Motorsport

Here, the composition, exposure and post processing all work for me. The image gives the viewer a sense of what was going on, where and when. And it is different – motorsport images need to have something that makes them stand out from the crowd, especially when you think this is an event put on for the spectator to watch as well as the competition itself. For a photographer, it is like working in a studio and there are really no excuses for not getting it right in terms of composition, it's then down to getting the right exposure and how you present the final image that sets a good motorsport image apart from the rest.

The composition is great, the timing almost spot on, but it's a tad soft. For me, it needs some work on the overall colouring which would improve it a lot as a photograph. Unfortunately, it looks like it was a grey overcast day and the sky is blown out. The dust and gravel are very brown and lifeless. If you have shot this in RAW, I'd revisit it and see what you can do with the colour 'styling'. Well done on the image though.

This image has been looking at me since the competition opened. I like how it has got my attention with those eyes looking at you. He does not look happy about having his picture taken, but that helps portray the sense that this is a serious race and he has things to do other than have his picture taken.

Really nice exposure and depth of field make those eyes hit you. Nice use of black and white helps focus your attention on him. A superb image for any portfolio, well done.

So, we have a tilt & shift lens (effect), which is a look that had its time a few years ago. But, it's used nicely and to great effect in this image. I like the scaletrix, toy track set feel it gives, and that the focus covers all the marshalls and their shadows. It says "motorsport", and is a shot with good photographic skill and composition. I would be interested to know if it is made in post-production or whether it's from an actual lens...?

Good composition, good lighting, nice timing to get the smoke from the wheels. You can feel the scrubbing off of speed in this shot, and the nice depth of field helps isolate the car from the background. Personally, I would crop a bit of the bottom off and place the car squarely in the lower left corner, but then that is how I would view it.

I would guess this is a pro shot that any brand or team would be happy to have and use on their PR feeds. Well done to the photographer.

Nice! Love that you captured the Hybrid overtaking the GT class. WEC series?

The lovely horizontal lines are nicely balanced between the two cars. And the colouring – all elements make this work beautifully. Did you pre-focus the lens?

It didn't quite make it into the top ten for me, and it was a tough choice not to include it. Why? Because these types of shots have to be tack sharp to really work. The car just pops out of the background when it does, and for me, visually it just misses the mark, sorry.

Okay, you have me on this one. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be looking at in this particular shot – is it the people in the background, or the car, or perhaps both?

If it's the car, I'm sorry to say but it's not sharp, and there is not enough car in the frame to know who is driving or what its number is.

I'm more intrigued by the folk in the back, standing in what looks to be a rapeseed field.

The composition is fab and the light and colour work, it's just missing the sense of speed. It would be amazing if you'd shot it on a slow shutter speed and blurred the background – the tons of deep dark greens would have taken this into the top 10. Sadly, the static wheels just stop the sense of power and speed this car must have had to have taken off like it did.

Try shooting in shutter priority at around 1/20-1/60th, keep that ISO at 100 or 200 if shooting on a Nikon. Also, because you're at 30 degrees to the car, you'll never get the whole car sharp, so aim to focus on the front wheels or the side number, even focus just on the headlights so they are sharp and the rest falls away. It takes time and patience and tons of shots to get the timing right, but it's worth it.

Hope you don't mind my suggestions!

Nice composition and background; it gives a sense of the scale of the place he is jumping in, but you could have really made this shot by shooting in manual and at a lower ISO, so that the bike and rider are correctly exposed with a hint of light. The lower ISO would have kept it less grainy so when you do your post processing you can push it further.

Personally, I think you have pushed the pushing – HDR style – recovering the highlights and opening up the blacks too much. So the bike and rider feel overly bright in relation to the scene. Nice try.

This shot has a good composition and timing that makes it. For me, it is a little over processed, but I see why, as the lighting would have been hard to balance. Still, it's a good motorsport image that tells a story of the event – I like the grit, the crew, and how his shirt back tells you what this is about.

It's not your usual composition of a car on track. I think it could be improved a touch by a tighter crop and losing some of the right and bottom part of the image as the crew's feet are cut off already and we only need a bit of concrete stand to know the framing. Nice.

Composition, colour and timing, all coming together nicely here. As I mentioned in another review, when you're photographing motorsport it's like working in a studio: you know where the vehicle will go and you can see the lighting. So, you as the photographer need to make sure you have the exposure right, as it is here; that your composition works with good colour and light coming into play; as it is here; and that you track it properly and get it nailed, as it is here!

Well done.

I love the light, focusing and composition of this shot. Any team and brand would be more than happy with this shot to work with. I like how it fills the frame, it gives you a sense of what it must be like for the rider.

The exposure timing is just right, giving a good amount of blur to the background and tack sharp focus – key for any of this style of image, which separates the bike from the background nicely.

A nice shot to have in your portfolio, this one.

I like the feel of this shot. The colouring works for me, although I don't particularly like the soft border. The composition is really nice, giving a good sense of the car, its age and the life it's led.

However, I think the focus point is wrong. It would have nailed it if it had been on the dials or the drivers hands on the wheels rather than bang in the middle. Nice image, just missing that extra 10% to make it a real standout.

Wow, what a subject to photograph. Nice composition, and the jets give you a good sense of speed.

This didn't get through for the same reasons I've mentioned in a couple of other reviews. When doing panning shots, especially square-on to the side, the vehicle needs to be tack sharp, as it will then pop off the page. I read your notes and see you obviously like photography and have a good understanding of the technical aspect. However, I would suggest if you get to do this shot again, you slow the shutter down further to between 1/20-1/80th of a second, and I would probably take a half to a whole stop off the exposure so the flames are more prominent. Polarisers only really work at 45 degrees to the sun, and with the sky still being very bright and the shadow under the rocket, it looks like the polariser wasn't set properly. Otherwise you should have had a much darker sky.

Still, over all a nice shot.

(If I may add, finances permitting, I love a 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8 which cost very little but the aperture will let you do so much more. Best of luck.)

A nice shot: nice depth with the heat haze, great car angle and dust trail. I like the background crowd, the flag for a hint of colour and placing the race in a location.

It just lacks impact. A tighter crop, moving the car off center to the left and losing the guy with a go-pro stick, or shooting a second or two later when he would have been covered in the dust trail would have helped.

I think learning to shot off centre is a great thing to do, unless it is for architecture or a very graphic square-up shot, I try, try, try not to ever use the center focusing spot, it stopped this image from going up the rankings. Otherwise you had all the right elements there.

A tough one to get right. I love the crazyness of the group of riders, the mud, the action, the guy about to fall off in the background. This one didn't get through as I find the people in the background – the spectators – are very distracting. If you had used a bigger aperture to isolate the riders more or if the opportunity had allowed a slightly different position so you had no crowd in the background, or even a wider crop so the heads are not chopped off so they become part of the scene, it would have made it a great shot. Almost there... best of luck.