Widowmaker Hillclimb 2006

[dk]

I dislocated my shoulder coming off this hill after shooting over 600 images in two days. Please have a look (there's more on my website under "competitions" gallery).

I think I've solved the blue tint problem and I think I'm making some progress. Truly though, I am anxious to hear your comments. I have learned so much and attribute a lot to your generous comments. Here is only my second attempt at shots like this done at the Widowmaker in northern Utah at the 500-700 foot mark.







Yes, those are people down there. This hillclimb rose to over 1,000 feet above the valley floor. The shots do not give the true sense of the incline. I would venture nearly 45 degrees.

Thanks a million.

dk

[Mal]

dk - hope the shoulder is recovering after the accident.
Great action shots.
Looks like you picked a great spot to get number three, would have loved to have seen the full "bike" BTW your web link does not appear to be working, I would love to have a look at your other pictures

[dk]

Thanks Mal. I had a great seat. Actually on my feet all day in the snow; what fun.

I just logged out of my site. Have a look http://www.motionpicturesutah.com.

[wendellt]

wow not thats what i call extreme sports and photography
great job, i can tatse the snow form yourt shots

[Mal]

DK, they are just awesome pictures. You should post the series of pictures with the guy flipping. There are some spectactual shots in there.
And I have only looked at day one!!
Post some more here please!

[Oneputt]

WOW - top stuff. Those guys are mad.

[mudder]

These guys are crazy, but it sure looks like a lot of fun

Just having a sticky nose through your gallery now, there are some awesome shots in there, well done...

[Alpha_7]

Awesome work DK, you have some really great shots in your gallery, I have to say that while I've enjoyed your motobikes and trucks, these for me are by far more entertaining and make great subjects..

especially for us Aussies that don't get to see snow much (I've seen it once ).

[BBJ]

DK, like other have said these pics are great and well something i would not try for sure but i think these pics are great and have turned out well.
Well done i enjoyed them.
Cheers
John

[dk]

Now that I've conquered the blue tint issue (at least I know how to control it), I found pink tint in a test print I did today of image one above. Actually, I had two labs print two different sizes of the same image. The first lab printed a 5X7 and there is no pink tint. The second lab printed the same image; an 11X14 that shows a distinct pink tint. Neither were color corrected proofs. I went back to my original images and found some of them have this pink tint. I'm going to another hillclimb event this weekend and I would sure like to figure this one out before I go. Any suggestions?

Thanks a million.

dk

[Alpha_7]

Sounds to me (and warning I'm not trained in the ways of the White Balance) it sounds like your White balance is off.

Previously you were getting a blue tint, in correcting it I think it's gone to far towards the warm side and now you have a pink tint.

Can you open a raw file and check the WB temperature and then give the slide a little nudge either way and check out the result. I actually noticed the pink in a few of the shots in the gallery, didn't think to mention it as you'd commented about getting rid of the blue... and thought it was intentional... (sorry for not speaking up sooner).

[dk]

Craig,

I think you've hit on it. I may have over-corrected the wb issue and now am too warm.

I've been using PRE wb and shooting a grey card for correct wb for the given light and then I shoot away. Do I need to adjust +/- EV at this point, or does PRE wb set it to 0 as the default?

dk

[Alpha_7]

dk - I don't think the EV is affected by the white balance settings, but I hope someone else can confirm that without a doubt shortly.

I assume you have been shooting raw ? If you have then you can easily correct the tint and your images should look much more natural.

[dk]

I haven't been shooting raw. I have been reluctant only because I'm not familiar enough with the pp to make corrections. I wonder if shooting raw/jpeg might be the answer. I can view the jpegs and have the lab make corrections to the raw files. What do you think?

I want you to know I really appreciate the help.

dk

[Alpha_7]

Well Dk I personally think you'd be better of shooting Raw, it allows for a lot more flexibilty and is a lot more 'forgiving' a file format then Jpeg. The only issue would be the extra room it takes to shoot with. I'm still learning more about PP, but white balance correction is really very simple with Photoshop, Rawshooter or Nikon Capture. Its really only a matter of moving a slider left or right to suit your taste. It may not be for you, but I think it would be worth a try, even if you just shot a few "test shots in raw" outside, inside, full daylight, shade and maybe under fluro lights, pop them in a Raw file viewer (Rawshooter is free from memory the others may cost you to use) and just have an experiment. If it seems to daunting ask for help here, or you can decide to go back to shooting Jpegs. I do think the exercise would be a good learning experience and help get you head around some simple Raw adjustments.
If you do master it, I would think you'd see a increase in your keeper rate as you could save shots that as jpegs would be dodgey or unusable.

[shaunus]

dk, all i can say is AWESOME, that sums it up

[ABG]

Great photos dk.

By the way, I agree wholeheartedly with Craig - shoot in RAW. Any issues with WB are very easily dealt with. If you want to try it out without spending any money, Raw Shooter has a free version you can download. The only issue you may come across is lack of space on your CF card, but there's always something you need to spend your hard earned on with photography....