Reverse sweep for 4!
by acg83

Comment:
This got a 5 from me.

The crop has a lot of dead space in it that do nothing for the photo. The image also seems to lack sharpness in the subject. You could have easily cropped behind the player some and just to the left of the ball. I can't say anything about the game as I have no idea of how the game is played to know if the play is an important one or not. If possible you might have moved to your left to try and get the tree out of the background.

The Pass
by rooum

Comment:
This got a 4 from me.

This one would have not made the first culling in lightroom when picking my photos to send to the editor. To me the action is where the ball is in this photo and that is totally out of focus. Even the player at the back who I assume will be getting the pass is not in the focal plane. It appears to be in front of him. I'm not sure if the exif data is correct that you have uploaded, however 50MM is not something I'd attempt any field sport with and F1.4 isn't either. Especially not in daylight when I can get 200ISO.

Header
by BeckyT

Comment:
I scored this image a 5 during the voting.

My reasoning is you captured the moment very well as far as timing, although I might have gone vertical with the camera to avoid cutting off the feet or gone even tighter to go waist up on the crop. The issue I have with this entry is the exposure. The areas where the exposure is correct are places that don't matter. You have really nice whites on the uniform and the ball with very little blown highlights even with harsh sunlight. But honestly I don't care about that area. Expose for the faces in direct sunlight facing you, then either make quick changes with your camera during shooting to compensate for shadows or do it in post. I'll gladly blow highlights on the uniforms and ball to get a good exposure on the face. Uniform exposure is only good for product shots, sports photos are about the players and that is what I expose for.

Safe!
by vawendy

Comment:
I voted this image a 5.

The shutter speed is just too low on this shot. It appears to be a bit back focused as well. In my shooting this is one that wouldn't make it through my first Culling in lightroom. So why did I still chose to give it a 5? The shutter speed is really all I can complain about. You had the low angle, the timing, facial expression. now just get that shutter speed up and lock your focus on this shot and you have a fantastic shot. This is one of my favorite shots to take during a game. I keep a second body next to me just to shoot the pick off play at first.

My suggestion for getting focus on this shot is when a situation arises that you think a pick off play is coming. Go to one shot AF on your camera focus in the area where the player will contact the bag, focus it, then keep the shutter half pressed and wait for the pitcher to throw to first, hit a small burst with the camera.

Typically I try not to fall below 1/1600 on a shot like this because even at that you can get a bit of blur.

Message edited by author 2010-05-13 09:46:57.

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.