Stretch
by Stagolee

Comment:
This was actually one of my higher scoring photos in the challenge, and one I had picked to finish above mine.

The timing, Framing and focus is spot on. My only nit about the shot that kept it from going one point up is the fact that you appear to be standing when you took this photo. I prefer a more dramatic angle which sometimes also helps with distracting background. Put your butt on the ground and if you are using a monopod put it as low as it will go, I actually prefer to hand hold to get lower then even my monopod will go. Otherwise I see no issues with this photo at all and am surprised at how low it finished.

Tackled!
by dzone1

Comment:
I voted this a 5. The lack of contrast really hurts this image as well as the distracting elements around the main subjects. A tight vertical crop might help this image. I'd also pull some exposure on this using the shadows/highlights to try and get some exposure on the tackler. It may be an illusion but I get the appearance of horizon tilt to the right as well.

Drama in downtown Buffalo
by david_c

Comment:
I voted this image a 6 during voting.

The colors and timing of the shot are spot on. Given the limits of your lens(F4) and keeping reasonably high ISO and shutter speed. Its just a touch dark to me, and I'd give it a quick Curves adjustment to make it pop just a touch. If you have photoshop pull the image into photoshop, choose curves, pick the white point selector and grab a spot on the white uniform that you want to be the brightest spot. To me just above the D in the players name is about where I would start. See what that does for overall brightness and pop. I realize you are likely shooting from the stands but on this image I'd prefer that the photographer move to the left half a section to get a bit more in front of the batter. It would likely also remove the players standing in the background that are a bit distracting.

The Bunt
by JokersSoul

Comment:
This got a 5 from me. Things I would change, wait for the actual play to happen, this is before the fact, I need the ball in the frame otherwise this could be taken while the pitcher still has the ball. The other thing I would change is your positioning. The background is too busy with too much space between the batter and catcher. Move down the first base line on this and it will bring the angle of the batter and catcher to give the appearance they are closer then they are. It will allow you to crop tighter and cut out much of the dead space in the photo that does nothing for it. I won't mention the processing that makes it look unnatural as I feel that is a DPC thing and wouldn't be done in the real world for news print.

Play at Home
by MinsoPhoto

Comment:
I voted this image a 5. My reasoning behind my vote is a two fold. First it's a great timing shot, its the decisive moment of that play. But the detail in the shot seems be muddied up. My guess is very large crop and an image that wasn't super sharp in this area to begin with. Would it run in the paper, if this was a telling part of the story yes it could. Would it stand alone on it's own if it were insignificant in the outcome of the game? Not likely. As stated sharpness is an issue with it, best I can tell the player sliding either is just in the out of focus plane or has motion blur, at 1/1600 I find it hard to believe that it's motion blur, but might be as the catcher who is still seems to be acceptably sharp. This would be an image I'd write a cut line for and turn in, but the editor would likely not make a selection to use it unless it was the final play of the game and decided it.

Urban League
by citymars

Comment:
The largest issue with this image as taken is the lack of contrast, its extremely flat and could use a curves bump and a bit of saturation. This image could go well with a story about a venue and would be one I could see me turning in as such. For a feature on a player this would not work. The hardest thing about shooting through a fence is watching the angle of the sun and where it is hitting the gray/silver fence at. I try to avoid shooting through one that has the sun hitting it from the front or side angle as it kills contrast even more.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball
by glad2badad

Comment:
First I voted this a 6. It has good emotion, good intensity as well. I love the anticipation on this. What I would change on this shot first is I'd change the exposure on his face, It's a bit dark and I would do what I could to lighten the face, even if it meant more blown highlights on the ball. The photos isn't really about the ball, its about the player that is where your exposure should be matched for. In tough conditions like this, I will expose for the faces in direct sunlight and then for those areas where they are shadowed to me I will either swap Fstop on the fly or in post pull the exposure up and even add a little shadows/highlights to bring some back if needed depending on where my highlights are already at with exposure. The last change is another processing part. It lacks some contrast and punch. I'd pull a small S curve adjustment on it and add a bit of saturation throughout the photo.

Gold medal in sight
by wolf

Comment:
First let me say I think you scored very well on this image. 6th place is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

This image works pretty well as it is, the lighting where you were must have been spectacular to be able to shoot at those settings. I'm lucky to stay at 6400iso in the pools I get to shoot in. My only nit with this image besides the film strip which is a personal nit, is the imbalance of the crop. Since you weren't doing a normal aspect ratio and using the filmstrip border I would have centered the swimmer even more and cropped it to remove the rope in the upper right as well.

Next time you might try to go a bit to the right and go dead on with the swimmer if possible, you are a bit off to your left his right on shooting, I think that is why you ended up with the rope in the right upper and not the left. Otherwise well done.

100M Hurdles
by MattO

Comment:

Originally posted by alanfreed: I gave it a 9... very nicely done! I'm also glad to see that people are still celebrating the Festus holiday.

I thought that was Festivus? For the rest of us. :D

Rain Delay
by Quigley

Comment:
Congrats on your first Ribbon, this is a great image.