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Mushroom Tent
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Shot these last Friday evening at a friends ramp, right after I took a hard fall which put an end to me riding my bike for a few days. It’s a weird location, inside an oversized, extended Mushroom polytunnel. Pretty hard to shoot anything but fisheye as the place was pretty cramped for space.
Love the way the lighting creates the shadows of the rider on both walls. Are you using a flash?? Off camera ? Can see a light in the bottom right of last pic and in middle of Tent
Hey Dan,
There were some Halogen lamps in the tent but not enough to shoot without flash. I was using 2 flashes fired remotely which would give the double shadow.some good shots you took there pete
brings me back 20yrs to my BMX daysi like the expression on guys face on the forth shot
hope you get back on the bike soon
good workGlad it brings back some good memories Thomas. It’s changed quite a bit in 20 years though. The same principles apply though…pedal fast, pull up hard and have fun! It’s never too late to get back into it.
Hi Pete.
I’m afraid to say that with the exception of the last image, these don’t really ring my bell at all, and I’m wondering
if it’s because it’s an ‘interest’ thing – I have no interest in this particular sport but I do have an interest in photography, and to
me there’s nothing in the first four images that grabs my attention from a photographic point of view. Sorry. That said, I really
do like the last one a lot, especially the semi-transparent bike. Now where can I get me one of those….Rob.
That is some cracker riding. Where is that ramp? Its a nice set up. Its hard to tell from the shots…..is there much headroom?
And the pics are fantastic too. Great control.
Thanks for all the feedback guys,
PeteMcD, The ramp is somewhere in or near Ashbourne. I couldn’t say exactly where as I was driven there and it was dark out. It happened to be on the grounds where a friend’s business is based so he put it to some good use being a carpenter and all that. You do have to be careful with the headroom, but once you stay near the centre of the ramp it’s not too tight.
Rob, I can understand why the images would not to be everyone’s tastes and you are totally right, alot of it is an interest thing. It’s defintily a different style of photography than alot of people are used to seeing in normal media. There are no hard and fast rules of what makes a good image in BMX.
More of the appeal is definitly to people with an interest, as in seeing somewhere a little different to ride their bike and understanding whats going on in the image helps to put whats happening in context. I enjoy shooting and looking at the images as they have a personal interest for me.
There is less emphasis put on clean composition or having a technically sound image. It’s alot more driven to document whats happening at that particular time. There are no rules with riding BMX and this is reflected in the media that documents it, improvising in different situations to shoot photos for example. Some people may see the images as being technically flawed with a flash firing into the lens (I’m not suggesting you do though!), sometimes there is no choice but to break some rules to capture an image!
Apologies if this seems like a rant directed at you, I assure you it’s not. I’m just trying to convey a little of what riding BMX is about to put the images in a little more context for you. I appreciate you taking the time to leafe me some C&C. Thanks!
Semi transparant bikes are the in thing, it all helps reduce the weight of the bike alot, but it doesn’t count for anything unless you have helium in your tyres to get higher airs!
Looks like good fun, just a few questions.
Did you do b&w for mood, or were the halogens / flash giving weird colour casts?
Also, I think you may have had the shutter open a little long. Some of the shots are a little transparent (not that it’s a bad thing if that’s what you wanted…). Wide angle lenses near this type of action gives great shots.
Merv.
pete4130 wrote:
Semi transparant bikes are the in thing, it all helps reduce the weight of the bike alot, but it doesn’t count for anything unless you have helium in your tyres to get higher airs!
Cheers Pete. A very well put explanation of the whole ‘interest’ thing, and I appreciate it a lot. As for the semi-transparent
bike bit, you made me laugh out loud, always a good thing on a Monday! :lol:Rob.
merv,
I converted them to B&W as the colours weren’t the greatest with the 2 different light sources (flash and halogen) especially with the white surface reflecting it everywhere. I really wanted to use a conversion technique Thorsten explained in another thread here https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=631 .
I did deliberatly leave the shutter open for a longer time, not just to create the feeling of movement but to let the ambient light from the background to seep in and give a more blanced image. I did shoot a few faster shutter speeds and it dide make little difference as the flashes managed to light up the place enough due to the white tent. I stuck with the slower shutter speeds for a sense of movement in the end and it allowed me to pan as I was shooting. It also helps to soften the background a little to make the subject stand out a little more. I’ve always found with B&W that the sense of movement is reduced in B&W compared to colour when using slower shutter speed as there is a more dramatic difference in the colours when panning that with the different tones in B&W. I’ll post a colour version this evening to show the difference.Rob,
Glad I could make someone laugh on a Monday! :lol::shock: feck the photography :) I want to be there – looks like alot of fun. I think you definitely got the most out of the location,
love the conversion , composition couldn’t be any better. Composition in first is definitely my fav, it’s just missing some action. Very nice shots.
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