Final Evaluation

Throughout this study I have tried to show a steady learning curve. From picking up the camera and the inital shots taken with it to the final 12 images produced for my portfolio.

When it comes to photography of snowsports I have very clear ideas about what I want to achieve.

The main things that I think are important to this type of photography and that I have tried to capture are the obscure angles and viewpoints. Freestyle snowboarding involves alot of jumping onto obstacles and rotating at unusual angles so it is important to capture that aspect.

The final 12 images have been give appropiate title I think. Some of which you may have to search for the meaning (connotation) others simply spell out the trick being performed or name the object in the photograph (Denotation).

Final 12

Will This Hurt?

This has been included because I think I have made good use of the frame. The angle of the shot is slightly rotated and gives it good composition. Only a few highlights have been made in photoshop, a simple crop and increased vividness of the base of the snowboard.

From looking at the photograph above you can image that the question 'Will This Hurt?' is going through his mind.




















Dominant

Again this image has great composition and perspective. You can see the sharp and distinct colours from the snowboard as well as the full hieight of the boarder and the run up he has taken. In the background you have someone else which helps determin scale aswel.

'Dominant' is the model of the snowboard being ridden. But it also implies the status of the rider.















Frontside Lip


This is the only black and white image I have chosen to produce. It works well due to the amount of information in the photograph. There is quite a lot to take in, in the background and the black and white softens this and draws your eyes towards the snowboarder. The lines of his arms parallel the object he is on creating a neat image.



'Frontside Lip' is the trick being shown in this image'















The Pout

Maximum frame use in this photograph. The viewpoint is more unusual, looking up towards the snowboarder capturing all the facial expressions. Using the sky as the background gives the subject sharper lines as there is a large contrast between the two.

This has simply been named because of the facial expression of the main subject.
















Trust

I like the perspective captured within this image. You can see the movement from one boarder to the other, almost jumping from background to foreground. Shows good use of space within the frame.

The setup of this photograph shows 'Trust' between two snowboarders.















Into...



This is a fairly simple image. There is nothing to distract the eye fromt the main subject. It is like a blank canvas allowing the snowboarder to be in spot light and highlighting all the colours on the snowboard and clothing.

This has been named 'Into...' because you can only imagine the landscape which the snowboarder is riding into.















Snbowboarders Expanse

The image above shows good composition and perspective. The position of the snowboarder in relation to the valley below. Giving two focal points, the snowboarder and where he is heading. A good depth of field makes this possible. 'Because of this I have called it Snowboarders Expanse'.


















Method

Again there is a great depth of field with a sence of scale coming from the building and person in the background. The background is black and white with just the main subject left in colour to increase the impact of the scene. This contrast in colours creates an extremely vivid image.

The trick being performed is called a 'Method'.















Half Way There

The main thing I like about this image is the viewpoint creating a slightly off axis angle for the main subject. The desturated background brings all the focus to the foreground. The fill in flash also brings out all the detail in the snowboarders expression.

The name of this image implies that he is half way around the rotation of the trick involved.

















Custom


As with the previous images shot on the same location the small hut in the background gives great perspective and scale. The direction of the light over the snowboarders shoulder gives great effects by highlighting the snow trail through the air capturing the direction of travel. I also like the amount of colour in this shot, it makes the photograph much more eye catching.

Just from looking at the image above you can see why it is called 'Custom', the bright colours scrawlled across the bottom of the snowboard is the model name.

















The Launch

The sunlight in this shot is not as bright but give a great point of focus, the first third of the photograph where the snowboarder is. The angle is such that as much of the background is shown increasing perspective, but you can also see critical points of the image like the bottom of the snowboard and the face of the main subject.

This image is called 'The Launch' because it shows the initial movement of the snowboarder as he takes off from a jump.















