The all-purpose running photo/critique thread.

[quote author=Songbird
I do use color balance sometimes. I can't figure out dodge and burn tool. Someone showed me, but it won't work when I try.
Gracias.


Have a good photog show you how to dodge and burn. It will only take ten minutes and really helps the quality of the photo if you know what you're doing.
I shoot a lot of hockey with no flash and while I will have the correct exposure, the player's faces will be underexposed because of the mask. You can dodge a bit on the face and it looks a lot better. It's great when you can see the face more clearly.

 

Thanks. It is cropped because there's a teammate just to the right of the pitcher's right fingers. I wanted no one else by him in the shot. The other kid diverts the eyes. When I get back to work tomorrow I look at the whole photo again and see if there's a way to run the entire frame.

And yes, MayFly, he's on the first team you covered the day you arrived.

 

Xan, there's no way for anyone but you to know there was another player in that foto. I think 93Devil is pointing out that this image, as it is, should not be cropped. I agree.

 

Here's a few more I've gotten in some games. Some I'm pleased with, some are just basic shots.

 

i woulda cropped the bottom one real, real tight.

 

I think a good general rule of thumb is to crop tight.
In basketball a lot of times we run it loose and especially if a players is going up for a rebound or a shot the reader knows the player has legs so there is really nothing they add to a pic.
A lot of time in contests the judges comments are that a shot can be cropped more. You hardly hear of a pic being cropped too much.

 

Can I indulge the board to ask a question about process? If you were shooting basketball and had your pick of where to sit, no restrictions, where would you place yourself.

Other than in the field of play, of course.

 

Great photo. Wish I had shot it. It's given me ideas.

 

donaugust, i never stay in one place on the court during a game. spend a quarter under the basket, move to the side, perhaps a corner for awhile, top of the stands to get an overview shot if possible. whenever the refs let me, i'll sit right under the scorer's table.

if you stay in one place too long you'll start getting the same shots over and over.

 

Thanks, again. I think I misinterpreted your suggestionj in an earlier reply. I did crop the photo to get this version, and I don't plan to crop it again, as in this will be the version that gets into the paper.

 

Agreed, but if I had to pick one spot, at the end of the key is a good one. Also, if you're shooting preps basketball in a school that has stands above the rim, you can get some interesting perspective shots up there.

 

I actually didn't crop these, so I can't argue that.

And Don, I write and shoot hoops a lot. So I either plop down in a corner, preferably away from foot traffic if I can. Sometimes I get close to under the hoop. Either way, I have refs in my way, which pisses me off. But I get the best shots from that view. And I have yet to get run over, so knock on wood