http://home.off-road.com/~jrf/jpg/skate1.jpg

http://home.off-road.com/~jrf/jpg/skate2.jpg

I really think these photos could have turned out better. Looking at them I think they are missing something, but I can't pin it down. Cropping? Angle picture was taken at (I'm leaning towards that). It was tough because it was not posed for. Suggestions on how I could have done this better?

T400CN for those interested.

-- J.R. Farrar (jeeperz@home.com), March 10, 2000

Answers

oops... forgot a few tags.

-- J.R. Farrar (jeeperz@home.com), March 10, 2000.

I like the converging verticles resulting from pointing your wide lens slightly upwards. This is a great idea but widely attempted; it's just not as fresh anymore. I think you should really try to shoot jump-skating (if that's what you call it) from a totally new viewpoint. Get an angle that nobody has ever shot from before. I'm not sure I like such a strong tone to these without more contrast or a brighter appearance overall. In the second shot I'd like to see the skater more disconnected with his watchful buddies. One idea (and I probably would be too awkward to actually try this) would be to get up there next to his buddies and get them in the picture much closer to the lens. Maybe with their faces VERY big in the lens looking on as the skater is in flight.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), March 10, 2000.

If they were in the photo's "interior frame" (that big blank wall) it would work great. The bad boy behavior in this austere business district. But the skaters form is interrupted by the architecture, so I don't get a clear idea of what they're up to. See what I mean? Put them in that large clear expanse of wall and it will work like a frame within the photograph (and loose some of the forground/street)... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), March 10, 2000.

This is obviously a scan of prints (done on color paper?). All I saw at first (and second) glance was tiny figures with little detail next to an indistinct blob that I only later recognized as a skateboarder.

How about doing it in color (get them to wear something bright) with strong fill flash with a dragged shutter? Cliched - except that against the grey buildings you'd get something really interesting. (Also do it as a horizontal, from farther to the left with the skater just off-center to the right. Try it from an elevated position so that you are on the same level and with a normal lens. Try a colored gell on the fill. Try it at night with gelled strobes on everyone. Tony's idea about shooting from next to the spectators is also really good. Shots like this have to be staged to have any decent chance of succeeding.)

-- John Kantor (jkantor@mindspring.com), March 10, 2000.

I think the problem is that the skater doesn't stick out from the background. Selective lighting or selective focus might work better. This shot reminded me of one I took while vacationing in Boston: http ://www.bigadventures.com/trips/boston/part7/skater.jpg

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), March 10, 2000.

Perhaps you need to ask yourself: "What is my subject?" I see two subjects here: (1) a large public building and (2) some skaters. If your intended subject was the skaters (and I assume this was the case), you should try to get in REAL close and photograph the skaters, using some of the building to provide background. The great photojournalist Robert Capa said that if your photos aren't good enough you are not close enough (or something like that). Getting in close for candid city images isn't easy, but its what you need to learn to do to make this kind of subject matter work.

-- Bill Osterman (boster33@aol.com), March 11, 2000.

i just shot a few frames of some skaters in philly, if i did okay, i'll post em too.... what i may have tried is maybe a little more underneath the subject to (jumping skater?) accentuate his height,(and in turn, put him higher against the lighter gray of the walls) or maybe have ollie a little higher. and maybe a flash of some sort to bring out some detail in the skater, and separate him from the architecture. --also, t400cn can get a little muddy with its tones. give kodak "select" black and white a try if you can find it. i think its a bit "crisper"....good luck! -Jerry

-- Jerry Hazard (hazard01@earthlink.net), March 13, 2000.