Sports Thread 2015

[Shadowman]

No resolutions this year, but one of my goals for the year is to include more sports photography.

Curling


Releasing the Stone


The Move

[FootLoose]

I'm not sure what these people are doing, John. The first looks like a good action pose, though. The 3rd: I'd clone some of the blue over the brickwork in the top right of frame to make it look more of a piece.

[Shadowman]

I'm not sure what these people are doing, John. The first looks like a good action pose, though. The 3rd: I'd clone some of the blue over the brickwork in the top right of frame to make it look more of a piece.

Hi Greg,

The first two are curling. Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

[Shadowman]

The edit of the Move.

[IzzieK]

Very nice shots -- all of them! I like the first two for the action...

Greg, curling is a sport like lawn bowls but played on ice. 'Haven't seen that sport yet but heard of it...

[Mike Buckley]

Such a nice ambition to take on for the year.

As for curling, I would love to learn how to do it, though I'm sure I would be bad at it. The only time I've seen it is during the televised Winter Olympics but I always look forward to watching it. The sport combines individual and team skills. Each shot consists of the person who pushes the stone across the ice and two sweepers who guide it at the other end of the ice. The strategy determined by the team captain is akin to playing chess; at that level of play, the captain plans at least two or three shots in advance.

[Shadowman]

Very nice shots -- all of them! I like the first two for the action...

Greg, curling is a sport like lawn bowls but played on ice. 'Haven't seen that sport yet but heard of it...

Hi Izzie,

Thanks for the comments.

[Shadowman]

Such a nice ambition to take on for the year.

As for curling, I would love to learn how to do it, though I'm sure I would be bad at it. The only time I've seen it is during the televised Winter Olympics but I always look forward to watching it. The sport combines individual and team skills. Each shot consists of the person who pushes the stone across the ice and two sweepers who guide it at the other end of the ice. The strategy determined by the team captain is akin to playing chess; at that level of play, the captain plans at least two or three shots in advance.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for commenting. On thing I noticed with the two participants here is their use (or lack of use) of the broom. I've seen players use the broom for balancing their bodies during the launch, but perhaps tricky moves weren't needed during this series.

[wilgk]

Well this is most excellent news, you & I will get along just fine!
Our own challenge will be for the rest of the forum members who are interested to tell us if the images tell the story of a sport they don't have at home.
For me this would be the Americans looking at cricket, for you its us "no winter" folk understanding your example here.
Someone once told me for ball sports for the shot to be a keeper the ball must be in the frame, not all published sports photos I see have that, but it is a good rule of thumb.
Here your second shot is an absolute winner, the game is explained to me in 1 image enough that I can understand & enjoy it.
The only tiny suggestion I would make is to have seen less space above him & included his full reflection below, but that is a tiny point.
The contrast of our geography is really going to be felt today, while I'm looking at your ice images it's 9am here and already 36celcius outside heading to 42 with a string North wind, this is Bush Fire formula, so we can only hope we as a state get through the day. I am fine in the town here, sorry I digress, great plan for 2015 & great start.

[Shadowman]

Well this is most excellent news, you & I will get along just fine!
Our own challenge will be for the rest of the forum members who are interested to tell us if the images tell the story of a sport they don't have at home.
For me this would be the Americans looking at cricket, for you its us "no winter" folk understanding your example here.
Someone once told me for ball sports for the shot to be a keeper the ball must be in the frame, not all published sports photos I see have that, but it is a good rule of thumb.
Here your second shot is an absolute winner, the game is explained to me in 1 image enough that I can understand & enjoy it.
The only tiny suggestion I would make is to have seen less space above him & included his full reflection below, but that is a tiny point.
The contrast of our geography is really going to be felt today, while I'm looking at your ice images it's 9am here and already 36celcius outside heading to 42 with a string North wind, this is Bush Fire formula, so we can only hope we as a state get through the day. I am fine in the town here, sorry I digress, great plan for 2015 & great start.

Hi Kay,

Thanks for the comments. I like your thoughts about having the "ball" within the shot and whether or not I as the photographer understand the sport. Like Mike Buckley, my only familiarity with the sport was through televised Olympics, nice to have a first hand look at the activity; which is why I commented on the player's use of the broom. Moving forward with this particular sport, I plan to take shots from a lower angle and also include more of the playing area.

[AndrewMcD]

The first image certainly looks like a curling stone release shot but the second image is a woman at a portable computer and the third is a woman standing on the ice. Has something corrupted the links to the images?

[Mike Buckley]

Has something corrupted the links to the images?

As of this writing, only the second image is wrong. I remember this happening a couple of times about a month ago. Eventually everything sorted itself out reasonably quickly.

[Shadowman]

I'm still seeing the originals, I have noticed in the past where only an icon is displayed in place of the image; then image returns later.

[IzzieK]

Same here, John...some members' view is being spooked? I first read of it from one of Donald's posts...

[Shadowman]

Same here, John...some members' view is being spooked? I first read of it from one of Donald's posts...

Izzie,

Must be a glitch, I've heard of images on forums becoming inaccessible after non use; usually two years. Perhaps an error in the code written for the forum; just a guess.

[luvaneezer]

I love seeing captures of things I am not familiar with - curling is one of those - thanks!
My favorite of these is the second - and I agree with the comment suggesting cropping a bit tighter.
I think the shadow adds interest - it would be interesting to see what the full shadow would look like.

[Shadowman]

I love seeing captures of things I am not familiar with - curling is one of those - thanks!
My favorite of these is the second - and I agree with the comment suggesting cropping a bit tighter.
I think the shadow adds interest - it would be interesting to see what the full shadow would look like.

Diane,

Thanks for the comments.

[Shadowman]

In keeping with my goal.

f/5, ISO 4000, 1/250s shot with 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 at 170mm
Trying to combine it all: decent exposure, capture of the action, and composition. Not as easy as I thought, surprised that the 70-300 could get close enough, had a 2X teleconverter with me but decided against it.




Crop for composition


I chose this particular crop following the rule of thirds as much as was possible. I'm aware other crops could have been attempted.

[Shadowman]

I know the safety net is distracting and I could work on removing it, but it is what it is. I'll do it later.

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi John, looking forward to seeing your images, comments so far are that you need to get closer and more personal, the curling shots would be improved by a lower shooting angle and positioning yourself so that you could get a more frontal perspective. The ice hockey again lower angle and preferably standing behind the goal !

Id love to give sports a go. one of my project 52 themes maybe? but im already thinking of giving that up!