# College Soccer-- "Breaking Through"



## D-B-J (Sep 25, 2011)

Here's one from yesterdays game.  Comments and Critiques please!


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 25, 2011)

The action is there but I would crop it into a horizontal and take out all the foreground to the first players feet,and a crop just overtop of the ball.


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## D-B-J (Sep 25, 2011)

I left the foreground so there was something leading up to the players.


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 25, 2011)

It's not necessary to have anything leading up to the players, it is just empty space that takes away from the action, try cropping it the way I suggested and you will see what I mean.


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## D-B-J (Sep 25, 2011)

Anyone else?


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

ttt


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 26, 2011)

Anyone else? Is that like, anyone else have a better crop/idea/comment?

What is  "ttt"


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> Anyone else? Is that like, anyone else have a better crop/idea/comment?
> 
> What is  "ttt"



As in one opinion is not a very good consensus.  So more appropriately, does anyone ELSE have a DIFFERENT crop/idea/comment.

And ttt is take to top....

So i'd appreciate if you weren't so rude. Thank you.


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 26, 2011)

I'm sorry I wasn't trying to rude, what I was giving you was a crop suggestion from someone who has been a professional sports photographer for over 35 years.  If anyone else had a better suggestion on how to crop your photo to make it look better, I would also love to hear it.  You asked for a critique and I gave you an honest one, if you're not willing to listen to a professional, just keep shooting loose, keep the big empty space in the foreground that serves no purpose, it does not lead to the players, it takes away from the players.


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> I'm sorry I wasn't trying to rude, what I was giving you was a crop suggestion from someone who has been a professional sports photographer for over 35 years.  If anyone else had a better suggestion on how to crop your photo to make it look better, I would also love to hear it.  You asked for a critique and I gave you an honest one, if you're not willing to listen to a professional, just keep shooting loose, keep the big empty space in the foreground that serves no purpose, it does not lead to the players, it takes away from the players.



I realize that, but a crop suggestion is one of the many factors of a photo.  I'm not saying your crop is bad, but i'm saying i could use critiques on the other technical aspects of the shot.


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

The crop is much better.


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 26, 2011)

What other technical aspects? I said the action is there. I could have added that the exposure is fine, it's in focus, I would have photoshopped out the white mass (looks like a jacket in the background), also the white post in the background could easily be removed. The ball is in the picture, although perhaps a tiny bit late. Soccer is tough to shoot, it's a good shoot, I suggested a way to make it a much better one.


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 26, 2011)

Just one more small suggestion, and this comes from the news side, photo editors don't like square photos, if you cropped it right at the bottom of the players feet and just over the ball, making it less square.


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## cgipson1 (Sep 26, 2011)

I have to agree... the crop is much better.. and Imagemaker's suggestion about using a non-square crop would be better yet. I would move the crop over a bit.. to the edge of the player on the left, and bring the ball back in frame more if it is possible. Looks pretty good otherwise (again, imagemaker covered the little things as well!)


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

Thank you.  And on a side note, the coach just asked me if i was interested in traveling with the team and being the photographer.  

Thank you both for your help, and it looks like you will be seeing many more photo's in the future!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 26, 2011)

D-B-J said:


> Thank you.  And on a side note, the coach just asked me if i was interested in traveling with the team and being the photographer.
> 
> Thank you both for your help, and it looks like you will be seeing many more photo's in the future!



Great!! Congratulations.. that is excellent news!


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

cgipson1 said:


> D-B-J said:
> 
> 
> > Thank you.  And on a side note, the coach just asked me if i was interested in traveling with the team and being the photographer.
> ...



I'm excited but nervous.  I mean, as of right now, i was shooting to practice.  But it's nice to get paid to practice my photography skills, right?


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## gsgary (Sep 26, 2011)

To me this is a very average shot compared to what we see in the UK, the grass looks a strange color, have you got any other shots from the game ? and it's called football


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 26, 2011)

gsgary said:


> To me this is a very average shot compared to what we see in the UK, the grass looks a strange color, have you got any other shots from the game ? and it's called football



Grass looks green to me, all fields are different, I expect this one is at a school and not perfectly maintained, maybe being used for several different sports, the photo is saturated, maybe a little too much, but it doesn't bother me at all.  Does it really matter  what the field looks like? D-B-J has shot very little soccer/football, and this is a decent photo.  I'm thrilled that you see amazing soccer/football photos in the UK, I've seen some pretty  great soccer/football here in Canada. 

 All of what you said is really rather pointless in relation to the photo.


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > To me this is a very average shot compared to what we see in the UK, the grass looks a strange color, have you got any other shots from the game ? and it's called football
> ...



I may have over saturated a little, but i'm still trying to find my editing "niche" for soccer, as i'm not used to processing sports images.  So little by little i will learn my own style and get better at anticipating the action and such.


