Foo - Foo photogs: Critique?

This is a cross post from FredMiranda.com's forums. I know there are a lot of photographers here so i'm interested in their feedback as well. Thanks...

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Hey all. I haven't been around much until very recently as i was off at school trying to graduate. For part of my time at Iowa i was working with our school paper The Daily Iowan, a 23,000 daily (or so i'm told). The experience was great and it made me wish i went to an instate (illinois) school so i could stay longer and work more at the paper.

At any rate, i'm off looking for "real jobs" but in the back of my mind is that desire to become a sports photographer in some form or another. I think one good resource to this end would be to see if i can network through SportsShooter.com, i applied about 2 years ago and was rejected. I have gone through some of my more recent work and complied what i feel are 10 quality images that represent what i'm capable of. I'm wondering if you guys could give me some input. I have refrained from adding cutlines right now as some of them are going to require a bit of work to do accurately and i want to wait until i have my final 10. Please let me know what you think...i'm very open to any and all forms of feedback.

Thanks.

1.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2175/2864966723_5a93f5b41d.jpg

2.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2865796254_27de281b61.jpg

3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2447433240_df3fbbd009.jpg

4.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2864966941_5a01cc060f.jpg

5.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/2864967321_cc4efc25fb.jpg

6.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/2864966879_00a683d3c0.jpg

7.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/2446608413_91ce86a258.jpg

8.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/2865795638_4aea6d319a.jpg

9.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2864967415_d05a8f5b8f.jpg

10.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3136/2864967119_908b3638ff.jpg

Did you post this all once before?

I distinctly remember this set of pictures before asking critique as well.

Hey I remember this. Deja vu. I commented on the boy/mitt/ball one.

Did you post this all once before?

I distinctly remember this set of pictures before asking critique as well.

Of the hundereds of thousands of photographs on my H/D, these are some of my favorites that are online. I'm sure most of you have seen these before, perhaps together as well, but not nessisarily as a portfolio of 10 photographs.

Sportsshooter.com is a...i like to call it...sort of networking website for photographers, primarily sports photographers. It is not a "anyone can join" site (though recently it has become easier to join). Part of being accepted is submitting a 10 photo portfolio which is reviewed by humans...it is the largest determining factor of whether or not you can become a member.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that difficult to be admitted but it does require some forethought and and some talent...

1,4,6,7,8,9,10 -> nuh huh
2,3,5 -> nice...

You're pretty good, man. How are you out of a job?

why don't you ask the t (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=28433)wo (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=65937) professional commercial photographers that post on bf?

There's also nycphotography...

I like 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10

1, 4, 5, 8, 10 are my favs.

You're pretty good, man. How are you out of a job?

I've got a job as a photographer...but it's hard to pay the bills that way

I think its a great set of photographs. My general comment is that in a number of images you have decided to cut somethings off. Now I'm not disagreeing with you decisions on how this is done but this certainly will be a point of debate. I've done the same thing myself. Some will love it, some won't.

Then again playing is safe isn't necessarily going to get you anywhere either.

EDIT: Here's one of my quirky images that breaks just about every rule in the book but I like it,

http://www.anthonyglynn.com/photography/flowerseller-web.jpg

Anthony

I think its a great set of photographs. My general comment is that in a number of images you have decided to cut somethings off. Now I'm not disagreeing with you decisions on how this is done but this certainly will be a point of debate. I've done the same thing myself. Some will love it, some won't.

Then again playing is safe isn't necessarily going to get you anywhere either.

EDIT: Here's one of my quirky images that breaks just about every rule in the book but I like it,

http://www.anthonyglynn.com/photography/flowerseller-web.jpg

Anthony

Most of the time when something is cut off in my sports photographs it is not intentional and if its something you're noticing i'd love to hear what specifically you're noticing. No hurt feelings here :)

Generally speaking i agree with you about stretching the rules of a photograph. This is often what makes compelling photography See: 1 (though most have negative feedback and i think its one i need to pull). The rules seem to be a little more stringent in sports photography for some reason. I've struggled to figure out why this is but i keep faithfully coming back to them. It's never going to be easy to photograph soccer with a 28mm lens. It's just not as doable as breaking rules in other forms of photography i'm afraid.

Yes its hard to compose sports photography well. It may be a case where your better off pulling back a little and cropping the image later.

Shot 1 I like but I would kind of like to see this feet in the shot. No 2 I definitely want to see the guys feet and shoulders on the left. I like the cutoffs in 3. No 9 isn't grabbing me. I think its just slightly mis-timed. The others are great.

Anthony

3 and 7 I'd both like to see more of them. 7 would be almost perfect if you had caught all of the front bike and still framed that last bike in the line as well as you did. I would also like more space above his head, it's too crunched.

3 I definitely don't like the way it was framed.

Opinions are like A-Holes but here goes....

1. Don't like. Runner in back ground is distracting
2. very generic.
3. I like. Good subject and I like the composition
4. it's ok....nothing special
5. I like. It just works
6. Generic but not bad
7. ok, a bit bland to my eye but I would say it would sell.
8. I LOVE THAT SHOT!
9. TRASH.
10. nice shot