Friday Photo Critique #43

Friday Photo Critique #43

on Jul 30th 2010 with 28 comments

Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image. It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued!

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
  3. You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!

The Photograph

Photo Critique

Photographer: Ryan Szepan

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week.

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own photo? You can do so here!

David Appleyard is davidappleyard on Themeforest
 
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David Appleyard is a designer and writer based in the UK. He manages Tuts+, along with having founded several design websites including Design Shack and PixelsDaily.  

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  • Brian

    Nice composition but the post processing and dof is just out. ideally i think it would be nicer if the colours where faded rather than sepia, like an early Kodak film from the period. The reason i say the dof is out is if the ball was in focus i feel it would give the shot more impact.

  • Tom Ottens

    I stared for half and hour at this picture and I stil dont know what it misses…
    Composition is good
    Atmosphere is also good
    Sharp/blur contrast also good
    But there is stil something missing…

  • http://www.dvanderwinden.nl Daniel

    First of all, it’s a great shot. Really sharp, and the background is nice and blurry. But perhaps I would’ve tried to get that ball a little sharper as well, so I would’ve waited just a little longer (which is very hard in this kind of situation, I know). I think that – if you did, Ryan – the photograph itself would have become more dynamic: now it gives me a kind of static feeling.

    The toning is well picked: it gives the shot a retro look, which is nice!

  • Noel Manao

    The sepia effect is good, although a tad bit soft. Also I would like to see a lil bit more detail on the pitcher. Good job in freezing the moment, this is great stuff.

  • Dieter

    Wow a very nice field of depth and source! I like the sepia colors which add character.

    Although I like the over shoulder view, Im also wondering if a focus on the pitchers face would enhance the moment of action.

    Great picture keep it up!

    Cheers,

    Dieter

  • Tim

    Im trying to decide whether or not the aperture is to larger.. I think id prefer to see a little more clarity in the background.. Not much though. Lovely shot.

  • http://www.nickwade.com Nick

    Id prefer to see the ball in focus and the pitcher more clearly. The batter does not draw enough interest as the subject, and I would instead like to see things from his perspective. I want his experience as the ball flies towards him. How focused is he? How far away is the ball? Is he going to hit it? Neither face is visible so its hard to empathise.

    • http://www.vaporizerkits.com Zephyr Ion

      I’d also like to see the image cropped so that the batter is more on the right hand side than the middle.

  • http://www.saroverhees.be Saro

    The effect looks like it’s really done in Photoshop.

  • steve

    I agree with daniel and saro. I like the composition but when you have the illusion of an old photo you need to take it all the way. You have the rough edges but the sepia tone is completely even all around. You might have some highs and lows. Also It would most likely have more grain to it and let edges when you take into account the rough edges on the outside of the frame.

    I might not agree with saro 100%. The sepia tone makes it look photoshopped and when that gets in your head the effect starts to look a little more unrealistic.

    steve

    • http://www.saroverhees.be Saro

      OK, but I do think i’m 100% right when we’re talking about the plastic border that seems way out of place.

  • http://www.lagunabeat.com John Krill

    I agree with Daniel about getting the ball in sharp focus. The entire composition seem to point toward the ball.

    Also I really like the way the batter is almost falling out of the picture toward the viewer. I get the impression the bat is out the photo and the viewer could grab it. Kinda like a 3D movie. Nice.

    But I keep going back to the ball. No matter were I focus my attention my eyes always end up at the ball. So getting it into focus would have turned a really interesting photo into a complete success.

    Good work.

  • http://www.henryhingst.com Henry Hingst

    Steve said it all. When it gets in your head it looks a little more unrealistic.

    I agree with all the other comments.
    Just disagree a little bit with the ball position in the photo.

    I think in that position it gives the message that came from the other man that is blurry.
    It could be only more interesting if you had the perfect moment where the bat hits the ball.

    It would be splendorous.

  • Gurth

    I think it’s a real nice photo. Compositionally, I would have liked to seen it taken from a pace or two to the left so that the pitcher had a little more separation from the batter. It might’ve even been neat to see this with the ball in focus and the foreground slightly blurred and the pitcher as is-also the couple paces to the left.

  • James H Shewmaker

    First, I agree with the overall tenor of the comments here, except I am not sure whether the blur is lens created or Photoshopped. I also wish that the ball was sharper and the foreground less focused.

    However, my reason for commenting was the Sepia filter that was used. Real Sepia involved a metallic substance usually containing some silver which was part of the film at the time of the exposure.

    Usually the lighter parts of the photograph are either duo-toned or very desaturated depending upon the process used in the darkroom.

    Studying an old sepia print made about one hundred years ago, may help you create a photoshop effect that more accurately captures the look.

  • JarrodR

    I think what’s missing from the photo is the sense of motion. The photo is so crisp and clean that you don’t get a sense of the batter realy swinging the bat or the ball hurtling toward the plate.

    Otherwise the composition is great and I giving it an old fashioned feel, as the subjects are dressed in that attire.

  • http://cameraguyzack.blogspot.com Zack Jones

    Ryan: Your sports photography is fantastic! I really like this picture. I know how difficult it is to capture this moment and you’ve done an amazing job here. I guess I’m a bit different than some of the other folks that have responded I could care less if the photo was tweaked in photoshop. To me it looks like an old photo that was pulled out of a box that’s been stashed away in the attic for far too long. Thanks for sharing it with us.

  • Derrick van Niekerk

    I like the photo and the post work, I would just add some grain, the image is just to clean in my opinion.

    - Derrick

  • http://www.shutterstops.com Ryan Szepan

    Hi Everyone,
    Thanks for your comments thus far. It is interesting to read all of the likes and dislikes created from one split second capture of a moment in time.

    Here is what I intended to capture, for good or for bad… Because it is a vintage league I loved the fact that it genuine and old school. That being said seeing no batting gloves being used and a plain, simple, smooth bat struck my attention. My focus was to capture the bare hands gripped on the bat as the pitch was tossed in. Many of you who have comment are right, would have loved to see the ball a bit more in the fore ground to get a hair sharper.

    This photo was part of a collection I did on this vintage league. Here you will also see an array of photos wide and zoomed that focus on different aspects of the game plated by 1860s rules.
    http://www.shutterstops.com/2010/05/30/vintage_newbury/

    Thanks again everyone and keep those comments coming!!

  • http://www.webzanis.com Webzanis

    I agree with most of the comments here. The photo is of great quality; however there are some improvements that could have been made. I do agree with many that there is too much soft focus going on here. If the batter is to be the subject, I think that having a narrower depth of field so that the ball and pitcher are still apparent might give the subject more context.

    I do like the composition and the sepia works for me in this one.

  • http://www.thedphoto.com Diana Eftaiha

    i love the above the shoulder angle actually if the other guy was in focus instead i dont think it would look nice that a blurry forground is taking away from the scene. i also love the retro effect around the borders. one thing is i would have toned the colors a bit down. i feel the sepia is just a tiny bit too blunt. all in all great capture. i know it mustve been hell trying to freeze this shot. cheers!

  • DJ

    I look at this photo and see it for what it is… a momentary representation of a left-handed BATTER at the plate – trying to deal the best he can from a right-handed pitcher. His body language shouts that this is a difficult pitch for him and hes reaching for it with his all. His clothing says that this isnt an ordinary 21st century game — this could very well be the Babe for all we know! And the bat is poised to attack that ball in a trajectory which will send it high and possibly out of the park — and we are seeing it from the best seat in the park!

    The photo is NOT about the pitcher or the ball or connecting – so why whine that you dont notice them them in the photo? The batter cant see them all that well either! This photo is not about the pitcher throwing the ball, nor the ball coming in the air, nor the ball hitting the bat — it is about the batter.

    And no action? I see plenty! I see him having already stepped into the ball and he is obviously dropping his shoulder to get under it. I see huge amounts of potential energy in his stance (and do we think that ball is held by a string?)

    Perhaps if taken 2 nanoseconds later, the photo would have then been about connecting or the ball – but it wasnt – this photo is about using a wooden bat, no gloves, and hitting left-left handed.

    While someone can do a great deal to set up a shot like this – and I cant think of a better position for the camera to be in, or lighting, or focus, or composition or subject – sports photography is more serendipity than anything else. Perhaps the post could have been a tad more vintage (less smooth) to match the rest of the ambiance; but had this shot been of the actual Babe it would have made every newspaper and magazine on the planet – exactly the way it is.

    We need to remember that sports photography is not portraiture.

    • Joaquin

      You are quite right, but anyone into baseball knows he couldn’t have been the Babe since he’s not doing the correct grip at the bat.

  • lynnelle

    I love this shot! The only thing I would change is to crop a little of his back out.

  • http://www.greenraystudio.com Alex Upshur

    Its great… Why do people try so hard to find something wrong with it… Beautiful!

  • mosen azadeh

    nice shot. for being the ball in focus you could set the focus manually between two guys. use burst mode and choose the in focus picture.

  • http://wophosu.com Santanu Karar

    The bat is way out of the ball.. and it takes the eyes away from the ball which should be a important place to focus.. It takes the eyes way back to the ball and what happens a little later.. I think it’d be rather more interesting if the ball also focused properly or less focus on bat (maybe a little motion blur) and more on the ball..

  • Ryan

    I like everything except the border.