I like Lightroom 6, thanks for recommending

[ilzho]

Hello:

Just wanted to say thanks to those of you who recommend that I get Lightroom 6.

It is nice to finally take a RAW image and to be able to really single out colors, etc... No more washed out photos....

SO much to learn about it, but more than meets my needs. It's a lot better than I was getting with Iphoto.

[ilzho]

I'm watching some Lightroom 6 videos on YouTube (at work) shhh don't say anything haha.
Really helpful. Love the keyboard shortcuts,etc.
Pretty amazing what one can do with this software.
Can't wait to get some time and play with some of my raw horse racing photos.
Fun times.

[ilzho]

Ok here are my first few attempts at using LR 6. The before and after are different and I think these 2 look good, but I would appreciate suggestions as I want to get better.

Is the color ok? I played with the luminance a little. Nothing was auto, all eyeballed. Not all sliders were used either.

Thanks,

David

[Waddizzle]

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@ilzho wrote:

Ok here are my first few attempts at using LR 6. The before and after are different and I think these 2 look good, but I would appreciate suggestions as I want to get better.

Is the color ok? I played with the luminance a little. Nothing was auto, all eyeballed. Not all sliders were used either.

Thanks,

David

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Hey, whatever happened to those focus problems you had?  You're nailing it now. 

Those shots look great.  Sharp focus.  Great colors and contrast.  But, you previously posted shots that had some motion blur.  I loved those.  You've frozen the action.

Having once been a pretty good athlete in my day, I can tell you that athletes across all sports will be quick to tell you that being in the moment feels like time stops and restarts.  Time slows down to a near stand still at critical moments, and then time restarts at high speed to make up for the pause.  Throughout it all, however, there is an overwhelming feeling of peace.

Huh?  What was that previous paragraph all about?  Talk to the jockeys.  Get inside of their heads.  I used to always have photographers in my face, trying to get inside of my head, trying to get an understanding of my perspective of the moment.

[ilzho]

haha, Every night I'm reading either my camera manual or a photography book from the library, to try to get a better understanding. A lot of this is hard to comprehend the first few times I look it over, but it is slowly sinking into my thick skull.

I do have some motion blur photos that I need to PP. Most of the time I only get one or two out of a few bursts. It's hard to get a slow enough shutter speed with 6 lbs of equipment, but I am getting the hang of it. 

I have not talked to the jockeys but some of them are on facebook. I guess I need to become their friend and send them the photos that are cool. I do not need or want anything in return.

I do not mind sending them the photo, but I do not want all of the sudden for the track photographer or the company to find out and to tell me I can no longer come to the track and take pictures.

Maybe I'm over thinking it???

Thank you for your kind words.

[Waddizzle]

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@ilzho wrote:

haha, Every night I'm reading either my camera manual or a photography book from the library, to try to get a better understanding. A lot of this is hard to comprehend the first few times I look it over, but it is slowly sinking into my thick skull.

I do have some motion blur photos that I need to PP. Most of the time I only get one or two out of a few bursts. It's hard to get a slow enough shutter speed with 6 lbs of equipment, but I am getting the hang of it. 

I have not talked to the jockeys but some of them are on facebook. I guess I need to become their friend and send them the photos that are cool. I do not need or want anything in return.

I do not mind sending them the photo, but I do not want all of the sudden for the track photographer or the company to find out and to tell me I can no longer come to the track and take pictures.

Maybe I'm over thinking it???

Thank you for your kind words.

---

I think you're doing what is best.  I was just speaking from personal experience with photographers when I was the subject of their shots.  Knowing the athlete is every bit as useful as knowing the sport. 

You're capturing a moment of the athlete engaged in the sport.  I think Captain Kirk once told Mr. Spock to be one with the horse.  Most of the time, the athletes want to know what does "THIS" look like from "THIS" angle.  They want a perspective from an out of body experience.  I know that sounds craay, but omnipetence is what we want.

Are jockeys curious about such details?   I honestly have no idea.  But, I would expect that the best jockeys would be more interested in the mindset of the horse, than what they are actually doing at any given moment.  That's probably why I loved the shot of horses coming out of the gate so much, now that I think about it.  You could see the horses' faces.  Jockeys cannot see that from their perspective.

[ilzho]

Here are 2 motion blur photos....

.

[Waddizzle]

Those shots are magnificent, David.

[ilzho]

Cool.
Thank you so much!!