#59 Signals--Advice or C&C Appreciated

slpollett

I helped chaperone my daughter's marching band this weekend & took along my camera. The band director had asked me to take a few pictures of the band during the half-time show for the football program, but I thought I'd try to get Signals while I was there. :wink

Turns out there were a couple flaws with my grand idea, lol. First, my chaperoning duties took a LOT of time away from any picture-taking I wanted to do; and second, the football teams did NOT cooperate with me by spending any time by my end of the field. :dunno I was thinking that since the band is in the stands right at the goal line that SOMEBODY would score a touchdown right there by me and I could get a good TD signal from the ref. Alas, twas not to be. The only time it got close, our team fumbled on the 1 yard line just as they were moving in to score. Grrrrrrrr! <sigh>

Anyway, this is what I managed to get--not 'quite' what I wanted, but does it still work for Signals?

#1 This one was taken the play right before our fumble at the goal line. I hate that I cut off the ref's feet and that there are no football players in the shot.


2. I took this one from up in the press box right before half-time. I tried some different processing. Does it work? Would a different treatment work better?


3. The quality of this shot isn't very good at all, but this was the TD signal I was hoping for--I just wasn't in the right position to get the shot I wanted. Again, this is from the press box right before half-time. This one isn't an entry consideration--this one is here just to lament that they didn't do it by my end of the field!


Unfortunately, I don't have any opportunity for a re-shoot since this weekend is our off week and we have no football game. If neither of these work for signals, I'll have to get another idea if I get a chance.

Thanks in advance,
Sherry

dlscott56

I like #2 best of these with the processing although I think I'd like it better cropped just a bit? Maybe just to the left of the other teams player? Just a thought.

slpollett

Thanks. #2 is also the one my daughter liked best.

Here's the cropped version. Better or back to the drawing board?



Thanks,
Sherry

redleash

I like #2--fits the theme well and I like the cropped composition better. I don't love the background texture but do like the overall look with the subdued tones and the lighting on the ref. Good luck!

Lauren

richtersl

Ditch the texture, crop a little from the right and from the bottom and you'll have it.

Nice photo and nice take on the theme.

kdotaylor

I agree with Linda

slpollett

Thank you for the feedback. I'll play with the original image a little more to see if I can work any magic on it. To me, it's a boring picture in it's original form (kind of like the first image I posted). I thought it needed 'something' so I tried the crackle texture effect. Since that's not the 'something' this image needs, I'll try to be more creative and do something else. Now if only I had a creative bone in my body............



Sherry

dlscott56

I like your cropped one but would crop a bit tighter if it were me.

travelways

I like the last one - not sure about the texture though...

Tstorm

I agree that it looks better without the other team's player there as a distraction, but I almost like the texture. When I first looked at it, my thought was that it looked like an old TV image from the decades before HD back when screens were fuzzy and you had to either hold onto the coat hanger antenna, or hit the top of the box a few times for a decent image. But I looked closer at the picture and noticed it wasn't just large grain, but one of the PS standard textures, and then I kinda got a little less interested.

Those are my thoughts.

slpollett

<sigh> I've gone back to the original to start from scratch. I had already cropped out the opposing sideline and portion of bleachers and cloned out some heads before I started working on the original shot I posted. I ended up cropping again before I posted the first image for c&c. Then I cropped some more after feedback, but I have some doubts. To me, the photo just doesn't look good cropped down that much (it's starting to pixelate). So now I've backed up to my original crop. I like that the penalty flag is visible, but I don't like that I cut off one of the opposing players. Also, the ref (& his signal) are smaller and not as prominent.

(This doesn't have anything done to it yet except the cropping & cloning, btw.)


So, is it better to show some opposing players or go ahead & crop down as far as I can go?? I may end up totally ditching this idea, but I thought I'd as least try to get as far as I could with it.

Thanks,
Sherry

redleash

I would try cropping out the two right-side players, just to the right of #7s foot. Then clone out what is left of the right-side players. To me, that leaves enough of the white jersey team that you get the full story. Alternatively, you could leave the size as is and clone out those two players. A third option is to crop and clone out all of the right side
except for the white jersey player who is walking towards his huddle--that keeps the story complete as it shows the recipient of the ref's signal.

Of course, this raises the question of what is too much manipulation--is removing two humans from an action shot equivalent to removing a telephone pole that is a distracting element in a landscape? Only you can answer that one.

Not sure if this is helpful at all, sorry. I do like the shot and think it fits the theme perfectly. I'd suggest just playing with it some more until you are happy with the look.

Good luck!
Lauren

slpollett

Thanks, Lauren. I tried your suggestion & posted the results in a new thread. My nit with the image now is the ref is too centered. I'm going to think about it a little more before I totally give up on it.

Sherry