The enforcer of the game

[lamergod]

This is a shot that I took while covering my first event/sports shoot for my school.It was a inter-class girls badminton competition.

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Is the picture too warm?
Is the crop of the umpire head suitable for this picture as I would like to change the focal point of this picture from the umpire himself to his hands only.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I hope to move the focal point of this picture to the umpire hand himself ,thus cropping his head.The 2 girls and the badminton tells the viewer that this person is either a umpire even though he is not well distinguised or as a serious fan/coach that is in anyway in relation with this match - up.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
It was taken under very low lighting as the lighting from the hall was not well lit for me to freeze the players at the back.
I was limited to a 55-200VR on a tripod ass I thought I would be taking sports.
I had to take this picture in a rush because even when i put bulb mode(on a D40 which is quite slow 2.5fps)I was having trouble getting all three people in to the frame at my desired position.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I thought that over it was a half good half bad picture.The good part was that I was able to capture the seriousness of the umpire rulling his stamps on the match-up.
The bad part would be the two girls.I thought that the position the front girl was not right.

 

[denniskee]

sorry, i feel the cropping of his head is very bad, also doesnt move the focal point of this picture to the umpire hand himself.

the girls playing badminton appears to be very static, so boring.

the pole of the net is also in focus, distracting.

pic is not too warm, just abit, may i know the purpose of leaving it warm?

 

[lamergod]

sorry, i feel the cropping of his head is very bad, also doesnt move the focal point of this picture to the umpire hand himself.

the girls playing badminton appears to be very static, so boring.

the pole of the net is also in focus, distracting.

pic is not too warm, just abit, may i know the purpose of leaving it warm?

Thank you for your pointers.The picture itself is already warm.When I tried to make it cooler,I thought that it looked better warmer,but i'm not sure about other ppl's liking of the warmth in the picture

 

[Bcool]

I do think that you’re missing the bigger picture here.
The tonality or warmth of the picture here is secondary.
What you should be concentrating on is the composition.

Your excuse of cropping the head to shift focal to the hand certainly holds no water. There’s no focal least of all the hand.
The angle which you took this shot does not reflect the seriousness of the umpire.

Overall, it is a badly taken photo that doesn’t show what you are trying to portray.

A photo has to tell a story.
For “The enforcer of the game” to work, it has to show the game in progress and the umpire
stamping his authority in the process.
A reshoot is recommended.

 

[dorts]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Is the picture too warm?
Is the crop of the umpire head suitable for this picture as I would like to change the focal point of this picture from the umpire himself to his hands only.

The picture IMO, is underexposed. It's not too warm, but there's a pinkish tone if you noticed. The cropping of the head definitely killed the photo. If a face is shown, stories will be told. Expressions, emotions, features etc. They are all lost.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I hope to move the focal point of this picture to the umpire hand himself ,thus cropping his head.The 2 girls and the badminton tells the viewer that this person is either a umpire even though he is not well distinguised or as a serious fan/coach that is in anyway in relation with this match - up.

As I've mentioned, the cropping I feel killed the photo.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
It was taken under very low lighting as the lighting from the hall was not well lit for me to freeze the players at the back.
I was limited to a 55-200VR on a tripod ass I thought I would be taking sports.
I had to take this picture in a rush because even when i put bulb mode(on a D40 which is quite slow 2.5fps)I was having trouble getting all three people in to the frame at my desired position.

I don't see the link between bulb mode and rushing to get the photo. Could tell that it was low light, but from the photo, it seems the lighting was not too bad, probably you should just bump your ISO higher. Is capturing the moment more important or noise levels more important? I would have tried ISO 1600 if lighting was really that dark.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I thought that over it was a half good half bad picture.The good part was that I was able to capture the seriousness of the umpire rulling his stamps on the match-up.
The bad part would be the two girls.I thought that the position the front girl was not right.

I would say there would be lots of room for improvement. Framing and compsition could be better thought of. I would have positioned myself at a higher view point if possible. This way, you can capture the umpire on the right, and the girls on the left.

Don't let the bad lighting and time ruin your chances. You could have moved around to find a better spot to compose your photo. Try different ways of framing and try to anticipate the moment and capture it, instead of burst mode, if you did use it.

Like I said, the seriousness of the umpire was ruined when you cut off the head. The viewers will not be able to see facial expressions and relate to it.

You could even be more creative. For example, if the umpire is staying still (most probably), you could have left the shutter down a little longer. Therefore showing the movement of the girls, but yet the umpire staying relatively sharp. This way, you not only bring movement to your photo, you need not worry of freezing the people anymore. ;p

Work hard!

 

[haqeel]

hey lamergod. we've met before right

yeah. i'd agree about the cropping. it would be better if expressions are shown.

perhaps u can snap the picture when the players are on action?

keep shooting bro.

 

[lamergod]

hey lamergod. we've met before right

yeah. i'd agree about the cropping. it would be better if expressions are shown.

perhaps u can snap the picture when the players are on action?

keep shooting bro.

have we?LOL.I could not get any actioon shots because the lighting is not that good.The highest iso i could go was 1600 because 3200 is not acceptable already.The shutter speed was like 1/30plus and the whole shot i got alot of expression(funny thing,it's lacked here)from the players and could not get a decent action shot.

 

[lamergod]

The picture IMO, is underexposed. It's not too warm, but there's a pinkish tone if you noticed. The cropping of the head definitely killed the photo. If a face is shown, stories will be told. Expressions, emotions, features etc. They are all lost.




As I've mentioned, the cropping I feel killed the photo.




I don't see the link between bulb mode and rushing to get the photo. Could tell that it was low light, but from the photo, it seems the lighting was not too bad, probably you should just bump your ISO higher. Is capturing the moment more important or noise levels more important? I would have tried ISO 1600 if lighting was really that dark.




I would say there would be lots of room for improvement. Framing and compsition could be better thought of. I would have positioned myself at a higher view point if possible. This way, you can capture the umpire on the right, and the girls on the left.

Don't let the bad lighting and time ruin your chances. You could have moved around to find a better spot to compose your photo. Try different ways of framing and try to anticipate the moment and capture it, instead of burst mode, if you did use it.

Like I said, the seriousness of the umpire was ruined when you cut off the head. The viewers will not be able to see facial expressions and relate to it.

You could even be more creative. For example, if the umpire is staying still (most probably), you could have left the shutter down a little longer. Therefore showing the movement of the girls, but yet the umpire staying relatively sharp. This way, you not only bring movement to your photo, you need not worry of freezing the people anymore. ;p

Work hard!

Will try to get more expressions when I do any more human shots.Thanks for your fabulous pointers :thumbsup:

 

[haqeel]

have we?LOL.

oh yes we had. i was the one who sold to you photoshop rmbr?

 

[lamergod]

oh yes we had. i was the one who sold to you photoshop rmbr?

Oh is you haha.You contacted me thru phone so i didnt know cs nickname haha.Didnt imagined it would be you:bsmilie:

 

[wildsoyabean]

how abt try using flash?
but the compo is really way off...dun crop half a head off la.