Martin Frey at World Cup Downhill in Val Di Sole, Italy - photo by hanussen

published in RANDOM 4 - www.manuelsulzer.de

Photo of the Day on Jan 28, 2011 - more PODs

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100 Comments

ridesingletrack (Jan 28, 2011 at 11:47)

Aside from it being very similar to another POD from December, I'm glad this image was highlighted. It's an excellent photo. Great composition, strobe work, creativity, feature, riding... What else can you ask for? Nice job.

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ccvl Plus (Jan 14, 2011 at 8:54)

More good stuff man.......

- 11

johnny-compton (Jan 14, 2011 at 9:01) (Below Threshold) show comment

thats an awsome photo the bottom half of the photo is not blurred but the top half is

+ 19

valleyimagewerx (Jan 14, 2011 at 17:03)

Only the photographers know why...

- 94

ShastaOutdoorMedia (Jan 15, 2011 at 15:32) (Below Threshold) show comment

Yeah, photoshop.

+ 81

valleyimagewerx (Jan 15, 2011 at 18:06)

You're obviously not a photographer....

- 63

ShastaOutdoorMedia (Jan 15, 2011 at 18:54) (Below Threshold) show comment

So how do you think that the far background is blurred but then the boulder isn't?

+ 61

valleyimagewerx (Jan 15, 2011 at 19:10)

Low shutter speeds and a rear curtain sync flash(es) the rear synced flash freezes whatever is in the flashes coverage and makes it sharp and crisp but the background blurred.

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ShastaOutdoorMedia (Jan 15, 2011 at 20:13) (Below Threshold) show comment

Yeah, but then wouldn't you need to have a really small aperture and low ISO so that the stuff that is being lit up won't get blurred when it's not illuminated by the flash?

+ 45

valleyimagewerx (Jan 15, 2011 at 21:35)

Being that this shot is in the forest with low light, I would initially set up with ISO 800, 1/30-1/60 sec shutter, at f/4. When you use a rear curtain sync the shutter opens, and as you pan with the rider keeping your focus point as accurate and steady as possible, the flash fires right before the shutter closes causing whatever is illuminated by the flash to be sharp and not blurred. If you look close at the trailing edge of the rider, you will notice a slight amount of blur which is caused by the long exposure and then the flash(es). go off at the last possible moment to freeze the action and give you a crisp subject. The motion blur gives the shot the element of speed.

Here are some shots I got at a DH race this summer using this technique.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5310628/

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ShastaOutdoorMedia (Jan 16, 2011 at 9:58) (Below Threshold) show comment

Cool, never thought about doing it with flashes like that...it would only take about 5 minutes in photoshop though Wink

+ 15

hanussen (Jan 16, 2011 at 13:53)

Thanks vppbikedeefer for explaining.

Haha, doing this (on that picture) in about 5 minutes in photoshop so that it look real - wann see that!

Chamakazi (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:01)

Great use of curtain sync flashes!

mxer83 (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:03)

GT= Game Time

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pbrider (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:12) (Below Threshold) show comment

I don't care why it is blurred I'm not into it... to much...

jizsplatt (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:36)

i don't know y, but i likes it very much!

+ 12

ericpalmer (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:41)

front or rear curtain won't really make much of a difference if you're panning. The rider should be staying in the same spot in the shot, I find front curtain way easier as it freezes the rider as you click & not a split sec after. Rear curtain is only really noticeable if the photographer stays still while the rider goes past or jumps or whatever, coz then you see the trail of where he was & will be frozen at the end, where front curtain is the other way round with frozen rider & trail in front of him. So many ppl make their lives difficult by using rear curtain when you don't need it. The reason some areas are blurred & others sharp are because of shadows. Where sunlight hits things will blur because the light is constant & in shadows where no sun hits are only lit by the flash that is a super quick burst & when you move & the flash is done they're in shadow again & don't show movement.

Sweet pic as usual sir!

+ 12

connor-rix (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:51)

I think u should build a drop off that rock

Tom-moT (Jan 28, 2011 at 1:29)

lol had to have a double take on this shot. It's almost identical to the Gees Pod a while back, nearly the same rider position. Really nice photo, i love how it looks like the front tyre is about to explode out of the picture.

