Pockets Loc: Dallas Metro

Took pics today. The guys had fun. I also wanted to do my "artsy" thing... :-) Will load over the next couple of days.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I am shooting a lot of basketball now and of the three quintessentially American sports, it is by far the hardest. This is not just because of the poor lighting which pushes your equipment to the limit but also because other players get in the way of the photographic action.

Less than 10% of my action photos will have the action players in focus, not have part of the body or ball out of the frame and not have someone else in the way. That is the nature of the beast. Fortunately, basketball with its almost continuous action provides so many opportunities to get good shots.

Using these criteria, I am sorry to say these pictures are lacking. The exposure and color balance are good but the compositions suffer from the maladies mentioned above. The solution: shoot, shoot, shoot, discard, discard, discard. And patience. Do not be disappointed. As I said, basketball is very difficult but do not give up. The rewards are worth it.

I also like shooting isolated players on the sidelines or during breaks in the play. You can get some good character studies showing their emotion and fatigue.

PS Please include your metadata in your posts.

Pockets Loc: Dallas Metro

Hi, abc1234 -- Of course, you are right. These were some pretty bad pics! I posted a couple more later at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-183836-1.html. I think all but one of the later ones gets to what you were talking about, tho they, too, can use some improvement. You gave excellent guidance, and as I continue to go through this set, I'll probably discard more and keep fewer! :-)

I loaded them as "store original" so you should be able to pull them into a viewer and see all metadata, but for these, the first two were 1/500 F2.8 ISO 6400, Canon 5DMKIII 70-200 lens. I think the last two were shutter speed 1/640. I was shooting in TV priority, though I usually shot birds, landscapes, etc., in aperture.

I'll post more later, but thank you so much for your candid assessment. I'll continue to practice -- maybe my nephew will get into one of those non-school leagues. I can only hope! Take care, Dee PS -- and I use white balance florescent in their home gym. Seems to work best.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Dee, I appreciate your accepting my criticism. You never know how people will react.

http://regex.info/exif.cgi I use this website for looking at the metadata. More information than you care to know but it does have some great tidbits. I suspect you are saving without the metadata checked. Here is what I do in in LR. Import the raw, edit, export as jpg with the include all selected under metadata.

I looked at the other postings. The second one is the only one that meets my criteria. On my monitor, they all appear overexposed by at least one stop and the color temperature seems too warm. I would suggest using the Expodisc because it will handle a mix of light sources which may be occurring here.

Keep shooting and improving.

Pockets Loc: Dallas Metro

I really appreciate your input. Sure, I would have loved it if you (or anyone) said they were great, but they weren't, and I can't get better if I don't get honest feedback. I did shoot these with the exposure compensation up, probably a stop +, so your eye is dead on! I started out (unfortunately) with a polarizing filter left one, couldn't figure out, at first, why my pics were so dark!

Anyway, I still haven't figure out about the EXIF. I thought I had it embedded, but I'll go back thru my LR and PS to make sure I'm not somehow deleting in in my final save.

I'll keep shooting, please keep looking and commenting. Take care, abc1234! Dee

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I have done the same dumb thing too plus other stupid things. I now reset my camera back to my defaults at the end of each session and make a new folder for the next session.

Most of the metadata come right from the camera. Unless LR or you edit it specifically, it stays with the raw and all subsequent files as is. You can, as I said before, opt not to include it upon exporting from LR.

Exposure: use the histogram. The old expose to the right. Do not eye-ball it. The view on the back is too small and you do not have time to deal with it.

Another way to improve your pictures: look at the work of others not just what is being done today but also historically. Develop an historic and artistic perspective. You will then develop your own style and technique. And as you have already said, be honest about your own work and accepting valid criticism regardless of how much it hurts.

Good luck. I am sure your next game will be better.

Pockets Loc: Dallas Metro

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Thank you!