more bball, also manual

zoomn

I posted a couple of weeks ago with my first attempt at basketball photos. Since I need practice both posting and shooting, I thought I'd add a couple more from the most recent games. Much thanks to those who replied the last time and thanks in advance to any new C&C

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4.

johng

I'm not sure I saw your last post so can't say how different results are here from first post. So I'll simply address the shots you've shared in this post:

shot 1: I get the concept but the shot doesn't quite work for me. The biggest issue is the main subject just isn't very sharp. And, by including the rim it also introduces quite a bit of uninteresting dead space in the frame.

Shot 2: nice action and good facial expression. Biggest issue here is its a bit crooked. If you have a wider original, try and fix that in crop. If you haven't done any unsharp mask (USM) yet then that will really help this photo out. It's a good photo but lacks the punch that a truly sharp image has (and that punch often comes from unsharp mask).

shot 3: nice capture - good action. Again there's a lot of dead space do to your position and trying to include the net for context. In general for a jump shot I don't worry about the net so much - everyone can pretty much figure out he's shooting at the basket.

shot 4: some great action - just need to crop tighter - the guy in the left of the frame adds nothing and him and the empty space are a distraction. The story is the fight for the ball - it needs to fill the frame.

You definitely are on your way with these shots. You've got an eye for some interesting action. You just need to get that action filling the frame and use some USM to punch up the photos and you'll see a huge difference in their impact. A couple more games and you should be getting some stellar shots. Good job.

Macushla

I love #4. I agree that the guy on the left should be cropped out that way all the focus will be on the hair!!!!!!!!

johng wrote:

If you haven't done any unsharp mask (USM) yet then that will really help this photo out. It's a good photo but lacks the punch that a truly sharp image has (and that punch often comes from unsharp mask).

Unsharp mask??? OMG how could I not have know about this before. I feel like I just found a hidden treasure. I never would have hit that button because it says UNsharp. I looked it up in the help menu and have been playing around with it. Thanks so much.

zoomn

johng wrote:

I'm not sure I saw your last post so can't say how different results are here from first post. So I'll simply address the shots you've shared in this post:

shot 1: I get the concept but the shot doesn't quite work for me. The biggest issue is the main subject just isn't very sharp. And, by including the rim it also introduces quite a bit of uninteresting dead space in the frame.

Shot 2: nice action and good facial expression. Biggest issue here is its a bit crooked. If you have a wider original, try and fix that in crop. If you haven't done any unsharp mask (USM) yet then that will really help this photo out. It's a good photo but lacks the punch that a truly sharp image has (and that punch often comes from unsharp mask).

shot 3: nice capture - good action. Again there's a lot of dead space do to your position and trying to include the net for context. In general for a jump shot I don't worry about the net so much - everyone can pretty much figure out he's shooting at the basket.

shot 4: some great action - just need to crop tighter - the guy in the left of the frame adds nothing and him and the empty space are a distraction. The story is the fight for the ball - it needs to fill the frame.

You definitely are on your way with these shots. You've got an eye for some interesting action. You just need to get that action filling the frame and use some USM to punch up the photos and you'll see a huge difference in their impact. A couple more games and you should be getting some stellar shots. Good job.

Thanks johng, I appreciate the comments. Sadly, basketball season is done for now, so I won't get to keep practicing until AAU starts up. I think my nephew is playing volleyball in the spring -- that will be a whole new adventure for us both!

zoomn

Macushla wrote:

I love #4. I agree that the guy on the left should be cropped out that way all the focus will be on the hair!!!!!!!!



Unsharp mask??? OMG how could I not have know about this before. I feel like I just found a hidden treasure. I never would have hit that button because it says UNsharp. I looked it up in the help menu and have been playing around with it. Thanks so much.

Thanks Macushla -- that is some hair isn't it?