Advice and Critique corner

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by Gate Keeper

I joined https://www.photography-forum.org/th...3#post-1408226 on Sunday Jeff

A popular site offering a full critique for those who want it. I have been well received and taking my time to get to know the forums etiquette. So far, so good

My best photos for the critique are on my laptop which I accidently smashed up in Nairobi on the way here.. A mystery system password on the Mac Book had kicked in and prevented me from getting pass the welcome screen, but I did manage to back up the photos to iCloud and the Sea Gate drive before I left London. I don't think I will be able to access them from the ipad? So critiques will have to wait until I am able to get the laptop repaired. The DVD disk drive is also kaput.

Hope you manage to retrieve those photos Phil and sort your laptop out as well

I'm a member of Photography on the Net which is a Canon only forum and Talk Photography which is a non camera specific forum.

Both of these forums have critique sections as well

I enjoy using these forums but not in the same way as on here, the community's don't seem to have the same closeness as we do. Maybe Togs are more of an independent lot

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by coolcat

Hope you manage to retrieve those photos Phil and sort your laptop out as well

I'm a member of Photography on the Net which is a Canon only forum and Talk Photography which is a non camera specific forum.

Both of these forums have critique sections as well

I enjoy using these forums but not in the same way as on here, the community's don't seem to have the same closeness as we do. Maybe Togs are more of an independent lot

I know exactly what you mean Jeff about the closeness and informality we have on this forum, even though the active membership is circa 2000 plus, it feels like we are a family with life's ups and downs, loves and laughs - a tad of rude humour thrown in - adds to the closeness. I put myself down as a beginner and will see how it goes. One of the mods has posted 160,200 plus times and is quite knowledgable. I have much to learn.

[Gate Keeper]

Hi Jeff. I am curious. Do ever submit one of your photos to one of the other forums you belong to for a full critique? All the ones you post up look spot onto me. The forum I joined warns newbies who are hyper sensitive to criticism to take this into consideration when posting. I hope I can hack it lol

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by Gate Keeper

Hi Jeff. I am curious. Do ever submit one of your photos to one of the other forums you belong to for a full critique? All the ones you post up look spot onto me. The forum I joined warns newbies who are hyper sensitive to criticism to take this into consideration when posting. I hope I can hack it lol

I have indeed and had the tin hat on to deflect the flak

Some of the guys on the forums are way up on another level photographically speaking

You never stop learning and so long as you aren't blinkered to your own abilities it is a great way of picking up hints and tips to evolve ones skill sets

I have never felt like part of a family though so only use the photography forums as a tool rather than a place to call home

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by coolcat

I have indeed and had the tin hat on to deflect the flak

Some of the guys on the forums are way up on another level photographically speaking

You never stop learning and so long as you aren't blinkered to your own abilities it is a great way of picking up hints and tips to evolve ones skill sets

I have never felt like part of a family though so only use the photography forums as a tool rather than a place to call home

Thanks Jeff for your honest opinion and great advice. So noted

[trebor]

My grandson ( 14 ) has taken up boxing, has had a few fights so far and is proving to be a prospect to watch.

I attend the fights which so far have been in a local a club with a ring erected for the event.

I have become his photographer if you like, but am having some difficulty in taking good pictures whilst he is in the ring, one issue is the light, although there are spotlights above the ring it is not always possible to get very close and flashes are not allowed in case they affect the boxers, consequently a lot of the pictures I take are dark and not sure there is anything I can do to make things a lot better.

At his last fight I did manage to get closer to the ring and the pictures are better

The other issue is the movement of the boxers, I have tried continuous mode but most of the pictures where they are moving come out blurred.

I am a keen amateur picture taker with a Nikon D60, I usually use an 18-55 but have not yet learned the techniques to move the dial from auto so any advice on what settings I should be using would be welcome

I know this post is useless without pics so I will add some later

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by trebor

My grandson ( 14 ) has taken up boxing, has had a few fights so far and is proving to be a prospect to watch.

I attend the fights which so far have been in a local a club with a ring erected for the event.

I have become his photographer if you like, but am having some difficulty in taking good pictures whilst he is in the ring, one issue is the light, although there are spotlights above the ring it is not always possible to get very close and flashes are not allowed in case they affect the boxers, consequently a lot of the pictures I take are dark and not sure there is anythung I can do to make things a lot better.

At his last fight I did manage to get closer to the ring and the pictures are better

The other issue is the movement of the boxers, I have tried continuous mode but most of the pictures where they are moving come out blurred.

I am a keen amateur picture taker with a Nikon D60, I usually use an 18-55 but have not yet learned the techniques to move the dial from auto so any advice on what settings I should be using would be welcome

I know this post is useless without pics so I will add some later

Hi Robert,

Best advice I could give would be to open the lens up you are using to its smallest F number to let the most light in.

Then see what the camera suggests for shutter speed and if too slow start increasing the ISO sensitivity until you get a useable shutter speed to reduce blur.
You will introduce grain to the photos but hopefully they will be sharper and brighter and you will get more keepers that way

I would suggest you would want your camera in aperture priority to start with and as you get more confident you could switch to manual

[trebor]

Thanks for the advice Jeff, will try it next time out, a few pictures below as promised.

this is an example of one taken when you cannot get too close to the ring








these were taken near to the ring at his most recent fight, the second one shows some blurring








and finally I always end up with plenty of blurred pictures:

[Rocket]

Good advice from Jeff. It's going to be tough getting great shots in that lighting.

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by trebor

My grandson ( 14 ) has taken up boxing, has had a few fights so far and is proving to be a prospect to watch.

I attend the fights which so far have been in a local a club with a ring erected for the event.

I have become his photographer if you like, but am having some difficulty in taking good pictures whilst he is in the ring, one issue is the light, although there are spotlights above the ring it is not always possible to get very close and flashes are not allowed in case they affect the boxers, consequently a lot of the pictures I take are dark and not sure there is anything I can do to make things a lot better.

At his last fight I did manage to get closer to the ring and the pictures are better

The other issue is the movement of the boxers, I have tried continuous mode but most of the pictures where they are moving come out blurred.

I am a keen amateur picture taker with a Nikon D60, I usually use an 18-55 but have not yet learned the techniques to move the dial from auto so any advice on what settings I should be using would be welcome

I know this post is useless without pics so I will add some later

Good morning Rob,

The Nikon D60 is a very capable DSLR and it gives you an opportunity to play around with the light. I have the D5000. Set the camera to M, so that you able to control all of the settings and not just aperture or shutter priority.

I visited the photographers forum I belong to and looked up boxing as we have some guys who shoot for a living at these events, plus the hobbyists.

They have 2 cameras, one with a wide angle lens and the other is a 70mm-135mm for those golden shots "the punch to the face which is dripping in beads of sweat" and although the head gear casts shadows, it will take practice finding the best setting to get through those issues

It is suggested that you arrive early and get a few shots off to check the view and light beforehand.

Try the finished photos in B/W as it can be quite effective with some grain.
You can vary the blur of the boxer from himself to his arm, or just his fist as it signifies power, movement and action. Use the blur positively

Later on Rob, I am going to PM you a link to the boxing photos, with each of the boxing photos settings. I can't post them up here, as the work is copy righted and belongs to the photographers who took them... ...

Have fun