My Sportsshooter Academy work

#5 is bookworthy! Amazing photo!

Go "Anteaters!" Love #2, #5 & #6! In #2, is she wearing the tinted "hitters' " contacts?

yes she is wearing those contacts

5 is officially one of my favorite sport photos of all time, amazing shot!

I wanna see some "different" shots - i.e. things you learned! Last two are my favorites of the bunch.

love the hurdles shot.

curious on where you got the idea from?

cause i vaguely remember seeing that shot in a photojournalism book i was flipping thru when i worked for my college newspaper.
unfortunately i saw it after the season ended.

Can you give us some details on the critique you received on each of these? I am curious to hear what the SS instructors specifically noted.

5 and 6 are really nice, you are to be commended. Unfortunately the first shots are rather ordinary... not bad, but not anything I wouldn't expect you to be able to produce. That said, taking advantage of events like these always make ya better, and the latter shots show some good vision. Good deal.

Nice stuff Dave!! Looks like you made the most of your trip. You should consider a move to SoCal.....South of Orange County the traffic isn't bad at all!!

2# is great !

roblatim wrote in post #9996441
5 is officially one of my favorite sport photos of all time, amazing shot!

Well thanks. Im pretty happy with it. Thanks for the comment.

MJPhotos24 wrote in post #9996670
I wanna see some "different" shots - i.e. things you learned! Last two are my favorites of the bunch.

One of the biggest things I learned Mike is seeing a shot before it happens. While I have always been good at timing and other things, going to back to the basics of having a nice clean background, looking for the shot before hand and framing it all up. I noticed it in alot of my shots after I got back and in a lot of the shots around here (No offense) but no one really focuses on having things like clean backgrounds and tight (and I mean super tight) crops. We all tend to take the "safe shots" because those are the ones that sell to parents, however, I think we get in a rut, much like I had, and not shoot things that are different.

For shot number 5, I can garentee that I never would have shot that if I hadnt been told to get away from shots that I have always been comfortable with.

Matt Brown, got on me the first shooting day as we were covering a baseball game, and told me that he would kick my *** if I even went anywhere close to my normal softball/baseball shooting position the next time I shot. So that pushed me to shoot the shots posted. I had to get out of my regular mindset of shooting to shoot, not shooting to make a great photo. By the end of the workshop, he looked at me and said, "you didnt have a lot of action shots, but that doesnt mean you didnt work your *** off. Nice job". So for me, getting out of the normal habits is what proved the most valuable to me. I think my California baseball thread proves that as it was shot after the workshop and I had the chance to put everything I learned to the test.

Another thing was the amount of work it was to look for details. For me, that is something I dont do enough of, but it is a part of a daily technique for me now. Telling a story with our shots is deadly important and honestly, you tell a story with every aspect of shots not just action.

If I were to give some advice to someone that was asking, I would say that there are bigger things than just action. Sure that seems to be the most important but it isnt. As a photographer your job is to create memories not just photographs. Learn from those more experience rather than going out and jumping into things. Assist someone, have a mentor.

mizouse wrote in post #9997358
love the hurdles shot.

curious on where you got the idea from?

cause i vaguely remember seeing that shot in a photojournalism book i was flipping thru when i worked for my college newspaper.
unfortunately i saw it after the season ended.

I was looking for something different. I wanted to see something that I had never seen before so I laid down with an 400 and waited a few races until I got the look I was looking for.

Big K wrote in post #9997362
Can you give us some details on the critique you received on each of these? I am curious to hear what the SS instructors specifically noted.

See my note on Mike's post.

Croasdail wrote in post #9999444
5 and 6 are really nice, you are to be commended. Unfortunately the first shots are rather ordinary... not bad, but not anything I wouldn't expect you to be able to produce. That said, taking advantage of events like these always make ya better, and the latter shots show some good vision. Good deal.

I wouldnt call the original shots "ordinary" they are simple but yet a lot is happening in such a simple shot.

Michael15 wrote in post #10001017
Nice stuff Dave!! Looks like you made the most of your trip. You should consider a move to SoCal.....South of Orange County the traffic isn't bad at all!!

I considered it but it is really expensive lol... I did tell my mom and fiancee I wasnt coming back but I would send my fiancee a plane ticket and see her later lol.

canonnoob wrote in post #10001380
I wouldnt call the original shots "ordinary" they are simple but yet a lot is happening in such a simple shot.

Im hoping that this SS Academy has taught you how to take honest criticism. That being the case, Ill honestly say that they are very ordinary. There very well may be a lot going on but you didnt convey any of that story through the picture. When I first started shooting, I jumped on the 'shoot tight, crop tighter' bandwagon too but now I take a more photojournalistic approach and try to find ways to produce images that really tell a story. IMO, thats why the hurdle shot succeeds so well. It focuses on the athlete at a time which the athlete is focusing on the task before them. It really conveys the pressure and anxiety prior to gun being fired and it tells a legitimate story. I will add however that even the hurdle shot could be better..the people that are just standing around do detract from it somewhat.

Lastly, while I do applaud you for learning to get away from the 'norm', please dont stop there. The hurdle shot is good but its actually a pretty standard shot. The first time I saw it was a few years ago. It was a shot by Bill Frakes. I dont even know if he was the first one to do it (probably not) but what Im getting at is the fact that its a shot that almost anyone can get at almost any track meet. Now that you have the idea behind good picture taking, dont stop. Always look for new angles. Always ask yourself what elements should I include in this picture to tell a good story. Dont be afraid to experiment with 'unorthodox' settings. And NEVER be caged in by the 'rules' of shooting sports.

AdamLewis wrote in post #10005682
Im hoping that this SS Academy has taught you how to take honest criticism. That being the case, Ill honestly say that they are very ordinary. There very well may be a lot going on but you didnt convey any of that story through the picture. When I first started shooting, I jumped on the 'shoot tight, crop tighter' bandwagon too but now I take a more photojournalistic approach and try to find ways to produce images that really tell a story. IMO, thats why the hurdle shot succeeds so well. It focuses on the athlete at a time which the athlete is focusing on the task before them. It really conveys the pressure and anxiety prior to gun being fired and it tells a legitimate story. I will add however that even the hurdle shot could be better..the people that are just standing around do detract from it somewhat.

Lastly, while I do applaud you for learning to get away from the 'norm', please dont stop there. The hurdle shot is good but its actually a pretty standard shot. The first time I saw it was a few years ago. It was a shot by Bill Frakes. I dont even know if he was the first one to do it (probably not) but what Im getting at is the fact that its a shot that almost anyone can get at almost any track meet. Now that you have the idea behind good picture taking, dont stop. Always look for new angles. Always ask yourself what elements should I include in this picture to tell a good story. Dont be afraid to experiment with 'unorthodox' settings. And NEVER be caged in by the 'rules' of shooting sports.

Thanks for the encouragement and advice Adam. I really appreciate it.

canonnoob wrote in post #10005896
Thanks for the encouragement and advice Adam. I really appreciate it.

You know I <3 you

You know. Last week before the academy and looked through some of your critiques and it was insightful.

AdamLewis wrote in post #10007475
You know I <3 you