on the basketball court

[dashboard2003]

Thoughts and constructive suggestions are welcome!

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Why shoot at a basketball court if you're subject isn't going to somehow interact with the environment? You've included the entire hoop in every composition, but why? Worse, in half these pictures, the pole is growing out of his head, a big portrait no-no.

This person would look more at home perhaps with a skateboard at a skate park.

 

[dashboard2003]

Thanks for viewing and commenting. I guess from an outsider's perspective, you might question that, but that court has some sentimental meaning... he's had a lot of good games there. It was just an impromptu, fun way to end the shoot in the last few minutes before the sun was starting to go down that day. These six shots are all from the same portion of the photoshoot and I thought I would share all of them to get some feedback, since they were ready for sharing today. When I get to working on the others I'll post a few.

The fact that he's leaning on a pole (rather than physically growing a metal pole) is pretty obvious to the average viewer wouldn't you say?

He would make a great skateboarder if he was one, but as it is, he's a basketball player with an urban look from an urban area.

 

[tirediron]

...The fact that he's leaning on a pole (rather than physically growing a metal pole) is pretty obvious to the average viewer wouldn't you say? ...

No, no I would not. In images 2, 3, and 4 the pipe is appears to be growing directly out of the centre of his head. In #5 it's not so bad because we can see it going down the side of his neck. I'm afraid that the basketball aspect is going to be lost to everyone but you, the subject and perhaps a couple of very close, personal friends. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does reduce the appeal of the images to the general public (if that matters).

I'm curious as to why such excessive DoF; there's no EXIF data on your images, but it almost appears as if these were shot either with a P&S, or short lens stopped way, way down. Using a larger aperture would have allowed you to isolate the subject from the background and make him "stand out" more. As-is, he's really not the centre of attention, but just another aspect of the image.

I think that something as simple as him holding/dribbling a basketball would have really helped to form the connection that I feel is missing here.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[The_Traveler]

IMO

He's too small in the frame, for no artistic purpose.
The background is intrusive and in focus.
The colors pulls my eye around.
It's not clear at all what point you are making.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

Photoshoot?

These all look like snapshots that could easily have been taken with a cameraphone. The background is very distracting, and the composition is "OK" but there's nothing compelling about it.

#1 has a badly blown sky.
#2 and #4 were shot at the wrong shutter speed, as the subject's hand is completely blurred.

The subject doesn't look like he belongs on a basketball court at all.

There may be some emotional significance to that court for the subject, but for everyone else in the world, these don't say much of anything. You have to think about your viewer.....

 

[dashboard2003]

John -- I think you're right about this:

I'm afraid that the basketball aspect is going to be lost to everyone but you, the subject and perhaps a couple of very close, personal friends. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does reduce the appeal of the images to the general public (if that matters).

And for better or for worse, that's usually the dynamic that I'm drawn to (as a writer also) -- the hidden emotions behind the picture which are rarely shared "out loud." Thanks for pointing that out the way you did. Making the connection clearer is something I can work on.

Traveler -- I just got some advice from another photographer who suggested having him stand much closer to the camera, which would get him in focus and the basketball hoop in the right perspective in the background. Looking at the photos now (including the ones from the other set which I haven't posted yet), I kind of can't believe how many little things I bombed with this shoot that should have been very obvious to me, but, that's how learning works I guess.

The colors are a plus and a minus -- it's authentic, but it's also a colorful mess for the viewer. It's a much richer setting than most basketball courts. A new high-rise next door to the park, a row of colorful houses, lots of trees and greenery. So it authentically shows off the vivid environment in this city park, which is pretty unusual. I imagine playing ball there would sometimes be a challenge with all the distractions.

James -- I'm not as happy with this photoshoot as I was with my last one. I played with a bunch of settings and it didn't turn out so hot. There's one more series, near an old house, that seem to be worth working on. I'll probably get into those tonight. But some of the other settings we tried turned out even much more poorly. The day of this photoshoot was not a banner day.

I'll probably get to re-shoot with this guy next week, so I'll work on some things. Thank you for the comments!

 

[The_Traveler]

you need to create a mood and make the focus and the color fit the mood.
In focus background that pulls the eye, colors that don't fit all hurt.
This is oversharpened (see the halos) but if you do this on a full-res image, you can get a moody piece without that.

 

[Derrel]

The original photos all seemed kind of small, and faraway...plus the LIGHTING seems rather overcast and visually dull. Without much in the way of shadows, the guy and the hoop do not stand out very much...the LIGHTING was really,really working against you when these pictures were shot. I think had the lighting been strong, and directional, with a good, solid shadow, it would have really helped these. With that type of diffused, overcast light however, the BACKGROUND subjects, like the apartment building and the houses, all have pretty much equal weight, visually. With no "anchor shadow" for the man, he's just sort of "there". I actually "get" what you were trying to achieve here, and my honest feeling is that the LIGHTING is a huge part of the problem.

 

[MLeeK]

They're all out of focus. I even went into the extra large sizes on your smug mug to make sure I wasn't blind. Nope. Out of focus. Not a single one of them does the focus actually fall on the subject. Focus seems to consistently fall on the house behind him. In which case, they're trash. Can't fix blurry.

Beyond that you haven't used the camera controls to eliminate the distractions that take you away from the story you are trying to tell at all. You haven't paid attention to any of the distractions in the background that weren't controlled by the camera.

I see your idea or theme here and I don't have so much of a problem with the lack of interaction with the court or whatever. However, you, as the photographer failed these ones. A shallow depth of field would have separated your subject from the background crap and given him some importance in the image. As it is he's getting lost in the mess that is all in focus here. (that is assuming he was actually in focus)

 

[dashboard2003]

The_Traveler -- I like your edit to that one.

Derrel -- We had a schedule miscue, and we didn't start shooting until 7pm central that day. It was kind of a strange light. I'm looking forward to testing out the camera in some other light conditions and see what I can learn.

MLeeK -- I had some focus problems in my last photoshoot too. My thread on that series is here and my SmugMug link that has some additional photos from both photoshoots is here. It's on my list to figure out what I'm doing wrong with focus. Someone had a thread about blurriness, that I found today, and I wrote down a few ideas to try for next time.

Thank you!

 

[MLeeK]

Ahhh... I think I commented on your note in someone else's post about blurry images. You need to start using only one focus point. If you are using a pattern of focus points the camera gets to pick the one it likes the contrast on.
The woman in the post had shutter speed issues. That doesn't LOOK like it's your problem. Your problem is letting the camera control where the focus falls.
Choose one focus point and lock it to the inside of the eye closest you.

 

[rexbobcat]

He's rather small in the frame, and as MLeek said they do all seem to be out of focus. The background is also really busy and the subject kind of gets lost since the DoF is so deep.

Besides using just one AF point, make sure that your AF mode is One Shot and not Continuous or Servo.

 

[yv0nne]

If he's a basketball player, you should have had him actually shoot some hoops/ dribble a ball/ something other than stand there& look sad! Or moody ..or whatever aha

 

[dashboard2003]

Thanks for the advice about focus.

Yeah, we didn't anticipate shooting there... actually the whole opportunity to work with him came up fast and without a lot of time to work out details beforehand. He also does hip-hop so some of the shots were more geared for that side of his personality.

Here are a couple others from another location: