Do they tell the story?

Hi All
I have been thinking that a good sports shot had to include the ball (for ball sports) or show the horse in action for Equestrian etc, however when comparing shots in sports pages of the newspaper etc - sometimes I see this isn't the case.
So I've included a couple here to see what you think.
Do the footy ones tell you what has happened or which team/player is doing better even when he doesn't have the ball?
And I liked the ones of my wee Equestrian friend before she even starts the competition - the contrast with her happy face and the judge with hat & clipboard I thought were interesting.
So I would look forward to hearing what others think - PAD time permitting!
Cheers

http://i25.tinypic.com/idgktw.jpg

http://i31.tinypic.com/15dvv29.jpg

http://i28.tinypic.com/29f4l5t.jpg

http://i32.tinypic.com/21o3n9.jpg

Hi Kay,

Horsing around:
#1 is good, I have taken some like this on occasional myself, with my daughter.
However, #2 isn't an ideal composition, there's either too much, or not enough, judge in shot for my taste.

Harsh light on those two, I'd be tempted to try some localised burning to raise the face levels on your smiley friend, but in a commercial world, it may not be viable to spend that much time on an image.

Footy pics:
#3 really looks like it should have the ball in, because you have almost left room for it.

The tighter crop on #4 works much better, because it is obviously deliberate that we can't see the ball and the image is about facial expressions, position and action. So a tighter crop on #3 might be better, but probably still not as good as #4 due to them just running in a straight line and looking ahead.

Hope that helps,

The last one is obviously the best, and that is because it is as good as any in magazines.

Thankyou Dave & Steve
& yes Dave I see what you mean - #2 Horsey, yes the girl is not interacting the same with the judge so she's sort of just stuck there & 1/2 there at that ;)

And I see what you mean when comparing the footy shots.

So onwards & upwards - netball tomorrow 9 teams at a tournament, best I go charge my battery :)

Thanks again

Kay, I always love to look at the equestrian photos and I love cropping close. Do you know what I would do with #2? I'd get rid of the judge altogether and tell a different story with just the pony and the rider. The little girl might be pointing at their next jump course or a show ring. Look at the pony's expression. Doesn't he look unimpressed? I have fit in three horse events in the past week and a half and it's really hard to make everything click at once for a great shot!

The first shot with the judge and rider is very nice. I think most riders (and parents in this case) would love that kind of positive capture.

I don't know the first thing about football, but those players look intense!

Myra

With the soccer/football photos you immediately recognize the sport, even without the ball, however the shot needs a good title, it could even be a coaching exercise about playing offense without the ball.