College Soccer Coverage for School Paper/Photojournalism Class C&C

[Brinr]

Hey everyone, I posted a while ago with some volleyball photos that I also turned in for my journalism class. With that said, I went out and covered a girl's soccer game with the same "sports story" idea in mind. I want some additional feedback beyond what my professor gave me. The picks and comments follow, and as a side note several of these made it into online galleries and the print edition of the paper. Sorry its a little pic intensive but let me know what you think.

1. I liked this one, the professor seemed kind of indifferent to it.

10_30_11 Sagebrush Wms Soccer 012 by BrinR Photo, on Flickr

2. I loved this one, prof. said since it was "accidental" and "not composed" (no argument there) that it wasn't really all that good.

10_30_11 Sagebrush Wms Soccer 011 by BrinR Photo, on Flickr

3. I wasn't really that excited about this one but prof. said this one was one of the better ones.

10_30_11 Sagebrush Wms Soccer 004 by BrinR Photo, on Flickr

4. I didn't feel all that excited about this one either but again prof. said it was one of the better ones.

10_30_11 Sagebrush Wms Soccer 023 by BrinR Photo, on Flickr

5. This made the cover of the sports section, prof. seemed a little indifferent. Since they lost I thought it told the story well.

10_30_11 Sagebrush Wms Soccer 022 by BrinR Photo, on Flickr

6. Prof thought this one was good, I also liked the story telling application of this image.

10_30_11 Sagebrush Wms Soccer 031 by BrinR Photo, on Flickr

 

[rlemert]

#1) I'm afraid I have to agree with your professor. Right now it's just a picture of a girl getting ready to kick the ball. Iff you'd managed to get the girl that's in the background into focus you could have had more of a story - maybe something like two teammates working together. I also don't know what's going on to the right, but suspect that there's something because of the backside of the third girl that's visible. Maybe if you'd shot more to the right to bring more of her into the picture.

Unfortunately, though, I think you're limited by the kicker's set-up. From this angle it looks like she's getting ready to kick across the field (to our left), but all the rest of the action is moving to our right. It makes the picture somewhat confusing.

2) The only problem I have with this one is the fact that to me, the ball looks like it's behind her. As for the picture being "accidental" - well, it was a throw-in so the basic set-up was probably composed. The only element of chance was where the ball was when your finger hit the shutter release.

3) No comment.

4) I'll agree with your prof here. You can see the fatigue in #2's face, and #9's expression suggests that all is not going well for the team.

5) I agree that this is a very dynamic picture that really shows the action taking place out on the field. I'm not sure it tells the same story you think it does, though. For one thing, it's not clear that the ball is going toward/into the net.

6) No comment.

 

[imagemaker46]

These aren't very strong soccer/sports images. I like 3 and 5, although a tighter crop on 5 and it would be much better. The three girls standing around look like three girls just standing around. The last one of the keeper just says she's tired.

Your professor, by making a statement that because it was an "accident" just proved that he has no clue about sports photography, some of the best sports images have been accidents or luck, and how does a person "compose" action, during a game. It is just a stupid statement for your professor to make, I like the shot, although it is a split second too late.

 

[Derrel]

1 and 2 lack "faces"...contrast those two shots with #3, where we can literally see the athlete's face and its expression, in decent light, and at close range, and with her university's name in clear view. Nothing great, but kind of a file photo type shot. Shot #4 of the three players...no action...three cute girls, tanned, on the pitch...well.....hmmm...moving on...

5 and 6, of the goalkeeper...neither of these shots is all that great. Soccer is not an "easy" sport to shoot....the ball can move 60 meters in 4 seconds' time...and then the other way in just as little time...there are "not that many" scoring opportunities either in most matches....it''s not like football or basketball. If you want to get better at it, you'd probably need to shoot 20-25 soccer matches.

 

[Brinr]

Hey, thanks for all the comments and I appreciate the advice. I'l keep shooting and hoping for more opportunities.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Here my dos centavos.. I think that #2 would have been awesome/kick ass had the chick in the BG been the one in prime focus watching and concentrating on
the one who was throwing in. Otherwise, I do think that #3 is the winner. Keep at it, not every one will be the one you want, but you will find one or a few more of the set of the day you can be happy with. My favorite sport to photograph....Good Luck with all your efforts!

 

[Brinr]

Here my dos centavos.. I think that #2 would have been awesome/kick ass had the chick in the BG been the one in prime focus watching and concentrating on
the one who was throwing in. Otherwise, I do think that #3 is the winner. Keep at it, not every one will be the one you want, but you will find one or a few more of the set of the day you can be happy with. My favorite sport to photograph....Good Luck with all your efforts!

Hey thanks Gerogie, it's appredciated!

 

[Destin]

The biggest key to sports photos, as a general rule, is to have the players faces clearly visible and in focus. Their facial expression is often the story teller. Go open up a copy of sports illustrated and try finding a sports photo without the face visible. My money says there wouldn't be many, if any.

The second most important thing is getting the ball in the shot, and capturing peak action. This is much easier with pro camera bodies that can shoot 8-11 fps of course, but it can be done with single shots with a bit of luck and practice.

 

[imagemaker46]

The biggest key to sports photos, as a general rule, is to have the players faces clearly visible and in focus. Their facial expression is often the story teller. Go open up a copy of sports illustrated and try finding a sports photo without the face visible. My money says there wouldn't be many, if any.

The second most important thing is getting the ball in the shot, and capturing peak action. This is much easier with pro camera bodies that can shoot 8-11 fps of course, but it can be done with single shots with a bit of luck and practice.

Using pro body cameras doesn't guarantee you anything if you don't understand what you are shooting in the first place, expecially sports. As you said it can be done with one shot, you can easily tell those that don't feel confident in what they are doing, they just press the shutter and blast off as many frames as they can, in the hopes of getting just one good frame. These people drive me nuts when they stand anywhere near me. It does all come down to understanding the sport, practice and like you said, luck. Having the faces isn't always necessary, depends on the sport, but generally yes, being able to see the eyes is what helps make the image.