Blind Determination

This is one of my favourite images. At a glance it can seem too dark and under exposed. I think it captures the mood of the day. There is great detail picked up on the snowboard, you can see the rain droplets and snow metling away. The main subject takes up two thirds of the photo with a small amount of space left for him to move into, showing direction. There are no distractions in this image and it allows you to appreciate what the snowboarder is feeling. This is why I named it 'Blind Determination'.

Photo Shop 02

I have now selected the final 12 images to be included in my portfolio. Not all need post production, however a few I have had to make minor amendments to.

The image above is included in my portfolio. The original shot made good use of the frame but due to the weather and simply forgetting to use fill in flash (commented on previously) I had to increase the exposure slightly.

Another handy tool I put to use in photoshop was the selection tool. Using this allows you to make adjustments to one specific area. In the image shown above I wanted to create a little more definition between the background and the snowboard.

To finalize the image above all i did was crop to the desired size and give the base of the snowboard a little more vibrance. Again the selection tool was used to highlight the area of the snowboard and the vibrance tool shown on the image above.

I discovered there are a number of ways to achieve the same outcome. In the image above I have used a number of layers. The layer on top was desaturated whilst the layer underneath was in full colour. What you can above on the base of the snowboard is the top layer being erased allowing the colour to come through form the layer below. In hindsight it is easier to select the area to modify.

Short List

The more recent short list of photographs I have taken across all of my shoots have now been put into a slide show. From these I will slect the final 12 images for my portfolio.


The slide show is Labelled 'Short List'


A couple have already been slected for post production in photoshop. When selecting the images to be part of the final selection I am considering a number of things.


Those which make full use of the frame and need very little cropping, the vantage point and angle of the image as this is a major thing I have looked for in other peoples photography. The balance of colour and contrast. And possibly the most important is the positioning of the subject of the photo within the frame.


An example of these things can be seen below.

Cole Barash

From the photographers Ive studies so far I find Cole Barash's work most stimulating. He has worked for many clients within the snowboarding and sports world. At only 21 this is a great achievement.


Alot of his work I have seen is done at night under the illumination of flood lights and coloured flashes. I have briefy experimented with coloured flash photography at night. Although being hampered by the kit I have available, I can appreciate what sort of skill is involved.

I have provided a slide show of the works from Cole Barash. However below are some of my favourites and resons why.

In all of Cole's work the vividness of the colour is extremely powerful and instantly draws your attention. Illustrated in the image above. Not only has he captured great composure of the snowboarder, he is in the centre of the frame giving a demanding presence, Your eye instanly looks at the subject.
















Above is another example of vivid colour giving the image a really rich texture. Although I am under no illusion of the amount of post production in some of the images they still have a great layout. The image above makes full use of the frame. The snowboarder is in the centre but the posture and lines from the arms follow the rail helping to encapsulate it as part of the complete image.















Even in shots as above when in monochrome you can see the difference and impact the flash has had on the image. It is highlighting the main subject in centre frame and the snowtrail behind, capturing the movement while creating shadows or silhouettes of objects that could otherwise draw attention away.














Although the image I have shown above is quite different to any of those in Cole's collection and any I have taken, it grabbed my attention. The contrast between light and dark has been created just at the right point, along the centre line. I think this gives the image a greater depth of field. You are instantly forced to look to the top left (encorportaing the rule of thirds) where the snowboarder is giving the effect of looking into the distance.

Swad Comp

The final shoot for this project was of a competition held at my local dry slope.

During the shoot I tried to put into practise everything I have discovered such as, the position of the snowboarder in the frame and how much of the background or foreground should be included in the image. I was using fill in flash techniques to freeze the movement and also highlight any areas which had shadow cast over them.

These two aspects are possibly the most important to my work.

Below are my favourite images from the shoot. More can be seen in the slide show on the main blog.

The above two photo's manage to pick out the snowboarders really well. The fill flash has given alot of contrast between the subject and the background and managed to freeze the movement.

