Kobe

[Tumber]

Here is another picture from the Jazz vs. Lakers game from Nov 2012.

F2.8
1/250
Focal Length 70mm

[hminx]

Love the drama in this shot, 1 v 3 so what Im coming through, it has a great narrative. I suspect your lens was as wide as it goes so nothing could be done about the missing right foot, only minor nitpick . Great shot.

[Alexandre da Veiga]

For me, motion blur in action photos is a no-no. You should have used a faster shutter speed.
I also dislike the foot cut.

The colour and timing are nice, but the blur and the cut killed it for me.

[Tumber]

Thank you for the feedback. Unfortunately I don't have two bodies so I had to choose between a longer lens on the camera or a shorter one. I chose the longer one which did cut the foot off.

I agree with the blur, I didn't have time to pick the sports photographers brains who were sitting on the court with me so I didn't know what settings they were using and unfortunately I didn't take the time to make adjustments after the game had started. But these are things to improve upon when I am in this situation again.

Thank you for your feedback.

[Photo-John]

For me, motion blur in action photos is a no-no. You should have used a faster shutter speed.
I also dislike the foot cut.

I think motion blur depends on the sport and the image. For instance, for mountain bike photos it can help enhance the feeling of motion and chaos. And for motor sports you always want to choose a shutter speed that blurs the wheels because a completely frozen race car photo just looks like the car is standing still. The motion blur doesn't ruin this photo for me. However, I do think it would have been better if it was sharper. I probably would have tried to shoot this at about 1000th of a second. I don't remember but did you post any of your basketball photos on the Sports Photography Forum? We've got a couple of very serious basketball photographers there who I'm sure could give you some very useful tips

[AgingEyes]

I wish there were no face between that of Kobe and the basketball, especially a face that is brighter than that of the main character in this photo.

[TomHarmon]

Yeah, the shutter speed needs to be a lot faster for the action. And I don't think his facial expression is great, Im not sure his people would want it printed, a la the Beyonce scandal.