Most Improved Photographer - SNOW 2011
Any tips?
I know its not the clearest…
Nice one Tj!! looks Awesome! 
Tj I think your in the wrong thread man! Go over to the best photo thread! Nothing to improve there!
nice shots guys! will give ‘em a crit tomorrow -> too much on my plate tonight :(
Here you go Gamblor I have added it in.
Looking at this photo now the white balance is definitely not right with the blue snow!
The main issue I can see is that the light behind the trees clashes and therefore draws your attention away from what is happening :(.
The blue snow doesn’t help and the guy in the background looks like he is trying to hold up the snowboarder which is kind of weird…
haha TJ how did you miss that? this shot is sick BECAUSE the guy is riding on top of the other guys board! you leave that out and its just a straight air!...plus it would look kind of cool if you set it up to look that way and the guy was actually in the back ground????
Here you go Gamblor I have added it in.
Looking at this photo now the white balance is definitely not right with the blue snow!
Cool action shot.
You could adjust the white balance to make it a tad cooler to take the yellow out of the light from the flash. But that will make the rest of the shot a bit bluer. I guess just a little might be good, but this is a personal preference thing. If you like the colours like they are, no problem. Note: snow is supposed to be blue when it’s in the shadow.
The best you could do with this shot to improve it is apply the rule of thirds to it (if you ever reshoot). You have a pretty good position to shoot from (at an angle, you include the takeoff and landing, and you’re crouching to give them more height) so overall I can tell that you thought about this shot. However, the action is still smack dab in the middle. Maybe back up more to put the action in the left third of the shot. So, next time you shoot, add that to the mental checklist: where is the rider going to be within the frame??
Also, get the guy on the bottom to look up at the rider and not at the camera. He seems to be more concerned about the camera than the action. Having him looking up helps direct the viewer as we tend to follow where people are looking.
Any tips?
I know its not the clearest…
First impression was “sick!”. The whole fisheye, bottom of the board, apparent height of the action are all working together to make people notice this shot.
Is this a gopro shot? 
actually, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to have a dslr (like Mizu) to get good shots.
I assume this was taken on the fly, maybe follow-cam, so it’s way harder to compose a shot. However, for your future shots if you keep the following tips in mind, it could lead to some bangers.
the left of the shot is too full and the rest is empty. if the rider was heading to the right and the lowest point of the distortion was to the right it would be perfect. Or, as it is, if the rider was in the right part of the screen, heading towards the lowest point. That would lead you eye into the picture. As it is right now, my eyes want to go deeper into the shot but keep getting directed back to the left.
Normally, ass-shots and headless shots are no-no’s, but for steezy ollies/ backside 1’s it’s ok.
Keep at it!
Can ya tell its a GoPro from the purple spot???
Haha, it’s just a screenshot from the video… I was holding the camera though.
We didn’t actually take any set shots that weekend and I wanted something to put online 
Here you go Gamblor I have added it in.
Looking at this photo now the white balance is definitely not right with the blue snow!
Cool action shot.
You could adjust the white balance to make it a tad cooler to take the yellow out of the light from the flash. But that will make the rest of the shot a bit bluer. I guess just a little might be good, but this is a personal preference thing. If you like the colours like they are, no problem. Note: snow is supposed to be blue when it’s in the shadow.
The best you could do with this shot to improve it is apply the rule of thirds to it (if you ever reshoot). You have a pretty good position to shoot from (at an angle, you include the takeoff and landing, and you’re crouching to give them more height) so overall I can tell that you thought about this shot. However, the action is still smack dab in the middle. Maybe back up more to put the action in the left third of the shot. So, next time you shoot, add that to the mental checklist: where is the rider going to be within the frame??
Also, get the guy on the bottom to look up at the rider and not at the camera. He seems to be more concerned about the camera than the action. Having him looking up helps direct the viewer as we tend to follow where people are looking.
Thanks for your comments mate I will keep them in mind! Probably won’t be doing a reshoot in this exact spot however.
On this day I was also trying to shoot with wireless transmitters for off camera flash but had a bit of trouble because of not being able to use a shutter speed faster than 1/250 due to the sync issues. I was looking at getting pocket wizards to use instead. Have you had any experience with these?
Yes, I use pw’s (plus II). They won’t do anything for your 1/250 sync though. the more expensive tt something might give you a higher sync speed but you would need to research it.
In your photo, if you had used another flash as a rim it would make the rider stand out more. Also, only lower the ambient by 2 stops. It looks lower in your shot
Hey Gamblor. Took my time as advised previously and think I am getting there!! A couple of pics from my weekend are in the SoHe comp thread. But looking for feedback on these:
Blue bird!
Sunsets
I like the new avatar Blizzard. looks great!
1st shot. good composition - nice lines with the trees and outstretched arms leading to the sun.if you used a higher aperture (or is it lower? I forget), something like f16 or higher, then the sun would become a star.
2nd shot. epic. get this in the regular comp too! you nailed it 
Awesome thanks Gamblor! Will def play with the settings a bit more 
actually now that I look at the 2nd one on my own calibrated screen, it seems darker. you might want to lighten it up a touch