WPC 1436 - Children at Play CRITIQUE: TimS has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as...

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

TimS has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you everyone!

From WPC 1436 - Children at Play RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=134

* If you are new to the Photo Critique Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

Homerun!

(Download)

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

An emotional moment with high photographic impact. Proper background separation yet also properly showing the subject's environment. Great exposure and focus. 8-)

jgordon Loc: Boulder CO

Very nice moment -- well captured.

One random thought: I might experiment by seeing how this would look in black and white. The colors are wonderful but maybe (and I am not sure about this) the colors in the spectator section of the image might detract a tad from the wonderful main center of interest in the image.

As Bmac noted, the foreground is well separated from the background spectators by focus. Maybe a black and white version would do even more along that line. Not sure.

And ... I really like the image.

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

Focus and DOF work to your benefit here as has been noted. Cropping off the right side of the frame and getting rid of all those distracting spectators will focus the viewer's eye on the real subject, the joy on that child's face. If the spectators were obviously cheering, I might have a different opinion but the fact that they are just sitting there means that they don't contribute to the composition.

Mormorazzi Loc: Temple, Texas

The best way for me to "critique" is to download a photo and see what I'd do differently. I first cropped off the photo on the left side, almost to the sleeve, in a 5 x 7 horizontal, leaving the fans, pretty much, intact. I then tried jgordon's suggestion of turning it to B&W, darkening the crowd so you can see they're there, but only after you've had a good chance to take in the subject of the photo -- that adorable hug! I then lightened the boy's face just a tad on his right cheek. The B&W looks awesome ... but it's missing something.

I then walked through the same procedures ... leaving the color, cropping and dodging only. The color in this photo is, I think, important. It's part of the story.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Definitely no b&w. I would crop out the right and leave the colors alone. Final touch would be a little negative vignette.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Others better than I might suggest how to improve this photo. It is, however, done very well. It is high impact with high technical marks. Artistically, it takes those of us who have ever played youth baseball back to those summers when all we lived for was baseball...and, yes, the joy of winning and that rare home run by a teammate. Wonderful photo.

I would love to see a crop of this photo showing just the boys. Just out of curiosity.

Nightski

I think this was so well done. The focus, exposure, and DOF just couldn't get any better in my opinion. I love the bright team colors as well. While a crop of just the boys would make a wonderful photo to hang on your wall, I think that one should be kept with the crowd as well. It adds to the story. If you don't want to crop, I really see no reason why it should be cropped. The DOF is so spot on that the crowd does not distract from the tack sharp subject at all.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Nightski wrote:

I think this was so well done. The focus, exposure, and DOF just couldn't get any better in my opinion. I love the bright team colors as well. While a crop of just the boys would make a wonderful photo to hang on your wall, I think that one should be kept with the crowd as well. It adds to the story. If you don't want to crop, I really see no reason why it should be cropped. The DOF is so spot on that the crowd does not distract from the tack sharp subject at all.

I agree. The photo works as is. No need to change a thing. I suggested a crop just to see it out of curiosity. However, this photo works just the way it is.

lensbaby007 Loc: Ohio

The one thing I might try if it were my photo is to tone down the background colors using a mask. It would put even more emphasis on the boys. His smile is priceless!

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Heck...Send it in to Sports Illustrated for their Faces in the Crowd section. Indicate who hit the homeroom and who it is greeting him at the plate.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

lensbaby007 wrote:

The one thing I might try if it were my photo is to tone down the background colors using a mask. It would put even more emphasis on the boys. His smile is priceless!

Please elaborate on the mask.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Nightski wrote:

I think this was so well done. The focus, exposure, and DOF just couldn't get any better in my opinion. I love the bright team colors as well. While a crop of just the boys would make a wonderful photo to hang on your wall, I think that one should be kept with the crowd as well. It adds to the story. If you don't want to crop, I really see no reason why it should be cropped. The DOF is so spot on that the crowd does not distract from the tack sharp subject at all.

To me, the crowd detracts from the boys. I do not need the crowd to know that these are baseball players. The picture is about them, not the crowd.

I suspect that the picture has a slight blue cast to it.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

lensbaby007 wrote:

The one thing I might try if it were my photo is to tone down the background colors using a mask. It would put even more emphasis on the boys. His smile is priceless!

It might help to do that on the brown bag and perhaps the white shirt. However, it's possible to get too overly analytical and have too many chefs stirring the pot. There isn't too much, if anything, that needs to be done to this photo. Sometimes, one needs to know when not to do much of anything. Go ahead and fool around....but always compare your attempts to the original and ask the question of whether or not your changes are an improvement.

Bottom line....you've hit a home run with this photo.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

St3v3M wrote:

TimS has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you everyone!

From WPC 1436 - Children at Play RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=134

* If you are new to the Photo Critique Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

great focus and use of DOF.
Great pose of subjects.
no crop necessary
You nailed the whole schmere!
Way to go.