A day at the baseball diamond

[clkgtr37]

This is my friends little brother in his final game this year (they unfortunately didn't make it past the first round of the tournament).

http://www.pbase.com/image/2814931/large

[NewG2]

very interesting the way you have done this. high marks!

[Leighow]

Hey Guy:

I like this photo -- and your treatment -- although I suspect that I would have liked it just as well in B & W or Color.At the same time, I find that I am unable to tie in to the young catcher. I just do not know the "story”. So my eyes wander to the B & W spectators, where I enjoy their story, which seems to be “a time out”. Here I especially like the clump of white shirts and their expressions and activities.

This picture is refreshing on another dimension. You see, most of my non-photographer friends look at most posts and ask, " …where are the people.." .. or ... "…why so artsy..". Your post responds to their need for some down to earth, everyday, action at the ball
park! Thanks.

How do you get the two-color treatment .. I have not reached that "lesson" in the PS5 that was bundled with my G2.

HOWIE (Ottawa, Canada)

[TexasLeaguer]

As primarily a action sports shooter, I immediately liked your shot and began to look for areas to improve.
My first thought was to change the foreground to grayscale, crop a little tighter, etc.
I would have probably shot this image at 2.8 to blur the background.

BUT, as I continued to examine your image, I realized that none of these changes would improve the shot. And the longer I looked, the more I liked it.
As it stands, I agree with the above post that it seems almost to be 2 separate images that co-exist, but either could stand alone. Great Shot!! Ken

[bushey]

Great photo. The only thing I might suggest is to blur the background a little so that the spectators do not detract from the main "actor"

[jasenh7]

I think that your photo, while very interesting and probably the photo I have looked at the longest here in a while, perhaps needs a little more attention in Photoshop. What you have done really does look great, but in the end the player kind of looks "pasted in" and unnatural. I'd play with it a little more to give it a more realistic, while artistic look. Hope I made sense with all that...

[Leighow]

Well CK....

I hear another echo in my brian.. and it has finally -- just now -- defined itself.

Your photo may be a two-in-one, and it may be a bit rigged re B&W&Color... but .. the pose on the young boy is RIGHT OUT OF A NORMAN ROCKWELL ILLUSTRATION.

It is timeless in tone and memory... and could IMHO be a great basis for developing your style.I searched the Rockwell sites and picked this one to illustrate my point. You are on to something.



Hey,, may I be the "Senior" in your next shot?

HOWIE (OTTAWA, CANADA)

[Leighow]

Bat Boys

BACKGROUND:
***********
OK all you baseball fans, since I cannot get "clkgtr37's" baseball shot to post, I am going to add my own! At last! I proved to myself that I can take a shot of people. Well OK , its still not an action packed photo! How so? I was just pedaling by this game and spotted RED ! But the idea is "clkgtr37's and Norman Rockwell’s (see above post).

CAMERA
*********
T = 1/320 ISO = 200 Time = 7 pm
White Balance = Daylight A = 2.5 FL= 14

TECHNICAL
***********
From my perch 6 ft up on the "stands", I did not want facials, since I don't know the kids. I took about 5 shots over one inning. These little guys had "ants in their pants". The moved around in random, unpredictable patterns! They talked to their dads. The gulped water. Tehy sat down. They stood up./ Etc. Etc. Note that while the fathers play baseball, their kids (the tallest is wearing an UMBRO shirt) are probably into soccer.

CROPPING:
**********
This shot crops 50% of the image. It took a while to decide what was the best crop. My final choice of crop de-emphasizes the "players", introduces some bottom left to top right movement along an almost diagonal, and has some color.

Play ball.

HOWIE (Ottawa, Canada)

[eland]

Very good shot Howie.
Well done and well thought out.

A totally different "feel" and composition
with the guys on the other side of the fence.

Both are great.

Congratulations

eland