WPBA San Diego Classic

[cbock]

i've gone to this event for the last 3 years. this was the first time i brought my camera. billiards events are difficult to shoot. the lighting is NOT very good. and, they don't allow flash at ALL. i used my sigma 70-200 f2.8.

i had a good time despite a major setback. i walked in for the first time during the event on saturday. not ten steps thru the door, i had a guy with a media pass walk up to me and ask me who i was shooting for. :) he became friendly when i told him i was there to enjoy the tournament and this new photograpy challenge. turns out he was the pro. photog. he was shooting a 20d with a 70-300 IS. he gave me some friendly advice. i took a bunch of shots, mostly of jeanette lee. then, i got the dreaded ERR CF msg. lost all the shots! @#$%&! worst of all, i didn't bring an extra card! rookie mistake.

went back today for the finals. it was fun. here's the best shots i could muster under those conditions. no pp. straight out the camera.

#1 in the world allison fisher. lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champ.
http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0851_small.JPG

#2 in the world karen korr. she lost in the finals.
http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0896_small.JPG

#3 semifinalist sarah ellerby.
http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0908_small.JPG

#4 BREAK! by the eventual champ, kelly fisher during the finals. look at the 7 ball flying out the back. and, the cue is jumping.
http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0922_small.JPG

#5 the new #3 in the world and event champion, kelly fisher
http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0975_small.JPG


more info at their website: http://www.wpba.com

[cbock]

no comments? is 9 ball not considered a sport?

[Croasdail]

Naw... if it is on ESPN, it is a sport. I have seen this on there, so it must be. The problem is the weekends are tough... lots of postings and your stuff can find itself on page 2 in a heart beat. It is nice to see something different here - and this is different.

So if you don't mind... let me give you some of my thoughts on these. I have never shot the "sport", so you can completely ignore my comments too.

First - they all look a little soft, but I am on my dang dell laptop so that contributes. Second, the lighting is not consistant. First image is warm, the rest are cool. I would recommend trying to get your set as much the same as possible.

Second - the shots are all good, but somehow in a perfect world I would like to see more suspense in the shots. Not sure if that is possible, but it is how I envision it.

Third - your break shot is a cool idea, and perhaps if it were sharpened up a bit the motion would show better.... but I would like to see a little more motion through perhaps just a little bit slower shutter speed. Without reading your caption I wasn't really sure what I was looking at.

I can only image this would be hard to shoot.... I am sure the lighting was not the best, and it is hardly a peak action sport. But overal I get a good feel for the match, which in the end is the end game here. I just would have liked to see more emotion. But as I said, I don't have a clue about this - so there you go.

Thanks for posting.... intersting to see new stuff.

[cbock]

thank you for your comments croasdail. i really appreciate them!

in regards to your comments on lighting, the first shot was in "no flash" mode using awb. i shot the rest in program mode. i found the whitest banner in the room and shot it full frame to give me my custom white balance. the remaining shots use that.

one of the difficulties i had was trying not distract the players. we were siting only 10-12 feet from the players. it was dead silent for the finals. capturing the action, emotion is difficult. i'm sure i will improve a bit by next year's event.

thanks for the comments on the break. this is where i really had trouble with distrations. i started firing about the time i expected the break. 5fps is no joke! it turned a few heads the first time i tried it. fortunately, the players never seemed to mind.

i'm gonna go see if i can find some more 'emotion' shots. unfortunately, i've got slim pick'ns.

[cbock]

i took another look at my shots. here's the best i could find that captured the essence of the game. thanks again for looking.

http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0866_crop.JPG

http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0906_scale.JPG

http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0918_scale.JPG

http://www.bockus.net/images/IMG_0926_crop.JPG

[Steve Parr]

no comments? is 9 ball not considered a sport?

Well, I prefer full-contact billiards. Nice shots of a sport that we rarely see here...

[Croasdail]

Last shot is the best of them....could use some color tweaking... but even as a non-pool playin' person, I can appreciate that one. Cheers.

[cbock]

thanks for your comments. i think my next step is going to be learning how to *really* edit using photoshop.

[okiebass101]

I think Karen koor really need a extreme makeover ... other wise good shots ..

[cbock]

they're all a distant second to jeanette lee.