Rodeo Action
Uploaded: July 03, 2003 23:10:48
Stan Kwasniowski March 14, 2006
Brenda, excellent image, I shot the Calgary Stampede every year, this great #2531278Stan Kwasniowski March 14, 2006
Brenda, after some consideration of what John said, he does not know what he is talking about #2531282Brenda Tharp March 14, 2006
Thanks, Stan, the fun was in keeping up with these guys - they are really fast out of the gate! Knowing it would be very difficult to get the shutter speed I'd need to freeze them in this indoor light (using film at the time I made this one) I just went with the flow - and slowed the shutter speed down to capture the choreography of the motion.Perhaps John was making a joke? Or simply doesn't like this style of photography or have any experience with panning... #2532026
Kay Beausoleil March 15, 2006
Bwahahahahaha!!! Pay no attention -- you're Brenda Tharp and he's not!;-) #2534458
Robyn Gwilt March 15, 2006
Dontcha just love it when people crit, and are too chicken to put their own pix up in a gallery - guess that camera's still broken :( Great capture Brenda #2535635Dan C. March 15, 2006
I'm going to go against the grain here and disagree with the crowd, but do so in a way I hope shows the spirit of the name of the forum - constructive criticism.Kay and Robin, you might want to be carefull of commenting on people here like john. The anonymity of betterphoto is such that for all you know, john could be one of the most prolific prize-winners in this community and only signed on anonymously to offer constructive criticism, but without paying the price from those who cannot accept it. On the other hand, he might simply be a classic internet troll, someone who is best not acknowledged at all.
John, you have not accomplished the above. You can choose either to be helpful to people or to be hurtful. Your sarcastic comment did nothing other than accomplish two things: it demonstrated your immaturity and labeled you as somebody to be completely ignored. your comments now carry no weight, negative or positive.
Now on to the picture and where I differ from the crowd. In my opinion, it is not a great picture. It is a great attempt, but not a great photo.
When shooting action, Brenda, there are two basic ways to accomplish it. You can steady the camera and let the subject fly by, showing moting with the subject, or carefully pan at the speed of the subject, showing action with the blurred background. Unfortunately, neither has been accomplished here. Both the background and subject are blurred and in some spots the subject(s) seem to be triple exposed.
Here's some suggestions: because these are fast-moving subjects, you needed a little more shutter speed even to accomplish the above two techniques. Perhaps you should have increased your ISO. Because you are using film, it's not as simple as flipping a switch. But you could have changed your film to a higher ISO and in doing so doubled or quadrupled the shutter speed. If you did not have access to additional film, you could have "pushed" your film 1 if not 2 f-stops and had it developed at a custom lab that can handle pushed film. I think the extra grain of pushed or higher ISO film would have been better than blurred pictures. It's just my opinion, but hopefully my suggestions have been helpful.
Regards,
-Dan
#2535864
Kay Beausoleil March 15, 2006
So sorry if I offended you, Dan ... #2536395Stan Kwasniowski March 15, 2006
Kay, I dont think you should be apologizing, all you did was express your opine same as Dan, Dan has some excellent points. As for our friend John, I doubt he is an award winning photographer, if he was why would he go under an assumed name, he should be proud of what he does, so that we can all enjoy and learn from his words, BP is a website we all come to learn, good or bad, but we dont insult our fellow photograhers, there are ways which it can be done diplomatically, we get the message but we save face #2536487Dan C. March 15, 2006
So sorry if I offended you, DanWell, this has me somewhat confused. I'm not quite sure what was contained in my bloated dissertation that would lead you to believe I was offended. I couldn't be - I joined the conversation after the fact. Nonetheless, I hope my comments to Brenda were helpful.