The next two images are working on more difficult angles to capture. This is becuase with being this close to the moving subject it is more difficult to freeze the movement and also you need to avoid any collions.

These are possibly my favourite types of images. They show alot of detail in the foreground where the snowboarder is, highlighting the colours giving plenty of contrast. The vantage point is obscure and so it also puts a strange perspective on the surrounding background.

The inspiration for these types of images comes from images such as Dean Grays shown below.

Dean 'Blotto' Gray

For over 250 days each year, for the past 11 years, Gray has been documenting the snowboarding life. In doing so, he has become one of the most inexhaustible photographers the young sport has yet seen.

As the Principal Photographer for Burton Snowboards, he is among the sport’s most prolific, most widely published and most aware of snowboarding’s cultural significance.

Shown Below are a number of photo's by Dean Gray which give me ideas and inspiration for my own work.

A number of things from this image capture me. This is what I am trying to accompish in my work. It shows the interation between the subject of the photograph and the surroundings. The surroundings, in this case the fence helps to determine the scale of the image. The snow boarder in the image is well positioned in relation to the frame and everything else in it and the level of light helps to draw your eye to the snowboarder first rather than the fence or anything else.

My own attempt of something similar is shown below.

You can above that the shading and lighting levels draw your eye to the snow boarder rather than everything else in the background.

Another of Dean Grays image is shown below.

This time more of landscape photograph, but still capturing the snowboarder giving the image alot of perspective. Also the position is allowing your eye to travel towards the space the subject will move into.

Due to my own geographical location it can be difficult to capture images like the own shown above or to re-shoot at locations like this.

Below is a photograph taken by me which I think shares alot fo the same characteristics.

Though I appreciate it is not quite on the same scale of the image by Dean Gray it still gives a good perspective of the snowboarder in relation to the background.

I do think that it would of been better to have the subject in the top and right hand thirds of the photograph allowing slighty more movement of the eye from the subject to the background.

Photoshop 01

I have now started to work on an image I intend to submit as part of my final portfolio. I am only working with basic tools in photoshop.

One of which is a layer tool. With this I can create numerous layers of the same image allowing me to modify one but not the other. It is an easy way to back up your work whilst still working on it. Any changes made on one layer can easily be discarded without effecting the original.

Shown below is some work in progress with multiple layers.

With this image I decided that because most of the background is almost gray I would desaturate it and increase the vibrancy of the colour in the foreground. The image below shows the saturation and vibrancy tool.

Final Selections

As I am now into my final 4 weeks of the course, I have started to select photographs I feel are suitable to be considered to be submitted as the final 12 images.

Images have been taken from most of my shoots including Aviemore, Austria and Swadlincote. Reviews of these experiences and shoots can be found on my blog.

So far I have selected 20 for consideration. In addition to this I intend to include images from a shoot scheduled for Saturday 24th April. The shoot is of a snowboard and ski freestyle competition being held at Swadlincote.

After the shoot I will select 12 for my final portfolio. These will then be post produced in Adobe Photoshop (if necessary) and printed at various sizes.

Inspired Image Techniques

After reviewing Bob Martin's work and taking into consideration the feedback I have had from steve I went out to another 'Ramp and Rail' freestyle night. 

I have said previously about the problems I have had with the limitations on my camera flash, but I decided to persevere and try some close up shots with what I would call off axis angles.

I managed to take a couple of images I am quite happy with however there is still a small amount of blur on them, mainly with the objects closer to the camera. Shown Below.

When shooting these type of close up shots I am getting maximum use from the frame which is what I am aiming for.

Aviemore Review

During my time at Aviemore, Scotland I had only one day of decent weather to do my photography. You can see the images from this shoot on the slide show labelled 'Aviemore Scotland'.

After my tutor steve looked through the work I produced from my trip to Soll, Austria, he gave me some advice about using fill in flash in my work. The idea was to use this during my time in Scotland, however a mistake on my part was thinking the levels of lighting were sufficient.

