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Archive 2013 · Would love advice/critique

  
 
duvidel
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Would love advice/critique


Prompted by my son's participation in a Pop Warner Football league, I decided to begin my photographic "career" with sports photography, football for starters. It think it must be the most the most difficult sport to shoot (or close to it), given the spontaneity of the action and the photographer's inability to know in advance where the action is going to take place. When a basketball player stops, sets and begins a jump shot, you know where he's going to be for the next little while. Not so in football. Here's one I like.



© duvidel 2013


Cascading tackle




Oct 13, 2013 at 03:17 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Would love advice/critique


First of all ... Welcome to FM and to the PC Forum.

While sports are not my forte, I think you've caught some of the action here and I like the comp @ mass/lines/balance. The background is a bit distracting, but as you've mentioned, not the easiest thing to shoot.

Bob could probably have more valuable input with his rugby shooting experience as this one kinda has a bit of that scrum vibe to it too.

Again, welcome to FM and the PC Forum.



Oct 13, 2013 at 11:52 PM
Almass
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Would love advice/critique


Such shots for me needs dynamism and with a fast shutter speed while you freeze the action but you loose the realism.

I introduced some PP with lowering the highlights and recuperating both eyes of players. I also introduces localized Motion Blur for more realism.....and I forgot what else I did. Probably sharpen the centre around the ball...etc

And Ohhh. Gave same testosterone spinach to everybody.




Oct 14, 2013 at 06:53 AM
Almass
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Would love advice/critique


And here the pic without Spinach on the biceps.




Oct 14, 2013 at 07:17 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Would love advice/critique


A few tweaks and the crop. Looked like there might be some blue/cyan cast. Not quite sure about the color of blue for the uniform though.






Edited on Oct 14, 2013 at 08:51 AM · View previous versions



Oct 14, 2013 at 08:44 AM
Bob Jarman
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Would love advice/critique


RustyBug wrote:
First of all ... Welcome to FM and to the PC Forum.

While sports are not my forte, I think you've caught some of the action here and I like the comp @ mass/lines/balance. The background is a bit distracting, but as you've mentioned, not the easiest thing to shoot.

Bob could probably have more valuable input with his rugby shooting experience as this one kinda has a bit of that scrum vibe to it too.

Again, welcome to FM and the PC Forum.


Thanks Kent,

Lessons learned from submissions to Sports Forum: the face, the eyes, sharp focus. A good sports image is extremely difficult to capture - requires investment in time (learning how to manage AF properly) and gear.

If you intend to submit to them, never, never, never alter the image in any way via cloning or otherwise altering the informational content of the image - an unforgivable sin. Thus your well-intentioned pp is, for sports shooters, unacceptable. And frankly, detracts from image, IMO.

That said, for the remainder of us sports hobbyists - you are off to a good start. Couple of comments - DOF is too shallow (only helmet is on focus), crop is a 'tweener' - not tight enough or too tight depending on your purpose.

Never tried football, for rugby I use an 80-200 f2.8 or 300mm f4.0 on a D2x, monopod, f4 - f5.6 depending on light, ISO 200-400 again depending on light, at 5-7 fps. My D7100 is subject to buffer size/speed constraints and I cannot justify a D3 to do the job correctly. It has taken nearly 3 years, several dozen 'tests', to anticipate correctly and not waste a bunch of electrons/pixels, and time. The toughest, still, thing for me is AF - I have many superbly images with crisp backgrounds and blurred players.

Walk the sidelines, get different perspective other than eye-level, I prefer to have the action coming at me (hence I hang on the 'try line') with the light in their faces. Took a long time to realize one cannot cover everything that happens. And, after the initial 'rush' you'll learn to be more selective and produce better images with higher keeper rates.

Aside - if you are planning on doing anything with the images, might want to check out potential issues with licensed trademarks re gear logos etc.

Here is a link to what I consider to be one of the better sets, if you are interested...
Click me

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Bob



Oct 14, 2013 at 08:50 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Would love advice/critique


Bob Jarman wrote:
If you intend to submit to them, never, never, never alter the image in any way via cloning or otherwise altering the informational content of the image - an unforgivable sin.


Bob,

I recall the angst that you went through on this matter, so those are words that bear repeating ... key to note @ for submission vs. personal use.

So while the informational content is untouchable ... what have you learned to be acceptable post-processing in the sport genre? What SHOULD folks be touching, or at least is okay to touch?

For instance, I'm a fan of color balancing mixed lighting, which of course requires selective WB adjustments for shadows vs. highlights. My goals are to achieve a degree of accuracy in color rendering. Is that "taboo" for sports and you just have to leave the WB casts to shift when correcting globally, rather than selectively?

Same kind of question for sharpening ... is selective sharpening or selective blur taboo for sports. Much of my work involves a degree of push/pull (i.e. dodge/burn relationship, etc.) which is by nature a selective vs. global endeavor. Would those be considered taboo content tampering?

Again, not my genre or forte ... but you never know when an occasion might arise. Also, is there a difference in terms of sports photography @ soccer mom's / kids action shot ports vs. sports PJ?

Many questions ... maybe an article/tutorial / clinic / reference link exists, although I prefer hearing from you, since we kinda went along for the ride with your learning curve and trust your perspective @ art vs. PJ vs. commercial.



Oct 14, 2013 at 09:03 AM
Bob Jarman
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Would love advice/critique


RustyBug wrote:
Bob,

I recall the angst that you went through on this matter, so those are words that bear repeating ... key to note @ for submission vs. personal use.

So while the informational content is untouchable ... what have you learned to be acceptable post-processing in the sport genre? What SHOULD folks be touching, or at least is okay to touch?

For instance, I'm a fan of color balancing mixed lighting, which of course requires selective WB adjustments for shadows vs. highlights. My goals are to achieve a degree of accuracy in color rendering. Is that "taboo" for sports and you just have
...Show more


From lurking in Sports, seems NR and minor sharpening are acceptable, some D&B too. I would guess, strictly opinion, your re-work goes too far.

Frankly, the caliber of most of the images is so high that color adjustments aren't necessary, or they shoot with strobes etc. inside. I gather most of them are pro or semi-pro and livelihoods derived from their work and of course they are subject to the multitudes of parents with hi-end gear encroaching into the domain thus diluting demand.

Kids? Again, from reading experiences on SF many organized leagues have contractual commitments. Even with a coach's permission I wouldn't touch kids sports given the litigious nature of folks today - especially parents. I think this is a sad reflection on our society, but my viewpoint anyway. And I extend that to kids, unknown to me, in general - not worth the potential for trouble. Maybe I'm paranoid but better safe than sorry.

Bob



Oct 14, 2013 at 11:15 AM





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