Regards,
-Dan
#2536492
Mike Rubin March 15, 2006
Photography is ART, If the image is what the photographer visioned then it is good. Ya can't please everyone- Mike #2536839Kay Beausoleil March 15, 2006
Dan, my answer to your warning was intended as a cross between puzzlement and sarcasm. I doubt the other post I scrapped would have made for edifying reading: words like Patronising, Censorship, Who-do-you-think-you-are, etc., etc. But John's not worth the time from either of us, and my Irish temper's calmed down anyway.As for Brenda's image, to me it's a refreshing change from kitties, red roses (guilty) and obsessive devotion to the rule of thirds. It's risky, edgy photography with all the attendant consequences including differences of opinion. Yours and mine, even.
And Stan, I agree with all you wrote!
Slainte, Kay #2537003
Robyn Gwilt March 15, 2006
Just woke up here so.... yes Dan, your crit is very informative and constructive and I love reading something like that - coz whether we agree or not, you know what you're talking about, not just shooting your mouth off, and as you say, just being plain damn offensive and hurtful. And yes, photography is like art,,, one mans meat is another ones poison! But I don't care how good you are, put your nuts on the table so we can examine them - if you're going to comment on others work have the balls to expose yours! Kay, you want to know how a South African (Aries) temper can flare?? I also had to breathe and re-write! #2537269Brenda Tharp March 16, 2006
OK, let's all take a deep breath here one this one. First, I do really appreciate the feedback on any picture I have uploaded. Whether I'm a teacher or not, working professional or not, feedback is what helps us know whether we were successful in expressing our vision in the final image. SO all the constructive comments help towards that goal. Several of you wrote that comments should be constructive, and you are so correct. What good is it if you alienate the person with negative comments right up front? We can always at least celebrate the person's vision, after all. Dan, your comments were very helpful for someone learning how to pan with their subjects in a certain way, and those techniques work. Now to explain a bit about what I was aiming for: I already had the ISO set as high as I could comfortably push the film, (2 stops) yet the light level was still not high enough to freeze the motion. But wanting to express the choreography - the movements of all the players, I deliberately chose a slower shutter speed than I needed to. I could have used around 1/30 or so as I recall, but wanted to have more than just a sharper image of the roping team with the blurred background. I wanted the ropes moving in the air, the legs moving on the horses, the cows, etc. to create a more abstracted image of the motion. The late Ernst Haas, and several other masters, including Paul Caponigro's Running Deer (B&W), used this technique to interpret the movement, the 'dance' as some call it, and this is what I was attempting to achieve. I don't expect that everyone will like this effect, but the picture was done on assignment for the Colorado Tourism Board and they loved it, and has since been twice published in magazines, so I figured it did what I set out to do: create something different of a regularly photographed event. You're right, Mike, photography is ART and it's that person's vision or interpretation. Thank you Stan, Kay, Robyn, Dan, Mike, and ultimately, John - for creating a stimulating dialogue! Art SHOULD make us think, and react. Have a great day :>) #2539256Dan C. March 16, 2006
A very gracious reply, Brenda. I apologize if I have offended or insulted you.-Dan #2539530
Brenda Tharp March 16, 2006
No offense taken,and no insult interpreted in your comments, Dan. I truly appreciated the time you took to discuss ways to do panning - everyone reading this will benefit no matter what technique they prefer to use. #2540022Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
Discussions by Category: You can view photo discussions on various themes in the Community > Photo Discussions section of the site.
BetterPhoto Websites: If you see an orange website link directly under the photographer's name, it's totally okay. It's not spam. The reason: BetterPhoto is the one that offers these personal photography websites. We are supporting our clients with those links.
Unavailable EXIF: If there is no other information but 'Unavailable' in the EXIF (meaning no EXIF data exists with the photo), the 'Unavailable' blurb is not displayed. If there is any info, it shows. Many photos have the EXIF stripped out when people modify the image and resave it, before uploading.
The following truth is one of the core philosophies of BetterPhoto:
I hear, I forget.
I see, I remember.
I do, I understand.
You learn by doing. Take your next online photography class.
Copyright for this photo belongs solely to Brenda Tharp.
Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Log in to follow or message this photographer or report this photo.
I already have an account!