Something I did and always try to do is try to gain more obscure viewing angles for images. This is why Bob Martin's work appealed to me. This is evident in my image shown below.

Whilst there is some risk in taking images like this because the subject has to jump over me, they create really good obscure shots.

The downside to not having used fill in flash is that some images are slightly in shown and not quite as much detail has been picked out as would have been possible. Example below.

Research - Bob Martin

Bob Martin is a photographer who specialises in action and sports. He has had a career in this field for over 20 years and during this time has had many acomplishments.

He has a broad client list and his work has featured in magazines such as Time, Stern, Bunte, Sunday Times, Telegraph.

For the last five years he has been contracted to Sports Illustrated in New York however he spends most of his time on the road covering major sporting event such as the Olympics.

It is a testiment to his acomplishments that he is the only photographer for Sports Illustrated based outside of the USA not only that but he has been recognised by over 53 national and international awards.

I have created a slide show showing some of Bob Martin's work. But shown below are a couple of my favourites.

After looking through Bob Martin's work, this image jumped out at me. My favourite thing about it is the angle of the vantage point. Throughout my own work I stive to find new and more obscure angles which complement the sport. I think Bob Martin has managed to achieve this. Another impressive point is the depth of field. You can clearerly make out the backgroung whilst still being able to see all the detail in the immediate foreground.

This is another image which stood out. Due to the fact that all of my work is based around the sport of snowboarding I can appreciate the quality of the image. The main subject of the image is positioned perfectly, framed by the background and foreground. If the subject had been much lower the overlap between them would cause the sharpness around the finer details like the snowboard to be lost.

Night Shoot Review

I have had chance to put my new kit to use. This includes the flash and acetate strips. All of the photos can be seen in the slide show labelled 'Night Shoot'.

The setup was quite basic. Every Wednesday night, Swadlincote Ski Centre is setup for freestyle. 

I positioned the external flash half way down the slope just before the ramp. The idea was to produce a back lit image with the subject coming towards the camera.

Looking at the images captured I can now see I should of moved the flash further up the slope or behind the ramp. However I am limited the distance at which the flash can be set. Approx 25ft is the limit.

I am happy with the arrangement of the shots and where I have have managed to capture the snowboarders in relation to the ramp. I would of liked to kept the angle shown in most of these shots but at closer range.

As I have mentioned before I am restricted to a maximum shutter speed of 1/200 when the flash is synchronized. Because of this I am limited to how close I can get to fast moving subject before the image starts to blur.

I am hoping to arrange another night when these can be re-shot. Though I am having to do these types of shots after 10pm when the centre is closed to the public. This is because all of the lighting is turned off therefore creating a heath and safety risk to the public.

The only people in these shoots are staff members.

Having shown the results of this shoot to Steve, he has had several suggestions. Because of the kit I have available is limited to shutter speeds of 1/200 with the flash he has recommended that I try doing the same but in daytime.

He also said to try having the flash a lot closer to the subject (under the ramp, facing up) and taking the photograph from beside the flash. The flash should have more effect at this range.

Kit Update

I have recently purchased a flashgun and tripod for my camera.

The intention behind this was mainly to be able to use the flash remotely. This will enable me to position it behind the subject of my images and balance the amount of light in the foreground and background.

As a little add on to the flash gun I purchased some acetate sheets. The idea being that I will be able to change to the colour of the flash. My inspiration for this came from the images seen on the pages reviewing Dan Medhurst.

Nissin Di622 Speedlite

Velbon CX-540

Acetate Sheets.

Fill In Flash Trail 1

In response to the comments I received from Steve regarding the use of fill in flash, I have now had chance to take a number of images using this technique.

However the day which I had chance to do this was very overcast which you can see from the images. I believe that using fill in flash would be more beneficial on a sunny day when shows are being cast on the subject. The flash would then highlight these darker areas.

The images shown below and in the link provided still demonstrate the effect of Fill in flash and give me an idea of what to expect when using the flash in the day.

