan 2003** 08-04-2008, 11:07 AM

A.P. has a good point about the rule of thirds but don't be afraid to brake it.

I like the original shot in this case because it has more of the water spray in the photo and I don't care for riders traveling out of the frame in A.P.'s cropped shot.

I'd shoot even wider to get all of the rooster tail in the shot. You can get better angles if you get out of the tow boat.

(hunter660) · (hunter660) **Join Date: Aug 2007** 08-04-2008, 11:45 AM

Thanks guys. I used GIMP, I don't have photoshop. I think the sharpness came from me converting from full res RAW to 1280x jpg @ 90 compression. Then down to 1025x @90, then finally 1025x @70 to get to the required file size. Yes, I could have done it all in one step, but I was at work and didn't have the originals here with me.

(hunter660) · (hunter660) **Join Date: Aug 2007** 08-04-2008, 12:58 PM

Here is the original cropped to 800x600 @ 90%. Everything I try to scale the image ends up blurry.

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(solo) · (solo) **Join Date: Oct 2001** 08-04-2008, 2:09 PM

Here's a good article by Garrett Cortese.

http://www.wakeboarder.com/display.phtml?id=553

(richd) · (richd) **Join Date: Oct 2003** 08-04-2008, 5:05 PM

The crop looks OK. You could use some sharpening and probably better glass.

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(hunter660) · (hunter660) **Join Date: Aug 2007** 08-06-2008, 4:31 AM

What sort of glass would you recommend?