Louloulefou (Jan 28, 2011 at 1:35)

Pinkbike could i ask you to make an effort on pod, please when you see taht nearly the same photo as been a pod and pom. Be more creative, show us new things
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5980969/

hanussen (Jan 28, 2011 at 2:18)

@ eric
thanks for your words and explaining about rear or front curtain. you're right, it doesn't really mater when panning. I can't change it anyway with my current equipment of some old canon 430ez flashes.

@ tom-mot and loulou
although I'm obviously quite happy about getting another pod, I do absolutely understand you that it's not very thoughtful to take two very similar shots as pod within a month. I'm really sorry for that.

Jack1201 (Jan 28, 2011 at 3:30)

Decent pick!!

jbike101 (Jan 28, 2011 at 5:42)

nice, nice... Salute

ScaryGerry (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:10)

you're too kind... I would of told them to ?&*%#%!

shsfreeride (Jan 28, 2011 at 7:08)

Hanussen, that was really well put. we need more people like you on pinkbike. That was a really respectful way of putting it, good job man.

Andiderbiker (Jan 28, 2011 at 7:32)

Need neg. props to survive! nice pic btw rider no. 154 Razz

racealot (Jan 28, 2011 at 9:16)

Combining Eric's and VP's statements meaning: Ambient light + Artificial light + forested high contrast dappling + dragging shutters = this shot. If you are a photographer (in training) and would like to know how step by step to achieve this shot on demand msg me, here's a few of my examples http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/3876069/, it's easier than you think.....

Louloulefou (Jan 28, 2011 at 13:28)

@guys who voted neg at volocom 123 you guys ahve any sens of humor ?

sherbet Mod Plus (Jan 28, 2011 at 14:19)

We do, but that wasn't funny.

valleyimagewerx (Jan 28, 2011 at 18:48)

Clayton, your linky no worky!

sherbet Mod Plus (Jan 28, 2011 at 18:50)

He put a comma in the link, just hit backspace on dat.

neallynberg (Jan 28, 2011 at 22:50)

I just got like a ligit lesson in photography .. but the shasta guy isn't as good at sounding smart about it as the vpbikerdeefer guy.
But really I have no idea what any of it means except for shutter, but I'm glad there are people out there that do.

ShastaOutdoorMedia (Jan 29, 2011 at 11:01)

I didn't realize that you could get that effect with two flashes, I suppose I thought that it would be too light (ambient) to get a crisp image on the faster flash. You COULD do it in Photoshop with a smudge or blur tool, but I don't think it would look quite the same.

*goes out and buys 2 slave flashes now Wink

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Morsinator (Jan 28, 2011 at 3:30)

This is stupid. I understand it is a good picture, but this user already got another POD just like this a week or two ago. Gee Atherton was the rider, and it was the EXACT same spot! It seems silly that they would do something like this.

hanussen (Jan 28, 2011 at 4:23)

I absolutely do understand your point and I'm wondering myself. Really sorry for that.

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DH-BK (Jan 28, 2011 at 4:30)

Great shot with demonstrating great camera skills. However to me, the area around the rock looks like it has been a bit over sharpened in PP. Otherwise It's a worthy POD! Keep it up!

What kind of set up did you use for this shot?

hanussen (Jan 28, 2011 at 4:52)

Thank you. The oversharpening may result from pinkbikes uploader downsizing it from 1000 to 800 pixel. Take a look at the 1000px original: http://www.manuelsulzer.de/sonstiges/IMG_6948_1000x_web.jpg

Camera set up was: ISO 200, F4, 1/100 sec, 17mm. One flash from the front left, the other one from back right behind the tree, don't know anymore what settings.

DH-BK (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:03)

I see what you mean. The photo on your website looks much better around the rock. Canon or Nikon?

hanussen (Jan 28, 2011 at 7:02)

Canon

ericpalmer (Jan 29, 2011 at 0:05)

should get Nikon, you can change to rear curtain on the camera & can use any flash haha Razz

DH-BK (Jan 29, 2011 at 3:43)

Nikon All the way for me!!

