Wrestling

[jbaseball2001]

This shot was taken at a wrestling tournament inside a high school gym (read low light...of course....its a gym).

I took the shot this weekend and then barely touched it in Lightroom (black and white high contrast preset).

Stats: 70mm length using AF-S 70-300mm VR lens on Nikon D-80 body
ISO 1600, f-4.5, 1/80 sec, no flash

I am looking for critique on:

1. Black/white: to contrasty or not enough...I want to make a bold statement here. The wrestler has look of desperation that I want to be very raw looking.

2. Cropping: this image has already been slightly cropped down...should I go further?

3. Composition: Does the ref in the background add to the image (event) or does it detract?

I am new to DSLR (this was my first gym event)...though I have taken over 10000 point and shoot photos I would like to get serious about photography as a hobby. I work as a chemistry teacher by trade, and am always asking my students to help one another. I feel that a good open and honest critique is a great way to learn. Please be blunt, but try to offer how I can improve.

Thank you for your time and energy.

[KathrynWilson]

I like the contrast, and like the background. Or at least, I don't think you could take out the whole background to leave just him, therefore I don't think you should take the ref out. Two things you might want to look at are the horizon tilt and two little bits of detail that could be cloned out - one is the black vertical line (a door?) down the right hand side, the other is that blurry thing up the top left hand corner.

Nice shot!

[Booter]

he's a bit distracting. I generally don't like a shot that has too much contrast, but in this case you are trying to add to the emotion, i suppose. A tad over-cropped maybe?

[cwphotography]

I think the B&W contrast is just fine. However I think it was cropped too much. Like someone else mention, watch your background. The black line to the right looks out of place. I am sure it's a door or something, but if the picture wasn't crop in that much maybe we could see more that black line. Otherwise nice capture.

[GEli]

Far too much contrast. His head is floating in a sea of white and his neck and shoulders have altogether disappeared. What skin is visible has no detail whatsoever. This isn't opinion - when you have parts of the body disappearing the contrast is too high as a fact. I can appreciate the effect you tried to achieve, but it didn't work. Pumping the contrast in PP can't duplicate proper contrast-heavy lighting in the original scene. Drop the contrast to a reasonable level and let the facial expression speak for itself - it's strong enough to carry the image even if the shot isn't as dramatically lit as you'd like.

For the cropping, I'd really like to see his legs be completed. Did the original shot include his entire body? If so, revert back to that or leave everything but the legs cropped and print with some white space on 3 of the sides, which can easily be cut off. If not, it's fine as it is. Don't drop it any tighter, though.

Composition is great. The ref adds a lot to the context of the shot and I think the separation between subject and background is good - it's hard to tell with the contrast this high. What could use some work is the wall, which needs to be cleaned up. Top right and far right sides of the frame have black leaking onto them that should be cloned out. Also, double check the straightness of the doorframe in the background. I think it's tilting slightly up to the right, which while not clear now will be if you print it and hang it in a straight frame/print it next to straight text in a newspaper. Even if this isn't destined for print, ensuring everything that should be perfectly straight is is a good habit to get into.

[jsanders]

1. Black/white: to contrasty or not enough...I want to make a bold statement here. The wrestler has look of desperation that I want to be very raw looking.
I think the black and white is very nice here.
2. Cropping: this image has already been slightly cropped down...should I go further?
It is croped to tight. On the bottom I don't see the knees.

3. Composition: Does the ref in the background add to the image (event) or does it detract?
Is that man on the background standing naked? It's definately distracting!

[peeperita]

your subject has a great expression.....making me assume he just finished and is having a hard time recovering his energy.....

for my taste it is a bit too contrasted.....i would like to see a discernable separation between your subject and the rest of the scene.....if there is room in the original, i would like to see his knees, if not......it really is fine....just no tighter or he will look boxed in....as far as the ref in the background goes, he lends a sense of enviroment and event....

thanks for sharing

peeper

[SJH Foto]

Perhaps I am missing something, but I think the contrast is an essential part of expressing the wrestler's emotion. I like the picture, and probably wouldn't change it. Yes it does seem "over-cropped", but from my experience of selling sports pictures, this is the kind of image that sells.