I did notice difficulties when using the flash in daylight. One of which is that the camera kit I own is reduced to a shutter speed of 1/200 with the flash in use.

Due to the fast pace of snow sports I found it more difficult to time my shot. Whereas without the flash in operation I am able to take 4 shots of the subject before they land from a jump.

The timing of the shots is easy to overcome after a few trial shots. The biggest downfall of this technique is that I cant be as close to the subject as I would like without the image blurring to some degree. Shown below.

From the review of the shoots in Austria and Aviemore it is clear that the better shots are those taken within close proximity of the subject. Either at the side of them or even underneath them as they jump over me.

You can still see from this image that the flash is having some effect and is lighting up area which would normally be in shadow. For example the ruffles on the trousers and under the eyes.

The rest of the images from this shoot can be seen in the slide show labelled Fill In Flash Trial 1.

Eadweard Muybridge - History

Eadweard Muybridge was born 9th April 1830 in Kingston upon Thames. He was an English photographer and was responsible for developing the way in which motion was captured at an early stage.

He started out as a landscape and architectural photographer. His earliest work documented in 1866 in this field. Most of his work was aimed at capturing how expansive the West was. During this time he lived in San Francisco.

However it is his work during 1872 that interests me most. In this year he was commissioned to photograph a horse in motion. The idea was to answer the question of whether all four of a horses hooves are off the ground at the same time during a gallop.

A series of images he had taken are shown below. An impressive result for such early photogaphy.

To do this Muybridge devised a new method for motion photography. He constructed long shed, containing twelve cameras side by side, facing a white background marked off with vertical, numbered lines. Each camera was fitted with Muybridge's high-speed shutter, released by an electromagnetic catch. Thin threads stretched across the track were broken by the horse as it moved along, this would trigger each shutter in turn. This enabled twelve photographs to be taken in half a second showing all the phases of the movement. For another method of setting of the shutters, electrical contacts embedded in the track could be triggered by the wheels of a sulky (horse-drawn vehicle) passing over them.

We can see from above that without the contribution from artists such as Muybridge todays photography would not be possible.

ISO Settings

Digital photography uses ISO settings to respresent how sensitive the image sensor is to light. In film photography it was shown as an ASA value. For example 100, 200, 400.

The benfits of digital photogrpahy is that you can change this setting for each individual shot whereas before you would have to change the entire film.

Generally speaking the higher the ISO setting the more sensitive the camera will be to light. This will give more grain or noise on the image.

Below are two images showing the difference between ISO settings. The first taken with an ISO of 200 and the second at 3200. Note that the first had a shutter speed of 1/250s whilst the second required a shutter speed of 1/3200s to match the expossure of the first.

Obviously it would be ideal to use the lowest setting all the time as you would end up producing clearer images. However this is not always possible, for example when the subject of your photo is poorly lit. This could be at an indoors event or at night. In these situations choosing a higher ISO setting will allow you to capure a clearer image whilst not having to compromise the shutter speed. Hence allowing me to still be able to freeze fast moving subjects.

My post titled 'Inital Shot' shows some of my images taken at night using a high ISO setting.

Shutter Speed

The term shutter speed in photography indicates the amount of time the shutter remains open when taking a photograph and therefore how long the image sensor is exposed to light.

Shutter speed in measured in seconds or fractions of a second. For example 1s, 1/2s, 1/125s 1/1000s.

Fast shutter speeds usually require larger apertures. This is because the shutter is open for less time, but you still need sufficient light for the image to have the correct exposure. Shutter speed and aperture work hand in hand to produce an image that is exposed correctly. Generally each increment made in F-stops can be compensated by the same steps in shutter speed.

Fast shutter speeds enable me to freeze fast moving subjects so naturally most of the images i take will be with shutter speeds no lower than 1/250s. Example below.

