B/W for Sports

[scrappy]

Hi, having looked at some of the works of our own CS-ers as well as photogs on other sites, I started to wonder what else I could do with my sports pics other than the levelling + shadow recovery that I typically do....so I decided to try a B/W conversion on one of my pics.



Anyway, would like to know if you guys feel that the conversion's been done well, and if the picture I chose was suitable in the first place. Perhaps suggestions for other PP work that could be done instead of conversion, as well as the cropping of the picture...

Thanks in advance!

[scrappy]

Oh yes... perhaps for reference (not sure if this is against the forum rules?), here's the original version of the picture...

[lastboltnut]

I like the BW. Powerful. And thats why they tie up their jersy to prevent catching.

Didn't know now a days Superman comes in Jersy.

[scrappy]

Originally Posted by lastboltnut I like the BW. Powerful. And thats why they tie up their jersy to prevent catching. Didn't know now a days Superman comes in Jersy.

Thanks!

Yeah the countries that don't have enough funding to get the latest tight fit jerseys have to do what they can to prevent their jerseys from getting tugged... quite important too, the last time I played 7s my not-so-high-quality jersey got ripped to shreds

[bullettothehead]

oh yes!!! the BW one works... haha... awesome shot... so drama...

-dan-

[mengski]

pretty powerful B/W image you got there. very nice conversion. cheers!

[scrappy]

Originally Posted by bullettothehead oh yes!!! the BW one works... haha... awesome shot... so drama... -dan-

Originally Posted by mengski pretty powerful B/W image you got there. very nice conversion. cheers!

Thanks guys for the comments Still playing around with the different B/W techniques...

[sprintist]

well its pretty interesting but more exposure can be pulled from the face. Its a really good 'miss' tackle captured ha!

[joshlty]

great shot! i personally find the b&w shot even more dramatic than the coloured version .

[macson]

very intersting picture, may i know what lens you used ? and aperture ?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by scrappy Hi, having looked at some of the works of our own CS-ers as well as photogs on other sites, I started to wonder what else I could do with my sports pics other than the levelling + shadow recovery that I typically do....so I decided to try a B/W conversion on one of my pics. Anyway, would like to know if you guys feel that the conversion's been done well, and if the picture I chose was suitable in the first place. Perhaps suggestions for other PP work that could be done instead of conversion, as well as the cropping of the picture... Thanks in advance!

you can hdr your sports pictures if you shoot in raw

but anyways, i do like the conversion. tried playing around with your color picture and got nothing significantly better. if you really do want to work hard on it you could do burning/dodging as well as layering to further isolate the figures.. but to me it is not really worth the effort, since it is pretty nice already. the b&w picture, to me, is superior to the original color. less distraction of too much colours that contribute nothing to the scene's main idea. you could also tone it if you want, but it is not a must.

another thing you could do is the urban acid action.. have mentioned this before elsewhere.

this is an urban acided version



let me know if you want me to take it down, cheers

[night86mare]

just for fun, since i'm really bored

[zac08]

Still like the B&W one... the tones jump out at you...

[scrappy]

Hi guys, thanks for all the comments so far, just got back from Perth after a week of rugby (playing) and tennis (watching) so just getting around to replying.

Originally Posted by sprintist well its pretty interesting but more exposure can be pulled from the face. Its a really good 'miss' tackle captured ha!

Heh thanks! Just happened to be there as they were going past the sidelines.

Originally Posted by joshlty great shot! i personally find the b&w shot even more dramatic than the coloured version .

Thanks! Shot a bit of sports over the past week and have been playing with BW for those as well so maybe you'll see them soon.

[scrappy]

Originally Posted by macson very intersting picture, may i know what lens you used ? and aperture ?

Hey, this was shot with my 70-200 F4L at 140mm, f4.0 and 1/800. Got in pretty close because I was right at the sidelines as they passed me by.

[scrappy]

Originally Posted by night86mare you can hdr your sports pictures if you shoot in raw but anyways, i do like the conversion. tried playing around with your color picture and got nothing significantly better. if you really do want to work hard on it you could do burning/dodging as well as layering to further isolate the figures.. but to me it is not really worth the effort, since it is pretty nice already. the b&w picture, to me, is superior to the original color. less distraction of too much colours that contribute nothing to the scene's main idea. you could also tone it if you want, but it is not a must. another thing you could do is the urban acid action.. have mentioned this before elsewhere. this is an urban acided version let me know if you want me to take it down, cheers

Hey man, thanks for the comments again. WRT the urban acid version... I'm really not sure if it works for sports! I love it when used with certain architecture (as you've done before), but I don't quite like the colours produced for sports pictures as it kinda dims down the vibrance and dynamicity that I see in sports. Think the BW version still works because the tones remain very strong.

I think your 2nd version though could work with the "vintage" feel.... need to find another picture that fits it though

And heh, no RAW for me yet, still relatively new (4 months) and trying to figure out a more efficient workflow before I move on to RAW.

Originally Posted by zac08 Still like the B&W one... the tones jump out at you...

Thanks! Some tennis shots coming up soon!

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by scrappy Hey man, thanks for the comments again. WRT the urban acid version... I'm really not sure if it works for sports! I love it when used with certain architecture (as you've done before), but I don't quite like the colours produced for sports pictures as it kinda dims down the vibrance and dynamicity that I see in sports. Think the BW version still works because the tones remain very strong. I think your 2nd version though could work with the "vintage" feel.... need to find another picture that fits it though And heh, no RAW for me yet, still relatively new (4 months) and trying to figure out a more efficient workflow before I move on to RAW.

well, it works for portraits sometimes, so just anyhow whack to see what can do with the photo.. but i agree, it doesn't really work here at all.

mmm that was trying to emulate the "300" feel. oh, don't worry about raw.. it'll come in time normally hdr'ing humans doesn't look good most of the time anyways.. unless you're dave hill.. but then again he doesn't hdr them. not even sure what he does.