State championship game. (Image heavy)

[ronlane]

Thank you @annamaria.

 

[annamaria]

You're welcome

 

[vintagesnaps]

You seem to have the timing and getting the action down. Maybe think about the framing (or cropping?) so you're not chopping people off quite so much.

The trophy with the reflection is an awesome photo!

 

[ronlane]

You seem to have the timing and getting the action down. Maybe think about the framing (or cropping?) so you're not chopping people off quite so much.

The trophy with the reflection is an awesome photo!

Thank you Sharon. I'm 95% sure that all of these are cropped. Cropping tight is one of the things that @imagemaker46 and other sports photogs have been telling me for over a year. From all that I have learned, cropping people out and cutting off limbs is okay in sports photography. I try to be really selective in how I crop them.

 

[vintagesnaps]

This came up in another thread (not football but sports) - take a look at Home | Dave Black , took a workshop with him. Or get on Sportsshooter.com and search football; in the A's Steve Apps name sounded familiar so I looked at his gallery of 10 photos.

He has what I learned to do and think of as 'clean' compositions. Sometimes it works having part of a player in the frame; like where the opposing player is pointing, he's coming into the shot and fits into the scene (close up, upper rather than full body) without looking chopped off. Or in a couple others, there are legs but they're in the background - in one it looks like a larger aperture was used to get the two players and the football midair, keeping the anonymous legs in the background. Probably just takes practice to have parts of other players in a shot without looking too choppy. You could browse on there and see who else has been shooting football for some ideas and to see different styles.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Some other names came to me (eventually). You know, I think it's a matter of continuing to learn and practice to figure out as you frame and compose images how much/little of someone or something works in a picture, something of a judgement call.

Anyway, I took a workshop with Dave Black and Rick Rickman, or look up Walter Iooss, Peter Read Miller; others are Rod Mar, Robert Beck, Bill Frakes.

 

[imagemaker46]

Some other names came to me (eventually). You know, I think it's a matter of continuing to learn and practice to figure out as you frame and compose images how much/little of someone or something works in a picture, something of a judgement call.

Anyway, I took a workshop with Dave Black and Rick Rickman, or look up Walter Iooss, Peter Read Miller; others are Rod Mar, Robert Beck, Bill Frakes.

I've worked with many of these guys in the past. Back in the day working for Sports Illustrated allowed them the priority photo spots. They were considered the privileged ones, always using the best gear, had grunts hauling it around. Great shooters, and most are pretty good guys as well.

 

[imagemaker46]

You seem to have the timing and getting the action down. Maybe think about the framing (or cropping?) so you're not chopping people off quite so much.

The trophy with the reflection is an awesome photo!

Nothing wrong with the crops, a couple of them I would have cropped tighter. In some cases a wider shot with clean empty space and a single player works very well, but that space has to be free from any distractions. Tight crops puts the viewers eyes right into the action.