Does the motion blur enhance or detract?

[opus]

I knew as soon as I pressed the shutter that this was going to be one of my favorite sport shots. I didn't expect the motion blur, but I sorta like it.

What do you think? Shot at 1600 ISO, 1/160, 5.6, handheld.

[opus]

Woops, it's been so long since I've posted anything here, that I completely forgot to post in Critique! Sorry....

[mjs1973]

Good morning Kelly. I like the blur myself. Night shots with lots of fast action can be pretty tricky and I think you did a great job of showing that action with this shot. I like the DOF and I love how the players heads are really sharp. I only wish there wasn't the shadows on the faces of the two main players, but there wasn't much you could do about that. I really like this shot! Nice work Kelly.

Michael

[92135011]

I find it too distracting
Blur is good, but I find this one a little much
maybe stop down and raise your shutter speed a notch?

[katt]

I like blur, adds to the story, imo

nice shot, i'm shooting hs football these days. fun being one of the lone females on the sidelines actually working.

[Lara]

Woops, it's been so long since I've posted anything here, that I completely forgot to post in Critique! Sorry....

Moved it to critique for you Kelly

[Old Timer]

I knew as soon as I pressed the shutter that this was going to be one of my favorite sport shots. I didn't expect the motion blur, but I sorta like it.

What do you think? Shot at 1600 ISO, 1/160, 5.6, handheld.

Just depends on what your intended use of the image is. The amount of blur and lack of detail in the faces in this photograph would make it somewhat useless for publication. I have been corresponding with one of the better sports photogs at the largest paper in our area about this subject. He has given me some very useful tips this football season as I try to improve the images I am producing. To make it simple lowest aperture you have and the highest shutter speed you can achieve, but you can rarely go below 250th and get an acceptable football image. The field I shoot at is very dark and night football requires some flash his suggestion is manuel mode at 1/8 power and always let the action come to you as you did in you photo. Don't try and overshoot the range of the lense and flash setup. This is not meant to say that your image doesn't have merit on is its own. There are some very nice aspects to you photograph, color and action are good and you have filled the frame with essentials. My point is just that under most publication standards you would expect to see more detail and less motion blur. I have been trying very had to achieve this goal myself and know how very hard it is on poorly lighted fields. Thanks for sharing your image whith us.

[Chunk]

I knew as soon as I pressed the shutter that this was going to be one of my favorite sport shots. I didn't expect the motion blur, but I sorta like it.

What do you think? Shot at 1600 ISO, 1/160, 5.6, handheld.

I like the unblurred heads giving a feel of concentration while the blur in the arms and legs adds a dymanic feel. Good work. Are you the team photog?

(You didn't ask about the crop but...do you need #12 in there?)

[shadz]

I think it is an outstanding photo; as is. The blur is a definate plus for me. I can almost hear them as they run by. Nice shot.

Danny

[metoliusdmm]

I like it, but i can't decide if i like the blur or not, it being your point of intrest in my mind its sort of distraction the player next to him, but i like it casue it gives feel for the shot, i wish i could shoot sport shot like this one.

Devin

[ziggy]

Did you take this one with a digital camera or a normal one? You said 1600 ISO... and it doesn't look so grainy.

[opus]

This is digital, 235mm focal length.

No, I'm not the team photographer, although the local newspaper has asked me to work part-time for them (weekends), but I'm not sure I can commit right now. I'm just shooting locally for practice ... because it's there ... because it's an opportunity to get back into sports photography, which I used to enjoy in high school.

[ziggy]

Then how did you come up with this ISO value? I'm not an expert in digital photography, so could you explain yourself?

[gmen]

I love to see sporting images here!

What I like most about your shot Kelly is that it is a nice tight crop - many sports shots are too loose and lack impact.. and also your timing is obviously good.

To answer your question: I think that the blur detracts somewhat from the image. I have to agree with Old Timer when he says that you should be striving to use a faster shutter speed.

Shooting at 1/160s at f/5.6 tells me that a nice fast lens would work very well under the lighting you have been experiencing - that would get you up to a shutter speed of 1/500s or faster which is adequate for freezing the action. Once you can achieve those faster speeds then you can 'experiment' with motion blur rather than having to live with it in every image.

The alternative is of course to use a burst of flash to help freeze the motion - with the option of using an even slower shutter speed and maybe rear-curtain sync to retain the blur.

I've posted some basketball pics over in the sports forum - Basketball - Help Needed! - where the ambient light was 1/100s, f/2 at 1000ASA. I went for a combo of 1/200s, f/2 at 1600ASA with the flash set to 1/8 or 1/16 manual power depending on the subject distance. Very tricky stuff indeed and not recommended for the faint-hearted - the results were nothing more than OK!

From the newspaper angle, I think they may also prefer a nice sharp image as it will generally reproduce better. Not to say that you shouldn't still take some shots with motion blur - but it may just be better to submit them to other publications.

Good luck with your sports photos Kelly - and keep posting them!

[opus]

ziggy, on my digital, I have the option of choosing my ISO. I just dial it in and the camera does whatever it does to change things so that I get more light.

[MaxPower]

I like the blur Kelly. The only thing I would change is a tighter crop to eliminate the #12 player.

[Lava Lamp]

I knew as soon as I pressed the shutter that this was going to be one of my favorite sport shots. I didn't expect the motion blur, but I sorta like it.

What do you think? Shot at 1600 ISO, 1/160, 5.6, handheld.

The blur is good, but the whole thing is too dark. Here's your image with some levels adjustment, noise reduction in neat image, and sharpening. Do you like it better?

[ziggy]

What camera did you use?

[opus]

Ziggy, I use a Canon Digital Rebel.

Lava Lamp, I realized that the image is dark, and I like your adjustment except for how the whites are blown out a little too much.

As far as crop...I think I could crop out about a half inch more of #12, but I like having some of him in the shot. He helps the dynamics, I think.