Shaolin Soccer

[Paul K]

Shaolin Soccer (at sunset)



I know it's going to hurt! (at dusk)



C&C will be appreciated!

Best Regards,

Paul

[SteveB]

First shot is very nice, however I would do a verticle crop and just isolate the two main players. Second shot the focus seems off.

Your attempt to selectivly blur parts of the image is way to obvious, needs additional work.

[Paul K]

Thank you, SteveB!

I did try to crop the first one differently, but the feeling of players floating in the air, Matrix-style, was lost any time I isolated the center two from the other players. I'll try to play with it some more.

Couldn't do much about the focus in the second shot: it was dusk and my lens was fully open at 200mm f/2.8, ISO800. I think that and the motion is what caused the out-of-focus feel.

I applied the selective blur for the player's privacy on this public site. It's not going to be blurred in the final processing of the image.

I appreciate your input!

Regards

Paul

[Electricseashell]

Question:

In this case would taking a wider shot and post processing help ? I think it would give him more room to effectively crop out or isolate the two key players.. In the first shot.
I like the fact there are four in the second shot blurring would help center the focus..
I also appreciate you blurred the players names... good on ya

[RSStory]

I agree that a vertical crop on the first one would be better... Maybe something like this.

[clarionite]

I really like that crop. I wish there was a little more space on the right, but it's understandable because of the other player in the full version. Maybe Paul could PS out the foot and a little of the hand and extend the space just a tad. That might give a bit more space to the bottom too keeping the proportions.

[PhotosbyChuck]

Nice work Scott. That crop (and the PS work to clone out the other player) look great.

[Paul K]

Yes, that's pretty good! I did try to do something similar, but was feeling that the crop was too tight on the two players. I think you've found a spot to crop that just makes it work.

Thank you!

Paul

Originally Posted by RSStory

I agree that a vertical crop on the first one would be better... Maybe something like this.

[Paul K]

I am probably too old-fashioned , but I feel bad about photoshoping things in or out of an image. I'm OK with blurring or removing artifacts, but I hesitate to add or remove things that weren't there in the original. That said, I might just try your suggestion

Thanks for the suggestion,

-Paul

Originally Posted by clarionite

I really like that crop. I wish there was a little more space on the right, but it's understandable because of the other player in the full version. Maybe Paul could PS out the foot and a little of the hand and extend the space just a tad. That might give a bit more space to the bottom too keeping the proportions.

[clarionite]

Originally Posted by Paul K

I am probably too old-fashioned , but I feel bad about photoshoping things in or out of an image. I'm OK with blurring or removing artifacts, but I hesitate to add or remove things that weren't there in the original. That said, I might just try your suggestion

Thanks for the suggestion,

-Paul

I understand what you're saying. Other than being a cheapskate, I haven't bought PS because I don't want to rely too much on it. I try to get things right in the camera, and fix what little lighting issues I can in Phase One. I feel that if I can struggle through and learn to do what I want with the camera and lens, then when I do go to PS it'll only be better and I'll spend much less time in post. So far I'm not there yet, but one day. <G>