Hi Smuggers,

I was recently lucky enough to receive a media accreditation to shoot the BMX event, the Red Bull Empire of Dirt. I used to race BMX myself, still do on the odd occasion, so this was treat for me to shoot something I'm so passionate about.

I sent some images to couple of the more well known BMX magazines and was quite rudely told they weren't good enough and given no constructive criticism at all, so I went and had a look at what they'd published online. The only real difference I noticed was that they're images had been quite heavily edited, so I went back to mine and applied the same kind of techniques to mine, also changing some to black and white.

I would love to hear what you guys think...

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Here are a few more favs...

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If you want to view more images from the event, you can find them here http://www.marcusrichphotography.com...Empire-of-Dirt

Not even one comment or feedback???

If you are really looking for feedback limit the number of photos to 4 or 5. Thirty is just overwhelming and looks like a "scatter gun" approach - people may be reluctant to invest THEIR time if the perceive YOU haven't invested much time making a selection. Could well be wrong ... but something to think about. Also many CC forums frown upon posting even 10 images in a post.
I have NO experience with BMX so general comment - I'm not prepared to give detailed feedback on this many images - wide range of shots. Photojounalistic style. Some riders too small and get lost in the backgrounds. Lots of good angles. If you are looking for action/sports images then very few would hit the mark because of subject matter or relative size of subject to image or implied motion.

Originally Posted by AceCo55 If you are really looking for feedback limit the number of photos to 4 or 5. Thirty is just overwhelming and looks like a "scatter gun" approach - people may be reluctant to invest THEIR time if the perceive YOU haven't invested much time making a selection. Could well be wrong ... but something to think about. Also many CC forums frown upon posting even 10 images in a post. I have NO experience with BMX so general comment - I'm not prepared to give detailed feedback on this many images - wide range of shots. Photojounalistic style. Some riders too small and get lost in the backgrounds. Lots of good angles. If you are looking for action/sports images then very few would hit the mark because of subject matter or relative size of subject to image or implied motion.

Hi,

I had no idea posting that many images would have a negative effect, I will know for next time and be a bit more selective.

The event was tough to shoot, it was quite difficult to get both the rider and the jumps in without, as you say, the rider being to small and disappearing into the background. I eventually got some good feedback from another magazine, they said that more of a story is required to make the images more dynamic, i.e. to show where the rider came from and where he is going, but as I said before, this was hard due to the jumps being so huge.

Thanks for your feedback,

Marcus.

Originally Posted by marcusrichphoto I would love to hear what you guys think

I'm presuming you want frank feedback.

What did 'media accreditation' get you? Certainly not close to the action, or were you using a 50mm lens? I'd be disappointed if I couldn't get much better and closer shots from publicly-accessible areas.

As far as I can see, most of the BMX subjects are little more than specks on the landscape, in some cases against confusing backgrounds, and mainly performing unremarkable moves. I'm surprised "the more well known BMX magazines" gave you the courtesy of a reply.

Fantastic! Great POV and it looks like you know your sport very well. I like that you show the size of the jumps. And I think the town in the background is cool.

Originally Posted by W.W. Webster I'm presuming you want frank feedback. What did 'media accreditation' get you? Certainly not close to the action, or were you using a 50mm lens? I'd be disappointed if I couldn't get much better and closer shots from publicly-accessible areas. As far as I can see, most of the BMX subjects are little more than specks on the landscape, in some cases against confusing backgrounds, and mainly performing unremarkable moves. I'm surprised "the more well known BMX magazines" gave you the courtesy of a reply.

I always appreciate frank feedback, however, your comments are non constructive, sarcastic, a little arrogant and verging on the side of rude.

Media accreditation got me free entry to the competition, access to the course for a 1 hour slot and access to the media area, other than that, most photographers had to shoot from the public areas. I was using my 80-200mm f2.8 & my 18-200mm f3.5 lenses.

As I said earlier, to get the rider and the jumps in the shot, it was necessary to pull back, making the rider smaller in the frame (not quite specks), it was unfortunately the nature of the course and the best I could manage. The course was also downhill, so the confusing background (East London) was unavoidable in most shots. Shooting uphill was just as bad, as there were lots of trees taking up much of the frame. If I had gone for close-up shots of the riders, there would have been no room to show any of the course/jumps.

The magazine that did give me good feedback said that the inclusion of the course/jumps is necessary to tell the story of where the rider was coming from and where they were going, how would you suggest I accomplish this, without the rider looking small? I am a BMX rider myself and I can confirm that all the moves pictured are pretty remarkable and fully clicked (apex of the trick), the magazine had no issues with the tricks pulled. What would you class as a remarkable trick?

Thanks for your feedback

Originally Posted by Zerodog Fantastic! Great POV and it looks like you know your sport very well. I like that you show the size of the jumps. And I think the town in the background is cool.

Thanks Zerodog

My favs are 1, 19, 16, 27. It was cool you got in and got to shoot for a bit. These events can be pretty tight. Maybe next year they will let you have another crack at it if they come back.

