my first pic post..

[pjpixie]

ok, this is my sophmore daughter, ashley, she plays volleyball in the fall and softball in the spring...
i was asked at the last minute to take shots of the team this year as they could find no one else (eeeekkk!) coach didn't know what to do... we did it against a white wall...(double eeeekkk) got horrible shadows... but dealt with it. lo and behold the coach is happy with the shots (i wanna hide under a big ole rock somewhere...) and from what i understand the shots will end up in the year book(triple eeeekkk). anyways...this is one shot i couldnt resist taking. We had taken the varsity team outside (all 6 of them..lol) for some candid shots.
Your critism is much appreciated...how else will i learn. thanks for looking.

[cjaegel@hotmail.com]

I think it is a bit busy, the grass in front does nothing for the shot. If you had placed her between the windows you would have a nice neutral background. Welcome to DPS and have a HNY.

[jiminyClickit]

pjpixie,

What cjaegel said, and moving closer really adds an element of "Portrait" to a shot like this. I'm thinking (as wulf noted somewhere) that "candid" would have been unposed and probably showing student in an active pose, naturally. Just to be fussy about names of things. This is a good shot, proud Mother notwithstanding.

[marc_714]

It is truly just a picture. Too much of nothing interesting. The building adds nothing The plant is just there, and certainly you a too far away.

[joekodak]

Looks like you shot it from too far away resulting in a "what's the subject" feeling. Something like a sports photo benefits by being tight, shows the person in uniform and includes something used in the sport. Take a look at Little League baseball photos.

I suggest if you could do this over (and having your daughter as subject you can) pose her about 6 feet from the brick wall. Slight shoulder turn with volleyball above her hip bone. Her face should be pointing toward camera. Compose so you see space below the ball and a little above her head (ie. fill the frame with subject, in uniform, showing the ball). Use about an f/4 so background goes fuzzy otherwise lots of grout lines in the bricks become too prominent. Shoot this on an overcast day or late afternoon shade and use the flash from your camera for fill.

Hope this helps. I think you will like the results better.

[clockdoc]

Hi pj. I wasn't able to find any EXIF data on your shot. CAn you tell us the camera and lens used here? Does the gym noy have suitable lighting for an "environmental" background (nets, bleachers, scoreboard,etc) to tie in the sport with a location? What kind of flash equipment are you useing? You mentioned shadows which makes me think it was an onboard flash. Can you post a shot of the group as well? I'll be happy to help where I can.

[pjpixie]

wow...thank you. i needed that. lol thats why i'm glad i found this site, to learn...and learn i need.
first off let me say that this wasn't a portrait..this was just a 'grab and stand there' shot. the 'garden' we were in was a memorial garden..heck, i dont even know if we were supposed to be in there but coach said 'go' and we went. lol (you can see more shots of this 'garden', the team, and the ametuerness of my shots in my 'house' by following this link: http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q210/pixiegempam/ the albums are all listed on the left side of the page.
Had she stepped back any further on this wall, she would of fallen off so that was a no no, (oops) and i couldn't get any closer to the wall, if i remember correctly i was standing at the edge of the other side.
I totally thank you for your critisism, and your support, and your ideas.
Clockdoc: my camera: Fuji finepix s700 10x optical zoom 7.1 mega pixels f=6.3-63mm 1:3.5-3.7 46mm lens onboard flash.