MiLB Threshers Vs. Jay's

Luke J. Photography

Some shots from last nights game.

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dbaker1221

well done

Gringriff

Very Nice! Really like 2, 4, 6, and 7. What happened in #4? Did the infielder get taken out by the base runner? Ouch!

johng

Some nice snaps. Some more specific critique:

1) timing is good here. But I'm not a BoB fan. Shots of batters are like shooting fish in a barrel. So it has to stand out. Expressions help, technique, power, etc. And, of course in the context of a story it can be helpful (i.e the follow thru on a game-winning home run). They're a great exercise but to me it's akin to a photo of someone shooting a foul shot in basketball. Yes it might be good practice for your timing - but the end shot is tough to make interesting. At least with pitchers, the expression can make the shot interesting.

2). Nice sharp capture. But no particular action other than him running. Which can be Ok, but the particular body position isn't appealing. THat's where burst helps when taking shots of runners - if you've got 3 sharp photos you can use the one with the best body position (usually at fulll stride rather than leg kicked back up). So, technically I like the shot but I would prefer a different one from the sequence where the runner looks a bit better

3) A different shot - so I like it. Just straiten it a bit as it's crooked.

4) Timing is off. The ball is alaready in the glove - the play is over. And there are no faces. So you're past peak action and not showing faces. So, even though the focus is good the subject isn't very interesting.

5) Again, to me this is a more interesting photo than the 1st batter. Easier to take but still more interesting.

6) missing the ball. Want to catch this before it hits the glove

7) a little crooked. You've got the ball in the frame which is good, but the background in this shot is distracting. Personally I prefer throw shots strait on because you can crop down tighter and you get to see the expression.

8) Nice shot. Good timing. White balance is a bit cool though.

9) Watch you're cropping - an ankle is an akward place to crop a photo. If you were missing the ankle in the original I would suggest cropping further up the leg. The other issue here is with the framing at the top - his face pushed to the right of the frame with the dead space behind it. To me shots look better with more space in front of the subject rather than behind. With the current composition my eyes are drawn more to the trailing arm than to the face (which is a bit too far in the right corner of the frame)

10) so-so. The catcher steals attention and he's not adding anything. Shots like this are tough with that angle - because you open yourself up to having those other distracting elements in the frame. Also, the face in this one does not appear sharp (could just be a result of the downsize though) - so that combined with the catcher makes this shot less interesting for me.

11) nice shot. I would do some dodging of the face to bring it out of the shadow a bit more but it's the most interesting shot of the series to me.

Overall you're progressing very well. But now comes the tough part - just because a shot is in focus and exposed right doesn't mean it's interesting. No doubt those 2 things are tough - many people struggle with it. Now that you've got that down you need to think about whether a shot is interesting or not even if the sharpness and exposure are there.

Luke J. Photography

Thanks for the C&C. It's very much appreciated.