I like #3 but I think it could have been cooler if you shot more of the jump to the left and the rider was not dead center. Shows good scale of the jump and the crowd. I like seeing the video cam there. But there is lots of wasted space.

I think #13 is pretty good. But in portrait it would have show you more of the huge jumps and the town with less dead space.

#23 is just straight up soft. Maybe overcropped?

#25 is almost really cool. Bike gets lost in the BG. And BG is too sharp. It looks like you were most likely standing. If you were kneeling down you maybe could have gotten the rider in the sky separated from the building.

Overall most of these could be a bit closer. But I like that you show scale with these shots. Lots of the BGs are too in focus. The color is weird on a lot of them. Maybe just post, but sort of instagramy.

For everyone else. You guys are not giving very good or constructive feedback. BMX is not Football or BB. Yeah it can be cool to fill the frame with the rider. But you loose the scale of the stunt/ jump or whatever. Pick up a snowboard, bmx, mountainbike, dirtbike magazine. Not every shot is close. Lots are where the rider is small in a larger scene. One of my good friends got to shoot the first few redbull rampages in southern UT. Overall, his shots sucked. He got nice close action. Riders filling frames. Perfect right? The problem is they could have been anywhere. Not dropping off of a 40ft cliff making their way down a mesa cliff by cliff. How do you show a canyon gap if you only show sky? Yeah the rider might look badass but what are they jumping?

Originally Posted by marcusrichphoto I always appreciate frank feedback, however, your comments are non constructive, sarcastic, a little arrogant and verging on the side of rude.

Originally Posted by marcusrichphoto I sent some images to couple of the more well known BMX magazines and was quite rudely told they weren't good enough

I'm sorry you reacted to my comments in the way you did. However, I appear to be in good company.

Originally Posted by marcusrichphoto As I said earlier, to get the rider and the jumps in the shot, it was necessary to pull back, making the rider smaller in the frame (not quite specks), it was unfortunately the nature of the course and the best I could manage. The course was also downhill, so the confusing background (East London) was unavoidable in most shots. Shooting uphill was just as bad, as there were lots of trees taking up much of the frame. If I had gone for close-up shots of the riders, there would have been no room to show any of the course/jumps.

At the risk of again being accused of being sarcastic and rude, you appear to be offering a string of excuses for what you are acknowledging to be poor images. I'm no expert but what I do know is that sports photography is not easy! But being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment will improve the odds. And nothing beats being up close to the action.

Have you searched for and looked carefully at images taken by other photographers on the day? These may provide ideas and suggestions as to how yours could have been improved.

I respectfully suggest you take on board the lessons to be learned from this experience, and move on to better results. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Zerodog My favs are 1, 19, 16, 27. It was cool you got in and got to shoot for a bit. These events can be pretty tight. Maybe next year they will let you have another crack at it if they come back. I like #3 but I think it could have been cooler if you shot more of the jump to the left and the rider was not dead center. Shows good scale of the jump and the crowd. I like seeing the video cam there. But there is lots of wasted space. I think #13 is pretty good. But in portrait it would have show you more of the huge jumps and the town with less dead space. #23 is just straight up soft. Maybe overcropped? #25 is almost really cool. Bike gets lost in the BG. And BG is too sharp. It looks like you were most likely standing. If you were kneeling down you maybe could have gotten the rider in the sky separated from the building. Overall most of these could be a bit closer. But I like that you show scale with these shots. Lots of the BGs are too in focus. The color is weird on a lot of them. Maybe just post, but sort of instagramy. For everyone else. You guys are not giving very good or constructive feedback. BMX is not Football or BB. Yeah it can be cool to fill the frame with the rider. But you loose the scale of the stunt/ jump or whatever. Pick up a snowboard, bmx, mountainbike, dirtbike magazine. Not every shot is close. Lots are where the rider is small in a larger scene. One of my good friends got to shoot the first few redbull rampages in southern UT. Overall, his shots sucked. He got nice close action. Riders filling frames. Perfect right? The problem is they could have been anywhere. Not dropping off of a 40ft cliff making their way down a mesa cliff by cliff. How do you show a canyon gap if you only show sky? Yeah the rider might look badass but what are they jumping?

Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate it, it's nice to get some constructive feedback.

#3 is one of my favs, to get everything in, and shoot the rider against the sky was tough, but I agree, it could have been a bit tighter.

#23 is uncropped, but I guess that's proof that close up doesn't really work for BMX, you really need to show the full story to get the context of the trick/rider position.

#25 would have been a great photo, if, as you say, I'd got down a little lower.

Colour/post processing was applied to some of the images after I looked at photos published by the magazines, this was the only real difference I could see between my pictures and theirs, so it was a bit of an experiment and one of the reasons I posted them here, to get feedback.

Red Bull Rampage would be great to shoot, it's such an awesome event, I was blown away by some of the video footage.

Cheers,

Marcus.