Slow shutter speeds can cause the suject to blur. This may be done purposly to add artistict effects to the image or to capture motion. A clasic example would be to show the movement of water over a waterfall. An example can be seen below.

Experimental Shots

The following images and those seen in the slide show labeled 'Experiments' are working with changes to the flash compensation and shutter speed.

All of these images were taken using an aperture of 5.6. My shutter speed varied between 1/200 and 1/25. I reduced the flash compensation by 1.7-2.0.

When getting on site I like to record two or three test images first. I find this helps me fine tune any settings on my camera I set up initially.

My first images taken on a higher shutter speed capture the motion very well. An example can be seen below.

Throughout the shoot I was generally trying isolate the main subject of the image (the snowboarder). I did keep in mind the location of the flood lighting and tried to incorporate this element into the photography. You can see from the image above I was trying to keep the lighting behind the snowboarder.

After seeing the results from these settings I reduced the shutter speed to 1/40s. The results can be seen below.

In this image the main subject has started to blur, showing movement. You can see that the flash was still operating from the reflective strips on the jacket. However because the shutter was open for a longer period of time the main light source has had more of an effect of the image. Any objects that are white have reflected the redish colour of the flood lights. I believe from these shots that a slower shutter speed has allowed me to capture more colour.

Austria Freestyle Review

The freestyle part of the shoot in Austria was directly aimed at freezing fast paced action. I had ideas of angles and view ports I wanted to create.

One specific idea was having the action coming towards the camera. This proved quite difficult to do whilst avoiding any collisions. An attempt at this idea can be seen here. Ideally I wanted to have the subject in the air. Having reviewed the images I can see that in order to achieve this I will have to stand further away form the subject and use the optical zoom on my camera. I believe this will slightly harder to capture a good quality image as any movement of the camera will have more effect when zoomed in.

Other images from this shoot can be seen in the gallery. 

From standing in a different location and zooming in on the subject I have managed to capture several good quality images. This is one example. Following the discussions with Steve I realise this setting would be ideal to experiment with fill-in flash.

Austria Free Ride Review

One of the shoots for this project took place in Soll, Austria.

Before I went out I had ideas of what I wanted to achieve. Apart from improving my techniques to allow me to freeze the snow sports action, I wanted to capture snowboarding in its most natural surroundings.

The photos I have chosen in this album allow me to show the snowboarder and the skills involved but also the tranquility of the surroundings. I would describe this as a cross between landscape and action photography.

Whilst taking these images I tried to consider where on the frame the snowboarder (main subject) would be. Different positioning allows me to create or capture the expansive setting. The following link shows an example of this. This is referred to as the rule of thirds.

Having shot most of my previous work within the UK the first thing I had noticed and had to adapt to was the lighting condition. Obviously lighting conditions in the snow are much brighter. This affected the F-stops I used and as a result the shutter speed.

My first few images were over exposed. Example here.

As noted above, after a quick adjust of aperture and shutter speed I was able to re-shoot and get better results. Shown here.

Discussion Update - Fill Flash

After presenting my recent photography work to Steve Davies he recommended experimenting with fill flash work.

I have taken photographs of snowboarding during the day and at night. Obviously it is much easier to produce a clear and correctly exposed image during the day, however one of the obstacles I have to overcome at the moment are short days.

My main resource of snowsports action is my local dry slope. The slope is lit at night but this can cause shadows in my photography preventing me to depict certain detail. I am hoping to develop my use of fill flash techniques to help me overcome this problem.

As a brief example of what fill flash achieves I have published images below.

The first is taken with no flash.

The second with the flash setting as normal, meaning that the flash should be the main source of light. This image simulates some of the problems that can occur in real time photography. The main subject of the image is reflecting too much light and in contrast with its surrounding is far too bright and unnatural.

The third image was taken with a flash but i reduced its compensation by 0.7. You can see that it has highlighted areas previously to dark to see detail in and the main subject is still in tone with the surrounding.