The pain of giving it all.
Dec 20, 2014 17:40:38 #
Went to my grandson's wrestling match. Really enjoyed all of the lads who participated. I thought the shots came out pretty good for the lighting and not being able to use a flash. What really amazed me was the sportsmanship that prevailed throughout the matches. The picture I appreciated is the one of my grandson telling his mother he made a mistake and the other guy took advantage of it by pinning him. His face was a result of the match. Never once did he complain about his eye which eventually turned blue. In his next match he won 15-0. He had nothing but praise for his opponent. Love the character building youths learn when managed by a good coach. Comments and critiques are welcome.
Dec 20, 2014 17:59:21 #
Great shots of the intensity of the sport and your grandson. You have much to be proud of!
Dec 20, 2014 18:09:16 #
Linda From Maine wrote:
Great shots of the intensity of the sport and your grandson. You have much to be proud of!
Thank you Linda. I did the shoot with my wife's D800 and her 70-200 vrii. Last year I shoot a match at the same location with my D700 and my 80-200D. I have to admit the shots were better this year than last, but this year I also used a monopod while seated in the stands. I haven't had time to compare the two directly, but I think the difference is mostly because I used a monopod this time. I appreciate your posts.
Dec 21, 2014 06:14:19 #
Nice shots, Leon, looks like you captured this action perfectly to me.
Dec 21, 2014 09:02:31 #
waltchilds wrote:
Nice shots, Leon, looks like you captured this action perfectly to me.
Thank you Walt. I finally had time to check last years shots and they are very close to each other, however the percentage of non blur is higher. The probable reason is that I shot shutter priority this year instead of aperture priority as well as using the tripod. This sure helped ease a case of G.A.S. I was developing. I will also try shooting a little higher ISO the next time. I make a real effort to shot to use as little pp as possible and still create prints I like.
Dec 21, 2014 09:56:59 #
Nice photos and you got the white balance which is sometimes very difficult in those dimly lit gyms. Love the pin, classic. ;)
Dec 21, 2014 10:18:38 #
Db7423 wrote:
Nice photos and you got the white balance which is sometimes very difficult in those dimly lit gyms. Love the pin, classic. ;)
Thank you DB. Since this was the first time I shot my wife's D800, I left the white balance where she had it. The D800 was at auto and apparently does a great job as often reported. Actually a pin on the last two photos didn't occur. He won by points. However in the match he was awarded three points three times for near pins. My grandson will have to work harder on finishing the moves. Or maybe the other lad was just better at getting out of near pins. It takes five things to win at wrestling: speed, technique, strength, character, and conditioning. Now that I think about it, those are the same elements to succeed in life. What other reason do you need to keep sports in high schools?
Dec 21, 2014 10:42:35 #
Nice shots. I'd like to see the third photo cropped in much closer on just the two wrestlers. I think the story is in their faces.
Dec 21, 2014 11:14:56 #
Dec 21, 2014 11:42:06 #
Tom S. wrote:
Nice shots. I'd like to see the third photo cropped in much closer on just the two wrestlers. I think the story is in their faces.
Hi Tom. I also did a tighter crop, but wanted a shot with the referee included in the shot. I think this is what you were referring to and I agree, having the facial expressions are really important to the shot. Thanks for the comment. Your wish is my command.
Dec 21, 2014 11:45:35 #
Erv wrote:
Great shots Leon. He will love these now and to show his kids!!
Erv
Erv
Hi Erv. Good hearing from you again. Your right, I have been putting shots like this in a file for all of the family. When the time comes they will all get a disc to do with as they will. I can't hardly believe I was involved with this sport as a youth. Today the pain of just being put into this positions would be more than I could stand. Not to mention getting up off the floor.
Dec 21, 2014 12:31:47 #
Leon S wrote:
Hi Tom. I also did a tighter crop...
Good start. The kid in the blue suit has a great look on his face and he's trying so hard. I'd go even tighter in the vertical aspect, dropping the top down to the very bottom of that lady's eyes. I think you can just barely do this without touching the one kid's head. Also, the table top and water bottle aren't needed to tell the story here. Maybe get rid of some of the blank mat at the bottom, too. Additional, unwanted faces at the perimeter of a picture are distracting. But cropping them out entirely sometimes means losing part of the main subject. If you can just get rid of the eyes it often solves the problem. If I have a photo where getting rid of the extra faces is just too hard, I'll sometimes add a bit of edge blur to obscure them and emphasize the center of the image.
Dec 21, 2014 21:29:12 #
Jim Soholt
Loc: California Central Coast
Leon S wrote:
... I will also try shooting a little higher ISO the next time....
Leon,
I don't know how far you pushed your equipment's capabilities, but, yeah, a higher ISO might help isolate the subject a little more (more crispness with a higher shutter speed, less depth of field with a wider aperture). Pretty good action captures, though.
The "sideline" shot is a good example of not looking solely at the story on the field (court, pitch, mat...). Lots of drama, emotion, story before, between, and after the action. Too bad about the two faces co-mingled on the right, but things don't always fall perfectly ... do they?!
Rock on.
Respectfully,
Dec 21, 2014 21:59:28 #
Jim Soholt wrote:
Leon, br br I don't know how far you pushed your ... (show quote)
Thanks Jim. I'll push the iso higher next time. That was the first time I used that camera. The side line shot was also the best I could do since it took place almost right next to me and I had on the 70-200. Actually lucky the camera focused so close as it was. shooting down the bleachers also wouldn't let me get a better angle. I've shoot a few other sports events and you're right about the side lines. Such as the hockey moms and pops, the round ball parents, the high school sweet hearts, the proud winners, and the tearful losers. My only regret is that my legs will not get me where I want to be without so much effort. Then I think about the man I meet at the casino in a power wheel chair and smiling with pride because the chair was new to him and allowed him to get where he need to go. Things don't always fall perfectly do they, so we need to be happy with what we have. Thanks for the comment. Leon
Dec 21, 2014 22:06:42 #
But you look so young in your avatar Leon.:):) With work and the kids I am haven a hard time keeping up with folks. I just played on the site today.:) Was nice just to sit a try to catch up with folks.
Erv
Erv
Leon S wrote:
Hi Erv. Good hearing from you again. Your right, I have been putting shots like this in a file for all of the family. When the time comes they will all get a disc to do with as they will. I can't hardly believe I was involved with this sport as a youth. Today the pain of just being put into this positions would be more than I could stand. Not to mention getting up off the floor.
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