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## gsgary (Sep 26, 2011)

Football is quite hard to shoot especially when you are shooting very amateurish players, what spoils the shot for me is there is no way in this world there should be 4 players trying to tackle 1 attacker it just does not look right


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

gsgary said:


> Football is quite hard to shoot especially when you are shooting very amateurish players, what spoils the shot for me is there is no way in this world there should be 4 players trying to tackle 1 attacker it just does not look right



Amateur players?  It's college.. it's not like it's the local kids league.  And why does an ACTION shot spoil it.  The other team screwed up and put four men on one guy, and i took a picture.  Go talk to the coach about it, not complain about it to me.


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## gsgary (Sep 26, 2011)

Yes Amateur players, i don't shoot football any more because i hate it but here's a lad i know from another forum that does, shoot tight 
Match day Pictures


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

gsgary said:


> Yes Amateur players, i don't shoot football any more because i hate it but here's a lad i know from another forum that does, shoot tight
> Match day Pictures



If you hate it and have nothing necessarily useful to add, why bother commenting?

The old adage "if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all" comes to mind...


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## gsgary (Sep 26, 2011)

D-B-J said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > Yes Amateur players, i don't shoot football any more because i hate it but here's a lad i know from another forum that does, shoot tight
> ...



So your expecting everyone to say how good it is ?


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## D-B-J (Sep 26, 2011)

gsgary said:


> D-B-J said:
> 
> 
> > gsgary said:
> ...




No i am not, but telling me it's called football and that you have MUCH better shots in the UK helped me... not at all.  So there was nothing too useful in the post.  I'm not asking for praise, i'm asking for "Comments and Critiques," in other words, a comment that will allow me to improve my eye, skill, etc.


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## gsgary (Sep 27, 2011)

To get better you need to learn the game and where to shoot from, for the best shots shot from behind the goal line so the attackers are coming towards you with a long lens and a wider lens on another body


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## imagemaker46 (Sep 27, 2011)

gsgary, I posted four soccer shots the other day and you didn't make any comments on those?  They were also shot at a college game.   Not everyone understands the game, not everyone grew up with the game, not everyone has a long lens to work with.  While D-B-J's shot is not a "technically perfect" soccer shot because there are too many players in the shot, it is still a decent action shot, that is the only point that has to be made.  Soccer like baseball are boring sports to shoot and also difficult to shoot for even very skilled photographers, and yes understanding the sports helps, however the action doesn't always  come the photographers way, so you shoot what you can with what you have, from where you are.


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## D-B-J (Sep 27, 2011)

gsgary said:


> To get better you need to learn the game and where to shoot from, for the best shots shot from behind the goal line so the attackers are coming towards you with a long lens and a wider lens on another body



I was about 20 feet left of the goal.  In other words, the appropriate position.  I apologize for not being able to afford a 300mm 2.8, and a second body with which to have a wide angle on.  Hell, I'm a poor college student trying to teach myself photography with guidance from more knowledgable members here.  I'd appreciate if you were more useful, instead of bashing everything about this shot, including the stuff i had no control over (# of players).


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## D-B-J (Sep 27, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> gsgary, I posted four soccer shots the other day and you didn't make any comments on those?  They were also shot at a college game.   Not everyone understands the game, not everyone grew up with the game, not everyone has a long lens to work with.  While D-B-J's shot is not a "technically perfect" soccer shot because there are too many players in the shot, it is still a decent action shot, that is the only point that has to be made.  Soccer like baseball are boring sports to shoot and also difficult to shoot for even very skilled photographers, and yes understanding the sports helps, however the action doesn't always  come the photographers way, so you shoot what you can with what you have, from where you are.



It is a tricky and sometimes boring sport to shoot.  For example, i missed a BEAUTIFUL header, but hey, live and learn.  Thank you for your comments.


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## gsgary (Sep 28, 2011)

D-B-J said:


> imagemaker46 said:
> 
> 
> > gsgary, I posted four soccer shots the other day and you didn't make any comments on those?  They were also shot at a college game.   Not everyone understands the game, not everyone grew up with the game, not everyone has a long lens to work with.  While D-B-J's shot is not a "technically perfect" soccer shot because there are too many players in the shot, it is still a decent action shot, that is the only point that has to be made.  Soccer like baseball are boring sports to shoot and also difficult to shoot for even very skilled photographers, and yes understanding the sports helps, however the action doesn't always  come the photographers way, so you shoot what you can with what you have, from where you are.
> ...




This is where knowing the game comes in handy, you have to judge when to stop following the player with the ball and try and plan where the next play will be because once he kicks the ball it is too late to follow, try keeping both eyes open so you can see a bit more of what is going on


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