Do you shoot?

How detailed/critical do you want this critique to be? (I never know how much to say to people who don't do this all the time... my friends and I give/receive no-holds-barred critique, but in general most folks don't want that.)

 

(I started with winter, then went to fall, because I can't read, apparently)

I'm impressed.

Some of your basketball shots aren't very sharp, but so it goes shooting in a gym without dropping a few grand on a fancy lighting setup.

I feel like we've already commented on a photo exactly like your first gymnastics shot, and said should be cropped to include her hands. To help that shot even a little more I'd flat lay down on the side of the mat to improve that perspective.

I'd have cropped the 11th photo, basketball, Avengers, to either a vertical, or to a horizontal that eliminates all the space to the right of the shooter. I really like the photo right after that, Avengers again, when you can see the passer and the guy being passed to. I like getting shots that frame up like that. The next photo, of a girl passing the basketball, doesn't do much for me. Neither do any of the ensuing photos of (I assume) the team you're covering playing defense. I'm not sure why ... there really isn't much action. It looks like the players are at a dead stop.

I really like a lot of your wrestling photos, especially the first one. I love when I get the ref peeking in under someone's shoulders to see if they're down. I also really like the second to last gymnastics photo. Maybe if you could have squatted down and moved a little closer you could have made it a horizontal, which it lends itself to a little better, but I definitely like it as is, too.

I like the hockey stuff that is goal celebration shots, but don't really care for the others, where you can't see the puck.

I looked through the Fall photos more quickly. I really love the goalie shot, the football player screaming holding the ball, the receiver all stretched out for a great catch (those are tough, tough photos to get).

I guess my ultimate advice: when you shoot away from the action, make sure there's at least enough going on to tell us something. The photos I liked the least were mostly of people just standing with no hints to put it into context. Sometimes you shot away from the action and did really well, like with some of the VB and FB celebration shots most of the way toward the bottom. Other times they were boring.

Other than that, though, you seem to know what you're doing.

I don't know jack about wedding photography, but I liked a lot of those, as well. There are maybe a few I'd have cropped differently — the one with the groom and the bodies of three groomsmen stood out — but I really liked most of them.

 

As detailed as you'd like. I am trying to get better so, hopefully, anything negative you have to say will provide me insight on where I can improve and anything positive will reaffirm that I somewhat know what I'm doing. Thanks.

 

And Pilot, thanks for the feedback. A lot of the pics I left up there make sense when given context but, for some reason, they've all kind of stood out to me when I was putting together a sample of some of my best work.

My wedding stuff is very, very raw. I've only shot a handful of weddings so far and don't have the equipment I need quite yet.

I agree with you on the sharpness of the basketball pics as well. I actually took a second job recently as a yearbook photographer to make some extra money to buy some more equipment so hopefully that will help.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

 

We might have covered this before, but what's in your gear bag?

 

Right now I have a Nikon D-7000, an SB 700 speedlight, an 18-105 mm, f3.5-5.6 lens and a 50 mm f1.8 prime lens. I also have a tripod that I use for my yearbook photography sidegig and tomorrow I'm buying a new/bigger photo bag and a bracket to hold my flash vertical.

I am then saving up for either a Nikon D800 camera or a 70-200mm f 2.8 lens. Not sure which I want yet.

 

If you'll permit me a suggestion, I'd encourage you to buy the glass. Always put your money in good glass.

On a flash related note: I'm about to buy another one of these: http://mpex.com/lumopro-lp160-manual-flash.html

I'd really like to have four of them, total. Then I'd be thrilled.

 

I liked your sports shots, especially the ones outdoors during the day, which, realistically, is a lighting issue. A lot easier to shoot action with high light. Just work on trying to look out for things that distract for the photo's focus (a blurry hand here, a cropped knee there). It's something I really struggle with because half of the time I don't notice it until post.

 

Dear CS5, I love you. Actually made this photomerge look pretty decent (view from my balcony of the local university's football stadium and nearby 3,000 acre wildfire):

 

Question - I took pictures at my buddy's wedding last year and did what I could to clean them up on photoshop.
Unfortunately, since I'm not a pro, I messed up the best image. Is there any way to fix it? I want to give my buddy a copy; him and his wife loved the pic and I'd like to give it to them in the best possible quality.

 

Just curious. How'd you mess it up? Also, why didn't you save the original?

 

I dropped the contrast too much and there's a dull tinge to it.
Didn't save the original because I had no use for it.