Porfolio Review and Suggestions [Warning...Very High Bandwidth]

[masdog]

Well, I started putting together my portfolio, and after rushing two copies off to nearby newspapers that had job openings, I decided to trim it down a little. Right now, I have about 16 pictures in the sports section of my portfolio, and I would like to try and cut that in half.

There is a good reason for this. There was a job opening at Duke University for a staff photographer, and they ask that no portfolio has more than 20 images. Since I have other stuff I would like to include, I would like some advice in cutting down what I have now.

What should I keep?

Thanks,

Sean

Album Link

[swmdrayfan]

I can't tell you much, but I would dump the indoor football because the skin tones just don't look right, and I'd also dump the Packers #17..just a skosh too blurry it seems.
JMHO.

[JSPhoto]

I'd dump the indoor football and the volleyball shot where the girls are just standing there and keep the rest.

JS

[SmartWombat]

Keepers: 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14,

#1 action and expressions, love it (despite the arm lower left)
#4 the faces each side of hte net make this for me (even with #12's eyes closed)
#6 classic shirt tug, nicely captured, was it a foul?
#11 lots of action and colour, I'd try a crop of the right most whiteshirt
#12 not a confrontation, a good mood shot, great exposure
#14 a wonderful face-off !
#16 good action, dust, eyes on the ball (I'd crop from the right a bit)

#2 would be really good if there was more of the girl bottom right, her expression is great.
#3 the foot of the #12 is cut off, and there isn't really enough room to her right
#5 would be great after the kick, exposure looks spot on
#7 I felt was flat, the shadow on the grass isn't deep enough for me, perhaps a spot adjustment on the golfer's face instead of overall?
#8 best of the two, the necklace is distracting
#9 good catch, good focus, but the one in yellow ruins it for me, if he wasn't there it'd be great, with that space for the catcher to run into
#10 shot into the light, again looks flat, maybe a different treatment in PS can improve it?
#13 #17's legs crossed during running looks weird !
#15 I don't know much about baseball, but it looks shot just a little late?


I ought to go through this exercise too, after I've shot a few more sports.
Trying my hand at something that doesn't involve wheels would stretch me, I think.

[masdog]

Thanks everyone. I think I will dump #3 and #8 so far. #13 (of Packer's #17) is also on the chopping block.

Paul, as for #15, I don't know if its too late or not. The picture has three important elements in it - the ball, the Umpire's call, and the player's reaction. It makes a good story shot, in my opinion. Now if I could only identify the players in the picture, I could write a caption for it.

[livin4lax09]

#1: good shot, despite the arm like SW said. its a shame its there.
#2: good, but the framing seems a bit off, and it's fairly dark. Try to lighten it up a bit. Would have been a bit better if there had been less space between the spiker and the girl on the other team staring. Also wish we could see both of the spiker's eyes. But hey, what can you do?
#3 toss it. Nothing really going on here. If there is, there's a story behind it that the average viewer doesn't know.
#4 One of your strongest photos, just try to get the color adjusted correctly. The WB is off. hope you don't mind me working on it. Just do a levels correction and white point the white shirt in the bg.
#5 Good, but try increasing contrast a bit along with increasing saturation. I never used to increase saturation, but once I started doing it, i realize it gave my photos a pop. again, here's my correction.
#6: ditch it. It's not focused, and an unsharp mask in PS won't be able to solve it.
#7: interesting shot, and it shows you can shoot other sports too. Nothing all that special, but demonstrates versatility.
#8: I like the shot, but like others have said, the tones are off. Just use a levels correction, and use the slider on the green histrogram, slide the left arrow a bit to the right, about 8 think. I found that helped quite a bit.
#9 Has the best color of any of your shots. Great light, but the yellow player makes me wonder waht's going on. Also, the bottom right...is that a body part? Nice capture though, the composition just makes me wonder. But keep it. Again though, try to increase in saturation. Especially with light as even as this. It'll really make it pop.
#10: fun shot, just work on the color. Contrast correction, along with an increase in saturation.
#11: another good shot, and I like the color. I think there's a bit of motion blur, but that's certainly alright. good shot nonetheless
#12: Great. THis is EXACTLY what seperates the parents from the photographers. In order to be a true sports photographer, you have to be able to capture the action on the sidelines as well as on the field.
#13: good color and saturation, but bad bokeh and again, not really focused. Don't keep it.
#14: same as 12. Good to capture action off the field. Coming from a newspaper sports photographer I talked with for a while about this, he said some of the best shots he's ever seen are the emotion displayed in the sideline shots, and employers look for those kind of shots. Like he said, anyone can go out and snap a photo of a player dribbling the ball up the field. It takes talent to see the player on the sidelines crouched down on the ground after a tough loss.
#15: I don't like this shot too much. you captured it at a good moment, but from the wrong angle. a second earlier, this angle would have worked. But after the play is over and the focus is on the base umpire, then you want to get the umpire's face in there, since he IS the one making the call.
#16. Good shot. Not your typical baseball shot, and that's why I like it.


