my sports portfolio help me edit!

[miggetymike1]

Hello, I just moved to Arkansas so I need to get a new job (part time) with a newspaper. Here is my current portfolio with 28 of my best pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/conklinsports/sets/72157606091920685/

I'd like to narrow it down to about 20 pics so please tell me which ones have to go. Be honest.

Thanks,
Mike

[dekalbSTEEL]

baseball 051 is an awkward moment in time (too early in the slide, no context)
baseball 069 is underexposed
baseball 074 doesn't do much for me (routine fly ball?)
baseball 014 and 015 show failure
the first basketball shot (untitled) shows no action, and his arms are missing
hdnetfullsizecropped10127 too tight a crop?

Your reaction shots and the ones showing good faces and emotion are the best, IMO

[dmilo06]

I have a pic almost identical to wrestling010 from the Big 12's! Man that was a crazy match

baseball013 and 014 are really nice! great shots. pick one of the two to put in your portfolio

[shleiken]

I think 14 is awesome. You've got expression, action, you know the guy's missed it. 19 is a great expression but the sharpness isn't quite there. Basket5 004 is a keeper. I like baseball 52 for it's slider's reaction but it's a bit dark.

Hope this helps.

[be_good]

base ball 015 is bad ass

[dmwierz]

Jon's critique is pretty accurate. I'll presume you're looking for real feedback and not just pats on the back?

Portfolio shots should wow the viewer. Make the viewer spend time looking at the shot, wondering what happened next, or how they image was taken. They need to be the best of your best images.

Not much here even interests me let alone wows me. There are a couple decent shots, but not many I would recommend being in a portfolio. Some are not tack sharp. A few are not exposed properly. Others cut off body parts. The timing is too late or too early. Many of the action shots missed the peak action. Showing a failure play, BTW, is rarely a keeper, let alone a portfolio shot.

Here are some criteria you can apply to action shots to see how they might be "graded":

1. Capture peak action
2. Shoot tight – crop tighter (but not so tight as to crop an appendage at the joint or mid-appendage)
3. Include only people involved in the peak action (unless the people away from the action ARE the action)
4. Images should be tack sharp
5. Get the ball or other sport object in the frame
6. Capture the subject’s face
7. Narrow depth of field to isolate the subjects
8. Clean up your backgrounds
9. Properly expose and light your shots
10. Use a fast shutter speed or artificial light to “freeze” the action (unless you're blurring intentionally)
11. Solid and interesting composition

You don't need all of these, but if you look at your action shots, how many would "score" high on this list. for example, the football shot 2007 is an OK action shot, but it's a little OOF an the runner appears to have demon eyes. It's also at least 2/3 of a stop under exposed. Look at his left arm. It almost totally disappears. Even if it were sharp and properly exposed, every football game shot every Friday night will result in 10 or more images just like this. FWIW, night shot are rarely, if ever, portfolio shots 'cuz they rarely are technically excellent.

What you have presented here look like more of a sampling of your shots, and not portfolio captures. It's clear you have talent, and these might even be OK to submit to your paper (if the Photo Editor isn't too critical) but you should strive for excellence, regardless of the destination.

[Mark1]

For the most part they all are strong. None are really worth trashing. Or should I say all are worth keeping.

I might suggest, the 2 series shots, mabie combine each set into into one image. That would reduce the number but still show more work.

Something like this, but turned on its side....
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/6083/juliannedumpdx5.jpg

[dmwierz]

I'm gonna respectfully disagree with Mark. Series shots aren't what a portfolio shot is all about. Want to find out what a pro photo editor thinks about burst shots? Read the chapter in Lowrance's Digital Sports Photography book.

If you have a series, pick the ONE image that best captures the moment - a time montage like the one above is a gimmick and can be fun, and might be worth doing for selling to parents or for the rare and extraordinary event like a 756th home run, but for normal work, and especially for a portfolio, all it says is "I couldn't decide which one of these shots was the best, so I figured I'd dazzle you with all of them shrunk down to a size you can't really tell if they're good enough, and pasted together into the same image size as each of them would be individually".

[Mark1]

Great point! I retract my earlier statement.