College Football

[ShelleyK]

These shots were taken Saturday 9/12/09 at the Univ of Buffalo.
I assist a friend of mine that shoots for student affairs, and we got to be down on the field so we can shoot fans and cheerleaders etc. I happened to be near the end zone and watched the play unfold so I made my way towards the goal posts to catch this series of shots for the touchdown!

Howd I do?

He catches the ball....
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2529/3916941806_169eca9fcc_o.jpg

He runs!!!!!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3533/3916941372_1314cc7f39_o.jpg

....its gonna be close......
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545/3916154139_0251ffd446_o.jpg

........and its a touchdown!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3916153133_7f3bf8456c_o.jpg

This nimrod stood up just as I snapped the shot...It would have been a great shot too!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2537/3916152505_3376f34c55_o.jpg

[snyderman]

Great sequence! Nice when the action is running right at your lens, huh?!!!

dave

[ShelleyK]

115 views and 1 comment...I must suck ??

[HOPE-C]

very nice colors but they arn't very straight ...

[chris270]

Go UB, hope they play well this year like last. Too bad about Starks getting hurt. I would crop them to eliminate some of the busy areas and straighten the horizon as previously mentioned.

[Croasdail]

Hey, they don't suck per se, better then a lot of shots some would get, but not up to the high level required to get kudos.

Here are some lessons I've learned about shooting sports.

1) you have to remember that most viewers weren't there with you. They don't know what else was going on, the excitement level and all that. A "great" image has to relay all that, without the viewer having any of the context you have. They best way to view this kind of stuff is to set it aside for a week or two, then look back at it. If if still makes you go "dang!", then you have something. But the average viewer doesn't know who the player is, care about the school, or know much else about what went on. A great image has to do all that all by itself.

2) A great sports image has tension. Something is about to happen or just happened. It has its own emotion. In frame three, you caption "it's going to be close".... but how can you tell that from that shot? There are no visual clues anything is going to be close here. You know that, because you were there. Player 78 in the background is the only one telling you something good is about to happen. Otherwise, the crowd isn't selling it. You can't see the runners face really, so his emotion isn't selling it. There are no defending players near by to create tension that he might not make it, selling it. In the last frame, you wouldn't even know anything had happened. No one is signaling TD or celebrating. In fact, all the attention is away from the ball runner. Only the crowd in the background tells you something good happened. Unfortunately your fellow photographers head pulls the attention away from the crowd. They are there, it just take a while to get there. You really only have a couple of seconds to capture someone's attention.

So what I am getting at is a great picture tells a story. It isn't about sharpness, or super saturated colors. Here on POTN, sometimes people get carried away picking out the technical issues since they are easier to master. But a technically great shot of a poor subject results in a poor picture.

Fortunately, these aren't poor pictures. To a fan of that school, who provides their own context, they are just fine. Technically, they are pretty good. A few issues here or there, but nothing terrible. I have seen far worse published. But to illicit comments from people who don't have a stake in the subject, they need to be a bit stronger images.

So don't take the lack of comments as something really bad. There are a lot of people out here in the forums who just look around and don't contribute. Its too bad, because the exchange of ideas is how all of us learn to be better photographers.... not just sitting on our hands.

[mattyv53]

Am I seeing things, or is the player in the first picture different than the guy running the ball into the endzone?

[namasste]

mark, those are VERY astute comments that I think many could learn from. I think the more photojournalistic style a sports shooter can develop, the more likely they are able to tell a story. At a minimum, including context images in a series can help show this. Multiple frames of the same action series is not adding context necessarily.

Technically, the images need some straightening and it may just be me, but they lack shadow detail and the crops are way too loose. I also think a lower shooting perspective might help add some impact.

[Big K]

Hey, they don't suck per se, better then a lot of shots some would get, but not up to the high level required to get kudos.

Here are some lessons I've learned about shooting sports.

1) you have to remember that most viewers weren't there with you. They don't know what else was going on, the excitement level and all that. A "great" image has to relay all that, without the viewer having any of the context you have. They best way to view this kind of stuff is to set it aside for a week or two, then look back at it. If if still makes you go "dang!", then you have something. But the average viewer doesn't know who the player is, care about the school, or know much else about what went on. A great image has to do all that all by itself.

2) A great sports image has tension. Something is about to happen or just happened. It has its own emotion. In frame three, you caption "it's going to be close".... but how can you tell that from that shot? There are no visual clues anything is going to be close here. You know that, because you were there. Player 78 in the background is the only one telling you something good is about to happen. Otherwise, the crowd isn't selling it. You can't see the runners face really, so his emotion isn't selling it. There are no defending players near by to create tension that he might not make it, selling it. In the last frame, you wouldn't even know anything had happened. No one is signaling TD or celebrating. In fact, all the attention is away from the ball runner. Only the crowd in the background tells you something good happened. Unfortunately your fellow photographers head pulls the attention away from the crowd. They are there, it just take a while to get there. You really only have a couple of seconds to capture someone's attention.

So what I am getting at is a great picture tells a story. It isn't about sharpness, or super saturated colors. Here on POTN, sometimes people get carried away picking out the technical issues since they are easier to master. But a technically great shot of a poor subject results in a poor picture.

Fortunately, these aren't poor pictures. To a fan of that school, who provides their own context, they are just fine. Technically, they are pretty good. A few issues here or there, but nothing terrible. I have seen far worse published. But to illicit comments from people who don't have a stake in the subject, they need to be a bit stronger images.

So don't take the lack of comments as something really bad. There are a lot of people out here in the forums who just look around and don't contribute. Its too bad, because the exchange of ideas is how all of us learn to be better photographers.... not just sitting on our hands.

Excellent response. I tried to write a response yesterday and could not convey my message the way you did so did not post it because I thought it sounded more negative than I wanted. You did a fantastic job.

[ckundred]

I'm by no means an expert, I just come here to admire shots and pick up a tip or two along the way....The shots look great...but hearing Mark's comments really put a lot of what many of us are trying to do in context...(and I'm only taking shots of my kids playing sports) Great thread here folks, thanks so much!

Curt

[ShelleyK]

Thanks for the feedback....
Considering that this was my first on the field football capture...I think I did ok...I was actually shooting the fans when I saw the play unfold, so I didnt have much time to prepare for better cropping etc...

These shots are pretty much SOOC, I just slapped my watermark on them ;)

I will have more opportunities to shoot again so next time I will definitely be more mindful.

Thanks!

[ShelleyK]

Am I seeing things, or is the player in the first picture different than the guy running the ball into the endzone?


Nope I think youre seeing things...These were all shot in sequence...I think that first shot he is just in a deeper shadow...