One thing I noticed about a lot of your shots is that you're getting some oversharpening. What are your in camera corrections, and what USM adjustments are you making? Try an amount of 100-150%, and a radius of .9. I find that gives good sharp results without giving it the photoshopped look. If it's not sharp after that, then it wasn't sharp enough in the first place. I also never use in-camera sharpening. I leave that up to PP.

[SmartWombat]

I agree #15 has it all - it's not obvious though.
I think he's off base - ran past it - I can see just by his left foot
I think the ball has been or is just about to be caught - I can't tell which
I can't see the umpire's called it yet, perhaps it's hidden
It is a good story shot if accompanied by the story, it doesn't tell the whole story itself.
Shots that do tell the story are rare, I think.

I came to the realisation looking at these, and reading that SI article on the superbowl (16000 shots and 86 star shots?) that I might be a little charitable to myself and need to be more picky if I want a really excellent portfolio.
The more I shoot, the more I see of other work, the more I read, the less I realise I know and the more I feel I need to improve.

[masdog]

Paul, you're right. I wasn't thinking of it that way. It might be a good photograph to send into the team, but it doesn't do anything for a portfolio. Consider it on the chopping block as well.

I never addressed the soccer photo that you were wondering about (the Jersey Grab). It was a penalty. I don't remember much of the game since it was well over a month ago and nothing special, but I think my college's team won 7-0.

[masdog]

Livin,

Thanks for your appraisal. I don't mind if you make corrections to any photo I've posted - you might see something that I don't and make a change for the better. Thats the best part about peer review in Digital format. We can make changes to each others photos and repost them if we think that we can get something better out of it.

I corrected #10 because I think it is one of my strongest "non-action" sports photo. You should be seeing it in the first post of the thread now.

As for the sharpening, I tend to sharpen as if I was going to make a print, and if you don't oversharpen slightly, things tend to come out a little soft. I usually sharpen my image with a radius of somewhere between 1-1.5 pixels at a range of 90-125%. I guess it depends on how it looks on the screen.

I'll attempt to work on the images and give them a little more pop. Thanks again for the feedback.

[livin4lax09]

yeah, i get what you mean. It all depends on where you print too. Some sites tend to print soft, some tend to oversharpen. And then of course when you have your own printer, you know its tendencies. Good chnages thought, and I'm glad my feedback helped you. Good luck with the job search.

[masdog]

A lot of it might depend on your monitor too. I know some pictures I do look great on my laptop but unsharp on my desktop or other computers.

[swmdrayfan]

masdog, the picture of the play 'too late' at the plate is a keeper.......don't cut it from the portfolio. The runner sliding in is Carlos Gonzalez of the South Bend Silver Hawks, and the Wisconsin catcher might be #9 Omar Falcon...

[swmdrayfan]

wombat how right you are.....I get caught in the trap of being too easy on myself with regards to the quality of my own shots. Every so often we need to step back and try to view our work from a different perspective.

[masdog]

I took out #3, #8, and #13. Thanks again for everyone's advice.

How about these two? A note about #1 of this mini-set, I cropped it down from an 11x14 that I'm preparing to print my school. In the full sized version, you can see the whole ball and all of his hair. I'm wondering, though, if I should go back and redo this picture because I cropped out a defender who was moving to make a play on the ball as well.

[masdog]

wombat how right you are.....I get caught in the trap of being too easy on myself with regards to the quality of my own shots. Every so often we need to step back and try to view our work from a different perspective.

Perhaps we can convince Photo-John to have a portfolio review board...[

[livin4lax09]

leave the other two out, by the way. last one is underexposed, and the first one is completely blown out.