Teach_Yourself_Photoshop_Elements_2

PHOTO CLINIC

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...but his crop

was too tight,

and the riders don’t

have any space

PHOTO CRITIQUE

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Dave was right

to crop out the

advertising boards at

the top of the image...

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We’ve also

cloned out some

distracting marks on

the track markings

Dave says “I shot this at the Knockhill round of the

British Superbikes Championship. It shows my two

favourite riders in the Superbike class: Stuart Easton

(No. 5), a local rider from Hawick, with Josh Brookes

(No. 3) close behind him. The hairpin always offers

a good opportunity for close-up action shots, as

the bikes are going a bit slower before heading up

to the start/finish line. However, I was standing in

the spectator area, which is higher than the track,

and so I was unable to get as low as I would’ve liked.

I’ve cropped the image, but I haven’t done any other

post-processing work on it. The sky was quite bright

when I took this, with a little cloud cover.”

We say “Nice work, Dave – you’ve captured a strong

superbikes action shot at a great moment during the

race, with the riders pushing each other hard as they

fight for the lead. It was a smart move to position

yourself at the hairpin, as the riders are moving

relatively slowly here, giving you more of a chance of

grabbing a sharp shot, which you’ve managed thanks

to your exposure of f/5.6 at 1/640 sec with your

telephoto lens. However, this was taken at 170mm,

and I think you could have zoomed in fully to 250mm

for an even tighter shot.

I also think you’re right to crop the image, to

remove the distracting advertising boards. But I also

think that, having held back when you took the shot,

you’ve then gone too far, cropping too tight on the

riders and not giving them space to ride ‘out’ of the

shot. So in Photoshop I’ve cropped your image less

tightly, and I’ve also angled it for a more dynamic

feel. I’ve then added a vignette to draw the eye in,

boosted the contrast, cloned out the mark on the

white race markings, and sharpened the shot.”

Canon EOS 600D

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II

Aperture f/5.6

Shutter speed 1/640 sec

Superbikes

BY DAVE MACLEOD

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