Hurdles an Alternative Crop

[Old Timer]

JETA raised an interesting question with her resent post. I'm not sure what the real answer is or if there is one. But let me pose an alternative here with this image. I think that with this crop you are better able to show the expression and the emotion of the athlete. Just throwing this out for discussion what do you think?

[BFiredup]

I agree OT, you can see his expression, and you still know what he is doing, because you haven just enough of the hurdle....
Not to say that Jeta's didn't look good too.....they were wonderful....but I guess I am a fan of the closer shots....

I like the up tight and presonal....LOL.....

[retroactiv]

I think it's a great shot, but maybe if you had gone a little wider and not crop out his hands. I do have to say with this topic it's your opinion for the most part. I think that any of them would work along with this one, but it's not quite what I think I would do if I was in the position. (maybe that is why it's art and not engineering ;) )

[brhitch]

Larry, I like this shot alot. I think seeing a hint of a hand may have helped the shot but depending on where his competition was in relation to him you may have lost some intensity by going wider. I do like that you can see his expression and his eyes.

[BFiredup]

Wonder what it would look like in a landscape format, instead of Portrait.....might see some of his hands...but still be close...hmmmmm.....another ?????

[tward88]

I like this photo as well. The thing you lose that I really liked about Jeta's picture is the hight aspect of the hurdels. In Jeta's phto you really get a sense of the effort it takes to get over the hurdle. in this photo it could the the 400 lows or the high hurdles.

But as you say it is all a matter of what you like and what you are trying to show.

[Old Timer]

Another with missing limbs. Sorry I'm not at home with the original file so I have to post small. I guess I'm wondering do the good aspects closeup of expressing and etc. make up for the lost portions of the image (hands, arms and full height of the hurdle)?

[Old Timer]

Wonder what it would look like in a landscape format, instead of Portrait.....might see some of his hands...but still be close...hmmmmm.....another ?????

BF I shoot 95% of all my sports from a portrait or vertical format. It's my belief that sports are vertical in nature and in order to fill the frame as completely as possible I need to shoot it that way. I'd be interested to hear other opinions on this too.

[BFiredup]

That is interesting.....I have been shooting football, mostly horizontal...there are exceptions to everything....and basketball vertically.....baseball horizontally....golf...(yeah I know...lol...some don't count as a sport...LOL)...vertically....I guess I do this because someone told me I should....but I do mix it up sometimes....

Interesting....

[Dylan8i]

Another with missing limbs. Sorry I'm not at home with the original file so I have to post small. I guess I'm wondering do the good aspects closeup of expressing and etc. make up for the lost portions of the image (hands, arms and full height of the hurdle)?

ouch, talk about bad form.... his left hand should be where his right hand is.

[Old Timer]

ouch, talk about bad form.... his left hand should be where his right hand is.

Well he did finish back in the pack.

[Old Timer]

That is interesting.....I have been shooting football, mostly horizontal...there are exceptions to everything....and basketball vertically.....baseball horizontally....golf...(yeah I know...lol...some don't count as a sport...LOL)...vertically....I guess I do this because someone told me I should....but I do mix it up sometimes....

Interesting....

Well that's interesting too. I would also like to know how others shoot as a rule. Even if I do shoot horizontal I end up with a vertical crop most of the time and then I lose a lot of pixels so I just stay vertical.

[JETA]

Thanks OT! Awesome pic btw....

This is exactly what I was talking about. Tightly cropped you get so much more emotion, but are you losing part of what the actual physical feat is?

When I'm editing I like to do a couple crops, but I cannot decide if I was picking one which it should be. I think if it was a portfolio pic I'd go with the hurdle in the pic. Closer up and tighter is more my own personal liking.

[Dylan8i]

i think it may depend on who the photo is for. if its for track literate people who know hurdles the close up may be the best, but for general use include the hurdle?

[JETA]

What do you think?

Here's my pic cropped.


Not cropped.

[Old Timer]

What do you think?

OK great I have been waiting for you to chime in. First of all I much prefer the cropped version. For all the reasons previously stated (emotion, intensity the old up close and personal cliché). Let me also say I prefer your cropped image over mine. Why? Because the arms are included. Had I had the option I would have included both arms as you have. However because of my straight on angle and the athlete having both arms straight out from his body I was unable to include them in my capture. I did in my opinion the next best thing and loped them both off equally. There are two kinds of sports photos those that tell the story and those that show the intense emotion of the moment. The great ones are able to do both. They are few and far between. In the meantime we do our best to make our photographs as interesting as we can.

[retroactiv]

Jeta I have to agree this cropped version is much better, it just looks odd that the arms in OT's aren't there.

[JETA]

Wow, this is all going to confuse me now. lol

On my website I think I'll offer both. With such a tight crop you lose pixels. It's still pretty good size, but definitely smaller.

[BFiredup]

I love the cropped one Jeta....and you got all of him in the shot.....

This was an interesting topic.....gives me (and maybe some other newbie's like myself) something to think about....

Oh and by the way Jeta...you shot this horizontally.....what is your rule of thumb on the Vertical or Horizontal shooting.....

[Old Timer]

I'm still interested in hearing your vertical vs horizontal shooting preferences. In the mean time here is another example of the two crops from yesterdays meet. I still like the tighter crop better but this time I have both arms and hands in the frame but I don't have the form or emotion as the first posted image.

[BFiredup]

I still like the cropped one....even though the runner doesn't have the right form...it still shows more emotion, and I personally don't like all the space left at the bottom of the second picture.....But that is just a personal choice that I would make if it were me, and I was going to buy the picture....(thnking like a mother again, and wanting to have a picture of her son I guess...)

[JETA]

I love the cropped one Jeta....and you got all of him in the shot.....

This was an interesting topic.....gives me (and maybe some other newbie's like myself) something to think about....

Oh and by the way Jeta...you shot this horizontally.....what is your rule of thumb on the Vertical or Horizontal shooting.....

This was was actually shot vertical, but I cropped it horizontal to get the close up.

With football I always shoot horizontal. Track vertical.

When I shot the rugby game I started vertical because that is how I was told to shoot soccer. I ended up horizontal. Vertical didn't feel right to me.

[JETA]

I'm with Betty and in the Mommy thinking mode. I like the closeups too.

OT, I really like the full frontal view versus my angled one.

[Old Timer]

I still like the cropped one...But that is just a personal choice that I would make if it were me, and I was going to buy the picture....(thnking like a mother again, and wanting to have a picture of her son I guess...)

Very important point that we sometime tend to forget. Does the image have the kind of appeal that it will sell!

[BFiredup]

Ah....now that is another question....sell to who??? Me as a mom...yes mom's love any good quality picture of their babies......to a major magazine...well...maybe...but I am no expert on that, so someone else needs to chime in.......

I guess it depends on what market you are after.....