"I HOPE I score"by
mbrutus2009Comment by spiritualspatula: Hello from the Critique Club:
I think an issue a lot of folks had with this challenge was DNMC and fit for challenge. Voters tend to vote down images that fit the challenge criteria only because of the title.
Having said that, I think this is a decent sports capture. I, too, like how the sun has illuminated your friend̢۪s hair, and I think you did a good compromising the amount you froze the action yet still keeping some movement. The image also has good sharpness, contrast, and saturation throughout.
In terms of composition, I think framing your subject closer would benefit this particular pose. Generally, I would try to use a wider frame in order to show context (IE, other players, the goal ETC). Since the wider crop on this doesn̢۪t do that, I would say that you can concentrate things down more and eliminate some of the surrounding negative space (which in this case is rather distracting because it is hardly blurred). You might consider opening your aperture to help blur the background a bit more. Also, getting a telephoto would help this, but for sports you need fast glass and that̢۪s an expensive route.
Lastly, since this challenge was under Advanced editing, I would suggest you brighten the face a bit more and the shorts a bit too so they have a bit of definition to them.
-Derek
Photographer found comment helpful.