Russ, looks like you have a pretty even split on opinions here. I get what you're trying to accomplish with the tight crop, and I agree with others that it definitely adds more drama. Just keeping it real here- I think the fact that you were there shooting it and witnessed the move yourself gives you an advantage that isn't available to an uninformed viewer.
At first I kind of liked the tight crop, but the more I stared at it, I was bothered by it being so tight that I had no idea where they were on the court, which direction their movement was, and that most of the defender's head is hidden. I realized that reading the description first compromised my own objectivity, and once I saw the full version, I immediately liked it better. Just my .02... (or, .05?).
Tom Dix: Thanks for sharing your perspective on the two versions.
Bob: Yeah, I can see what you mean about the 'extra' arm. Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks, Keith. The horizontal definitely is up close and personal!
Tom: Very good points that help me to see these two crops in a different light. This shot was from my 29th or 30th game of the season, so I definitely was looking for something different and, yes, I was thinking about it almost purely as someone who was there and who knew exactly what was going on in the image. But I can see that in the process, I cropped out virtually everything that a viewer who is cold to the image would need to figure out the things you've mentioned. So I can see how the full version tells more of the story. But it is interesting, as you pointed out, that the opinions are split. Thanks for chiming in, my friend.
I know the thread is about the crop, but does anyone else notice a slight green cast? I pulled it into Photoshop and used Levels to drag the green channel down just a little bit - and the image looked better to me. Your comments, Russ?
James: I'm not seeing this as much in this image as I've seen it in others I have posted, but yes, definitely, WB is an issue for me shooting in this arena. The main problem is that it changes from moment to moment as the flashing ads that circle the upper level offer different 'accents' on a regular basis. Typically, though, as you have noted, the problems are characterized by too much green/yellow. Thank you for your comments.
