Frisbee golf- my 2nd photoshoot

[morganleigh]

I went with my husband this morning to photograph him playing frisbee gold. These are my best shots. Any feedback or critique is welcome. I'm brand new to photography & wanting to learn.

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I would have really liked this one if the goal was in focus

 

[manaheim]

Lot of pics there, but some quick comments hoping it will be helpful.

Not in any particular order...

btw, I don't have the EXIF information visible on this machine I'm on so I'm somewhat forced to assume/guess at your settings, so bear with me if I'm way off.

It looks kind of dark, so I assume you had a pretty wide aperature on #10 and accidentally focused on those leaves in the bottom of the frame there. A smaller aperature would have gotten more in focus, and obviously just focusing directly on the goal itself would have at least given you that sharp.

The compositions seem generally ok, though I personally more like the ones where his arm and hand are extended towards the thrown frisbee, then the ones where his arm is more behind him. The former seems to make more "sense" to me, whereas the latter seems odd and not entirely clear what is going on. (Has he thrown that or is he about to maybe catch it... or?)

On #2 that haze is rough, but I'm sure unavoidable. A UV filter will help a LITTLE, but you can also try a large radius, low percentage unsharp mask. With that much haze you won't be able to remove it, but you may be able to cut it down a bit.

For all of the pics... it was obviously a tough lighting situation... overcast (I assume), in the forest, etc. That's going to cause some issues, though you could certainly turn up the ISO a bit and that will help.

I also think all of them could use a bit of post processing work. A touch of brightening, a bit of contrast, a bit of sharpening and in some cases a bit of a saturation boost. All of these would go a long way.

Hope this helps.

 

[JerryPH]

You were not capturing your husband playing frisbee, you were capturing the frisbee being thrown. (lol)

With the exception of one underexposed and one badly out of focus shot, the face of your husband is nowhere. Why is that?

I see no real excitement in the pics. You want anyone that looks at these pics to WANT to play this game, generate some visual excitement, get them interested! This could have been rectified by:

- Taking picture of the front of your husband, not his back (in particular, the look of concentration or joy or anger of his face as he played)
- Playing with angles more to the fronts and sides rather than backs and sides.
- Playing with scenes better composed. Angles... up from a hill or branch, or laying low to the ground.

In short, you made the focus of the shoot the frisbee, not your husband. Frisbees are basically boring, however, you had all the excitement in the event you needed with your husband, its just that the primary focus of the event was the wrong item.


Technically there are several things that need work:

- Paying a lot more attention to exposure settings
- Paying a lot more attention to depth of field
- Paying attention on precisely what to focus on
- Paying attention to shutter speed (slower for a sense of speed, faster for freezing action!)

When I see pictures like this, I want to almost be involved with the subject (the man, not the frisbee), to get the best effect of the pictures.

Hope that helps!

 

[morganleigh]

Thank you for the critique! I knew this was a difficult situation I wasn't exactly ready for a couple days after getting my first camera. But, it was fun. I want to try it again after reading the advice & see how I can improve on it. I'll post frisbee round two.

I was using a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

 

[Jen Puleo]

I'd prefer to see the other side, his face. I don't think you see what he's really doing from the back side. No expression from him-know what I mean?

 

[AmberBella]

I like #2 the best. If you run an unsharp mask on it (20/60 or so) it will reduce that haze quite a bit. Get that pic in photoshop!

 

[Moonb007]

I like number 4, the lighting is off, but I can see its overcast. Make sure you are using a fast shutter as the last one looks bury, dont see the focus point. The course looks fun though, ours here in Houston are all flat.

 

[manaheim]

Thank you for the critique! I knew this was a difficult situation I wasn't exactly ready for a couple days after getting my first camera. But, it was fun. I want to try it again after reading the advice & see how I can improve on it. I'll post frisbee round two.

I was using a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Shooting again (and again and again and again and again) is a great way to learn. I can't tell you the number of times I have shot the same Boston skyline, and it's amazing to see the difference in the pictures over time.

 

[morganleigh]

Shooting again (and again and again and again and again) is a great way to learn. I can't tell you the number of times I have shot the same Boston skyline, and it's amazing to see the difference in the pictures over time.

I am excited to try it again. He is happy I am interested in going with him while he plays. Maybe we'll go next weekend. I should have my 28mm lens by then which I think will help. Also, I'm taking my 2nd photography class Saturday. The first class was more of an intro. So I think frisbee round 2 will be much more successful.

 

[bigalbest]

I am excited to try it again. He is happy I am interested in going with him while he plays. Maybe we'll go next weekend. I should have my 28mm lens by then which I think will help. Also, I'm taking my 2nd photography class Saturday. The first class was more of an intro. So I think frisbee round 2 will be much more successful.

Good luck, it sounds like you have a great attitude.

 

[three_eyed_otter]

The only thing I can see that is wrong w/the photos is the Aggie's t-shirt...Just kidding. Your enthusiasm for photography will serve you well.

have a good one
3Eo

 

[chris]

On #2 that haze is rough, but I'm sure unavoidable. A UV filter will help a LITTLE, but you can also try a large radius, low percentage unsharp mask. With that much haze you won't be able to remove it, but you may be able to cut it down a bit.

It looks more like a light mist in which case a UV filter will have no effect. Also, since most modern film and digital cameras have little or no sensitivity to UV there is little reason to use a UV filter for anything other than protecting the front element of a lens.

 

[wlsmoku]

only thing I see wrong is he needs to flatten out that disc! heiser is easily fixed! hahaha. I love disc golf and have been wanting to do a shoot like this. good pics - keep em comin