Ideally one looks for a peak action moment that tells a story.
Narrowing my selection down to three photos, this one of the goalie swimming (the technical term lol) to corral the puck won the bronze.
I like the fact that the goalie is way out of his net and that the puck is lying tantalizingly in front of him. The problem is focus. I have to open the aperture so wide in the arena to get enough light onto the sensor that not everything can be in focus. While that can be good in the sense that it may help to focus the viewer's attention, generally speaking we want the closest object to be in focus. It usually just doesn't feel right if that is not the case. In this photo, the goalie is pretty well in focus but not the other players and, most importantly, not the nearest players.
For the gold, I hummed and hawed between two photos. I love the intensity in this image. You can see it on their faces although it would be good to see a little more of the puck carrier's face. There is also both the near pursuit plus the more distant pursuit in the background. I really don't mind that the background heads get chopped. Some might, but I don't.
That vied with this one, another goalie pic, for my choice of Game Photo. This captures a great moment with good separation between the elements and not the same congestion as the first goalie photo. Even the referee adds to the story in my opinion; his skate is in the air, and he is about to blow the whistle to stop play with the goalie about to cover the puck.
I did choose the goalie photo for the gold, as it were, but I am still mildly torn. You are welcome to chime in.
7 comments:
A commendable field of photos, and I must say I like them all equally. Maybe the last does make it, now that you mention focus...I hadn't noticed till you did!
Love that first shot especially!
All photos are very beautiful. You have a steady hand and a great camera. Over here in Hawaii, nobody plays ice hockey. My granddaughter is involved in soccer, which is similar to hockey.
The first photo only became clear after explanation. I had completely missed the puck and it was only after you pointed it out that I found it.
The second photo is okay, and would come in third place for me.
The last photo just says everything in one go. It's definitely my favourite.
I am trying to visualize what the second photo would look like cropped to just the right hand side. And all my sympathy for the aperture/focus problems. Same problem in a gym many times, as well as action shot of dance recitals, etc. I recall your plaint about some of Danica's. Because first shot would be a sure winner with a wider focus.
I used to push the film to a higher ASA long ago for gymnastics meets. Results would be grainy but the action depth improved. I am not sure what would happen with a digital on super high sensitivity?
It must be fun to cheer them on!
These are wonderful action shots!
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