ok, what's wrong with this?

[Outdoorsman]

This one popped up again after last year's little league season. The local paper doesn't have a photog and I tossed them this pic to see if they were interested in having some decent shots. I think this is just fine (some blown out highlights, but hey, it would have been printed small and in B&W anyway), but there wasn't even a peep from the editor. No reply, no response. What was so wrong with this that it didn't even get a response (when, like, NOBODY else is submitting pics like this)? Did I screw it up somehow?

[brianc]

IT's a local newspaper. who really knows what goes on in their heads.

As for your picture...Great timing. I like what you had in mind with the Flag in the bg, but inorder to get it in frame you've let in too much with the buildings. They make the image too distracting for me.

if you had greater dof, you'd isolate the pitcher making a stronger image.

[Photo-John]

I agree with Brian. It's the background. Your timing couldn't be better. It's awesome. But the background is too cluttered and distracting. If you had somehow composed it so that the background meant something, maybe. But as is, I think it's taking away from the pitcher. I would have shot closer, with a larger aperture to make the background disappear as much as possible. Hindsight is perfect, right ;)

One of the main things I harp on about sports photograpy is the background. When yo start to set up a photo you have to consider everything in the frame. The importance of the background can't be overemphasized. Whether you think about it or not, it adds or takes away from your image. It's almost never neutral. So remember this and take control. Watch that background and make it work for you. Sometimes the solution can be as simple as changing your angle by a few degrees. Sometimes its more complicated. But the first step is sensitivity to it. Be aware. Then you have the opportunity to see potential problems and address them.

[another view]

I like your idea with the flag, certainly ties in well with baseball - but agree with the others about less DOF. Even wide open with a lot of blur in the background you could probably make out that it was a flag because of the shape and colors.

Small local papers can be very wierd. I shot for awhile for a weekly here (unpaid) and it got political - like office politics, etc. I put up with that stuff at work (don't we all) but I'm getting paid to be there. I just stopped submitting one day and never heard from them again. It was just a wierd situation, and since I wasn't getting anything out of it then there wasn't really a point in doing it. Details would be a long boring conversation, but my thought of having people notice my work didn't happen (or at least no one mentioned it!)...

[Outdoorsman]

Excellent responses here, thanks so much guys!
I too was really pleased with the timing- his leg looks so stretched out it's almost bizarre!
I hadn't even considered the bg when I shot it. I was more concerned with getting a fast shutter. This is a good exapmle of "choose the moment, don't just let the camera run." I have a series of him pitching also, four or five frames that aren't well timed. This one took a few tries but I picked it out as it happened. I definitely could have moved to a more head-on viewpoint with only the outfield as the bg. Next season...

I would really like to get into press photography. Mainly because it's a steady job and you get to do all kinds of different shooting every day. I think I would never get bored. But yeah, my experience with newspapers also has not been pleasant. Makes it a hard choice between doing it freelance and shooting what I want and what "customers" might want or just taking orders from the boss every day. Press photographers get no glory...