Lucky enough a cycling 'tour' passed through the area where I live, so I took the opportunity to shoot some photos. I used a 200mm Nikkor, and with Velvia (50) it was hard to get fast shutter speeds. So most pics are a bit darkish....oh well. Anyway, I'd really like to see/read your comments on the following: - What's the best way to correct the darkest and lightest parts of the photos ? The background isn't really black....I can't seem to get it right in photoshop (levels & curves). So I need advice :) It's a scanned slide, from a photo CD (Kodak). - Also, does anyone have any comments on the subjects ? The best way to get them well positioned was to aim for the middle of the corner. But the result is that the car shots are sharp, but the cyclists in front the large group (that already passed the point I aimed at) are incredibly blurred. But in my view not blurred enough to give them the idea of 'speed'. Anyone like to comment on anything they see and like/don't like ? Perhaps someone has done these things before......I've shot car races before, but not many action shots. (not during a busy race, mostly practice).

As for me, when I scan a photo (like your first one) that has a bright area which causes the darker areas to get too dark, I scan it twice, one set for the bright area (which leaves the dark area too dark), and one set for the dark area (which leaves the bright area too bright). Then I combine the two in Photoshop. I still get the contrast I want, but it allows the bright area to be correct with the detail still remaining in the darker areas. It could be I have to do this because my scanner cant handle such contrast, but it doesnt take long, and it really works!

Just as stand alone photos, Nos. 1 & 4 are dramatic and have story by themselves. There is an article a few months back in Photo PC that uses a inverse image to darken highlights by layering techniques. As Phrank says the solution may be two scans. Photo 1 has enough blur to indicate speed, at least to me, I look at the wheels.