IanHylands Mod Plus (Feb 12, 2011 at 14:46)

I spent some time tweaking the resizing/sharpening algorithm last week and it's actually pretty awesome. The problem in this image comes from the fact that it's fairly well sharpened to start with, and then it gets sharpened again when it's resized. To avoid this problem please upload images that are at least as big as the Pinkbike large size, 1024 pixels on the long side. Any resize of less than 5% doesn't get sharpened at all.
Pinkbikes resizing and sharpening has had a lot of work put into by Radek and also myself, unfortunately it's impossible to adjust it for every possible image size. It's optimized for input of images 1600 or larger, although 1200 should also work well. Please don't oversharpen your images to start with.

thanks!

hanussen (Feb 13, 2011 at 16:46)

Thanks for the information Ian. Meaning we get the best results (if not uploading directly in 800px) with at least 1200 (better 1600) pixels on the long side? Will test that on my next uploads...

IanHylands Mod Plus (Feb 15, 2011 at 11:54)

yes, I'll do a tutorial post on image uploading and how to make them look the best in the next couple of weeks, there will also be a post about the improvements to the site in the next few days.

Basically there are 5 image sizes on Pinkbike 150, 250, 500, 800 and 1024. If the image is more than 5% larger than any of these sizes it dowsamples the image and applies sharpening to bring back sharpness. It does this really well, however if it is less than 5% larger it just downsamples for that size with no sharpening. It applies the same sharpening to each image based on the final size, so if you upload an image that is 1200 it applies the same sharpening to the 1024 image as it would if you uploaded a 1600 image. If the image is smaller than 1024 then that size is not created. The POD and blog photos use the 800 pixel version of the file.

Does that make sense?

ericpalmer (Feb 16, 2011 at 3:16)

so good to have someone like you in charge of this Ian! Looks Like I'm gonna have to post my images a bit larger.
Think I'm gonna start resizing to 1024 & sharpen a tiny bit myself.

IanHylands Mod Plus (Feb 16, 2011 at 9:56)

Thanks Eric, we're working hard to making every just that much better.

Resizing to 1024 and sharpening perfectly will give you an image at 1024 that should be exactly as you uploaded it. However it will resize the 1024 image to 800 and sharpen it maybe a bit more than you want, you'll have to try it and see what you think. 800 is the default size of the image on the site and the size of the news and POD images. Personally I tried 1200 and 1600 and they both look good at 800. The sharpening at 800 is optimized for an image downsized from 1600 pixels.

ericpalmer (Feb 16, 2011 at 12:55)

yeah, I'll experiment a bit too.
Thanks for letting us know, it's good to know how things work.

hanussen (Feb 16, 2011 at 13:08)

Second that. Thanks Ian!

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Bonz0 (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:15)

this is cool but dno about pod

pbrider (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:18)

Cheers B were on the same ride!

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benjamin69 (Jan 28, 2011 at 2:54)

GT blazin ! another good mach5 shot , roostin all the way down. DH , DJ, Urban, it's all on 2wheels-too one, or none I love it all !

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northwestdhdad Plus (Jan 14, 2011 at 8:59)

Brilliantly sharp. Love the light.

pbrider (Jan 28, 2011 at 0:16) (Below Threshold) show comment

Brilliantly sharp?????? it's giant blur....sorry too many brews while riding tonight but sharp and crisp should not be used for this photo!

ShaunathinShavis (Jan 28, 2011 at 1:17)

Possibly could have been referring to the rider?

/sarcasm

ScaryGerry (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:11)

Sharp and crisp...

redrook (Jan 28, 2011 at 17:07)

Actually it's very sharp. Sharp refers to focus and nothing to do with motion blur, and the rider is bang on.

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PedalShopLLC (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:59)

if you cross your eyes just a bit, it's perfectly focused and if you stare long enough an image of another bike pops out from that rock, all 3D like... what a great shot.

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ScaryGerry (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:08)

FINALLY A POD!!! Tell me this isnt 20 times better than the last 3... Awesome Pic.

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DJQMCBonez (Jan 28, 2011 at 10:47)

MAAAN everyones talking camera speak and i dont understand lol

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carrerablastrider (Jan 28, 2011 at 7:34)

I gues you could say he's between a rock and a hard, er, tree actually... Razz

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KaMil6978 (Jan 28, 2011 at 2:02)

You are suck ....

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Taylor16 (Jan 28, 2011 at 2:29)

imagine taking this picture then looking down at your camera. I would be so f*cking stoked

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adamb999 (Jan 28, 2011 at 20:48)

If is blur on the picture it has to be photo-shop ... people xD ... If you know anything about photography, shut up ;p ... great POD Smile

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Rneddel (Jan 28, 2011 at 17:50)

You just wish you could ride like that haha

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I-LOVE-TRANSITION (Jan 28, 2011 at 18:23)

wow the tree has like blurry spots Smile

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Josh-Nobes-1 (Jan 28, 2011 at 16:24)

Nice Photo
Why Do People Always Have To Fight Over Stupid stuff

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s147rocket (Jan 28, 2011 at 15:18)

Nice...love the way that the picture was taken

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chrisbarney (Jan 28, 2011 at 11:34)

the pic itself is nice, but lately the POD's have been kinda crappy

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TheHill1989 (Jan 28, 2011 at 7:48)

logged in just to comment, epic pic buddy

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taletotell (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:50)

Makes me wish it was summer. Again.

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superkat (Jan 28, 2011 at 5:08)

Amazing shot, congrats on POD.

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konafox14 (Jan 14, 2011 at 9:02)

pod mann this is awesome great work

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xXLEPRICONXx (Jan 28, 2011 at 1:01)

Great timing and lighting!

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Wormba11 (Jan 28, 2011 at 5:55)

wierd, too similar to the Gee pic from best of december?

cubsrtbest99 (Jan 28, 2011 at 9:24)

its the same spot and the same photographer. Only difference is the rider. so yea its kinda weird

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tom-towers (Jan 14, 2011 at 8:59)

i like it! another pod?

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MONSTERAIR (Jan 28, 2011 at 14:10)

Sick. POD

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mike81 (Jan 28, 2011 at 1:55)

Pod ,why ? Razz

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youhaveair (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:37)

already been pod http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5980969/

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ObservedTrials (Jan 28, 2011 at 14:19)

TRIALS FTW

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tags42 (Jan 28, 2011 at 11:47)

too blurry for me

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sebsta (Jan 28, 2011 at 4:48)

Oh yeah GT!

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Cusalabanjura (Jan 28, 2011 at 8:12)

Great shot mate

woodyc (Jan 28, 2011 at 11:02)

What do you know you frickin girl! Only thing you can ride is your finger!!!

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elbry (Jan 28, 2011 at 6:14)

great shot

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hugslyh (Jan 28, 2011 at 8:53)

epic shot

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bikeburnz (Jan 28, 2011 at 8:23)

great shot again

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Trailblaza (Jan 28, 2011 at 9:46)

thats epic !

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thepyt (Jan 28, 2011 at 10:17)

Well done!

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lukegriffiths (Jan 15, 2011 at 13:46)

POD.

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phatdanny (Jan 28, 2011 at 18:39)

pod again ...shocking Razz

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JimmyWeir (Jan 28, 2011 at 21:25)

so gay

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Below threshold threads are hidden

- 21

DirtZZSS (Jan 28, 2011 at 1:56)

DH SUCKS

markunit10 (Jan 28, 2011 at 2:18)

some day you will realize...

ChineseAlan (Jan 28, 2011 at 4:26)

DirtZZSS, you dont know what a good sport is the

Matthew233 (Jan 28, 2011 at 5:14)

lets see you go off a 40 ft gap and land it

shsfreeride (Jan 28, 2011 at 7:10)

dh isnt a 40 foot gap, thats freeride bro. but dh is still the most technical and dopest sport on the planet. Hands down.

DirtZZSS (Jan 28, 2011 at 11:10)

I don't like dh I like more dirt but i respect dh
IM SORRY GUYS!

ChineseAlan (Jan 28, 2011 at 12:29)

i respect you now, you have sorted this out, thanks DirtZZSS, i like you bud, thanks man

Matthew233 (Jan 28, 2011 at 13:42)

@ Shsfreeride: It's just sarcasm... and i know i don't ride DH so i really don't know the variety of riding styles/types

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