Lady Panthers

[Old Timer]

A few from last nights Lady Panthers game.

[Old Timer]

These looked fine on the Mac at home and here on my office monitor they look like crap. How do they look to you?

[Bob32]

Larry,

My favorites are #3, 5, and 6.

In #3 I'm scratching my head trying to figure out why the floor appears to be sloping downward to the right at a precarious angle when the photo is very close to straight based on the vertical building lines in the background. It must be that the lines on the floor are creating an optical illusion.

I like the facial expression on player #23 in photo #6. It looks like she despairs at having just lost possession of the ball.

All of the images appear somewhat soft. I suspect that sharpening may not have been applied after downsizing for uploading to the forum.

Bob

[Old Timer]

Your right Bob I did not sharpen after downsizing.

[Bob32]

Larry,

I posted my initial comments before I saw your opinion that your photos look like crap. I think that your assessment is overly harsh.

In addition to the softness issue on which I have already commented I see some room for improvement in more exposure to brighten up the images a bit. I made a similar comment in one of your previous threads. The images here are not as dark as in the previous thread, but a bit more brightening would help, especially in bringing out more detail in the black faces.

I would also suggest trying a boost in contrast to impart more "punch" to these images.

That sums up my comments based on what I see on my calibrated iMac.

Have you pulled your 50 mm. lens out of storage yet for a trial run?

Bob

[Old Timer]

I tried the 50mm one night this week and it just was not focusing fast enough and I came up with way to many soft focus pics. Put back in the bag after about 10 minutes of clock time and went back to the 28-70. I know you like you images with a lot of brightness Bob but really I process a little on the dark side because I prefer that look. All a matter of personal preference on that issue I guess, however noise and sharpness are a different mater. As little noise as possible and as sharp as I can get them. I am not a whiz in the post process phase and tend to do as little as I have too. Never had any training in that phase of the business and have just picked up what tips I can from internet friends.

[Bob32]

Larry,

I'm a little surprised that your 50 mm. is not focusing fast enough for your purposes. I don't have that complaint about my 50 mm. f/1.8 but I do about my 85 mm. f/1.8. I'm still using the 85 mm., but I do so assuming that my batting average is not going to be as high as it would be if I were using the 50 mm. I also have a 24-85 f/2.8-4 that I have used a lot for basketball. Even though it's got screw-drive focus it focuses plenty fast enough. However, it doesn't admit as much light as the f/1.8 primes.

I have also not had any formal training in image processing, but I have bought a number of books on the subject which I have found very useful. If you want a very good book on noise and sharpness I recommend "Real World Image Sharpening" by Fraser and Schewe. The book emphasizes ways to optimize sharpening while minimizing noise. I recently acquired this book and found it to be very enlightening. In fact, I made a number of significant changes in my workflow based on what I learned.

Bob

[Old Timer]

Larry,

I'm a little surprised that your 50 mm. is not focusing fast enough for your purposes. I don't have that complaint about my 50 mm. f/1.8 but I do about my 85 mm. f/1.8. I'm still using the 85 mm., but I do so assuming that my batting average is not going to be as high as it would be if I were using the 50 mm. I also have a 24-85 f/2.8-4 that I have used a lot for basketball. Even though it's got screw-drive focus it focuses plenty fast enough. However, it doesn't admit as much light as the f/1.8 primes.

I have also not had any formal training in image processing, but I have bought a number of books on the subject which I have found very useful. If you want a very good book on noise and sharpness I recommend "Real World Image Sharpening" by Fraser and Schewe. The book emphasizes ways to optimize sharpening while minimizing noise. I recently acquired this book and found it to be very enlightening. In fact, I made a number of significant changes in my workflow based on what I learned.

Bob

Thanks Bob I'll try to find that book.