my hardnosed catcher

[villafane928]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25171691@N04/2385180714/" title="2003 pics 478 by villafane928, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2385180714_03c5ba2a3d.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="2003 pics 478" /></a>


hey everyone....tried to catch the "attitude" through the mask....did i crop too much? hows the exposure? the arms seem a bit blown...any advice?

[goober_357]

I'm new to photography, so maybe I shouldn't be replying to a 'Critique My Shot' post. But I don't think the crop is bad (however we can't see the original shot). The background is busy. If you had cropped less, wouldn't the background distract from the subject? Using a larger apeture would have given a shorter depth of field, blurring the background and reduce the distraction.

Cute kid. I love the serious look in his eyes. Nice work.

[krypticide]

Light seems to be a bit harsh, maybe you could have used flash and dialed down the exposure a bit.

[hoges]

If theres room crop the image to give abit more space on the left, giving him space too look into, doesnt need much. great shot you could even try some real tight cropping on the face as well.

regards hoges

[thatedeguy]

I think that the background is a bit distracting. You might try masking it off and giving it a little bit of blur.

You're right about the arms being blown a little. Given the ability to prepare for the shot, you could have used a reflector to reflect up from the left of the camera to even out the light a little. I doubt that you had the ability to set up like that in this situation though, so I think I would have tried forcing my flash and turning the exposure down a bit.

If you really want to experiment a little, try using the burn and dodge tools to try and even out the exposure levels. I've done it a few times successfully. (and more times unsuccessfully.)

[Dr. WooD]

For the situation I think you got a good shot. It's impossible to control anything in sports. I've found you pretty much take what you can, and hope for the best. Unless your just getting shots of your kid, its not worth taking the time to blur out the background.

I shoot a lot of baseball. I either use a 80-200 or a 300 f/4. I doubt they make a flash that would cover the distance, and even if they did I know the players wouldn't take to kindly to a flash going off just as their getting ready to make a hit, or catch.

Here's one I shot this past Monday

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wood-shot/2436060211/" title="DSC_0683c by wood420, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2035/2436060211_6278cb9332.jpg" width="500" height="285" alt="DSC_0683c" /></a>

[Djanvk]

Overall I like that image, but I agree with the busy background, just blur the background a bit, you can do this in PS and drop the blow out light on the arms there.