Black and White

Color sometimes can be distracting in an image. There are many reasons why...perhaps the color is too flat, or too saturated. Sometimes there may be too much of one color, or too much of one color offsetted by one lonely color. Who know's what reasons why, but the fix is simple. Black and White.

The trick to a good black and white is making sure that you have pure blacks and pure whites and still maintaining texture and detail. If your whites go too far, they will be blown out. If your blacks go too far they will look abysmal.

The three photo's here are examples of BAD, BETTER, and BEST. In that order.

The first image, the back ground is almost hiding the players because of the similarity in contrast. To fix this, when in editing mode, make sure to have a layer fix for the back ground, a layer fix for the foreground, and a layer fix for the players.

 The second image is getting there.

It doesn't matter where the pure blacks and whites are in the image, but again, it is important to have texture. The white blob in the background is blown out, probably a reflection on a sign from the Sun. Her hair is abysmal.

 The last image is best because, you see pure whites with texture, and even though the blacks are really dark, you can still make out detail.

Here are a couple more from my portfolio.

Also check out my web sit at http://mostlybaseball.sports.officelive.com ALSO http://thommarshallphotography.art.officelive.com/default.aspx

Back Sides and ear shots

I am not a big a big fan of viewing an athletes back side, I.E. their butt.

I understand that a parent, or a fan, not knowing, or are unable to roam around a venue to try and achieve a great shot other than the back side. I understand that especially parents are excited to see their child come up to bat, or enter a huddle, or are somewhere on the field of play and all they can think about is snapping a shot of their child and not thinking of how to get a better shot resulting in the ugly 'back side' shot.

I also understand, especially at the youth level, that roaming at a venue is easy enough to do.

Facial features are way more interesting. The depth of the face. The thought process, or the stress on the athletes face. The participation and cohesiveness of the athlete expressed upon their face, all contribute to the ultimate story.

An athlete just standing there, back turned to the lens is not at all a good image.

HOWEVER, as all things are said, IF the action dictates that the backside is all you get, and a story is still being told, then, of course, it could be an image that can be exciting when captured.

Think about it...back to the lens, doing nothing but showing numbers and their butt. OR, an action sequence of shots, involving the viewer in the story, even though all you see are numbers and butts.

Ear shots simply, in my honest opinion, suck.

A straight on shot of someones face, looking directly at the athletes ear socket, or their ear hole on their helmet, to me, is ugly.

Again...the face shows so much more. The face tells so much more. The face interacts the viewer to more of the story. Even if the shot taken is just clipping into the other side of the athletes face is more interesting than a straight on shot of someones ear.

It does not matter if that ear is covered by long hair or a helmet of some sort.

If action can not be taken, then the story can still be conveyed from an athlete during the moment.

Also check out my web sit at http://mostlybaseball.sports.officelive.com/default.aspx

Also check out my web sit at http://mostlybaseball.sports.officelive.com/default.aspx also my artistic stuff at http://thommarshallphotography.art.officelive.com/default.aspx

Also check out my web sit at http://thommarshallphotography.art.officelive.com/default.aspx also http://mostlybaseball.sports.officelive.com/default.aspx

Football

Sports Action Photography by Thom Marshall. Call 818.618.7076 for bookings.

Baseball

Sports Action Photography, Call 818.618.7076 for bookings.

I have been inspired by these photos to do a study on candid portrait photography .

I like how the eyes have framed between the mask of the ball players. Each giving a differant expression, and light.

I burned the surround of the face to draw the eye to the players eyes.



These particular close ups I like because of the "bird cage" attached to the helmet.

The bird cage is kind of like a natural frame for the eyes, and the brim of the helmet is a natural cutter.








Candids of kids can be a great way to produce a story.

The close up shot makes for a more intimate way of showing the emotion that is on a players face.

Soccer

Sports Action Photography, call 818.618.7076 for bookings.

One sample of a slide show for the whole team.