Chalking it up

VeddieEdder · 21-05-2007, 00:34

Taken recently between beam routines at a recent gymnastics tournament I covered. All comments welcome.

Boofers · 21-05-2007, 00:57

thought it was snow when I first looked, once I understood, nothing but respect for the sport. nice picture,

**Dabhand16** · 21-05-2007, 01:49

Hiya VE. You have captured more than just an image here, There is a story too. The mono works well, I suspect it would have less impact in colour. This shot would add a lot of impact to a series of shots of this tournament.

skipper954 · 21-05-2007, 01:54

Very cool shot, worthy of framing or a competition.

From her fingernails, you know that this is a woman, and the flying chalk adds impact, strength and action to the image.

I am a big fan of off center subjects, and while this works very well, I wonder?

skip

VeddieEdder · 21-05-2007, 01:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dabhand16

Hiya VE. You have captured more than just an image here, There is a story too. The mono works well, I suspect it would have less impact in colour. This shot would add a lot of impact to a series of shots of this tournament.

Well, between 3 shooters we shot approximately 30,000 images. I editted 27,000 of em.

I shot about 50 or so various angles/exposures/ISO's of the girls in the chalk bin. If I could, I would have put several images here for a more cohesive "series", perhaps I'll post some in the sharing area. Anyway, I put them up in our "candids" section of the event, and sure enough, people are actually buying them, despite the low odds that thats even their childs hands.

I've been shooting sports for about 4 years now, and never had any real appreciation for gymnastics. I had the opportunity about a month ago to spend a full week in a gym here in PA doing a week long Team and Individual. The gym is run by a mother/daughter combo who both were Olympic level gymnasts. Maya and Silvia Mitova. Just shooting the events we cover was one thing, but to watch these little 11-14 year old girls work out, coming in before and after school, working tirelessly till they "got it right" was truly amazing.

I even did my "beam routine" for the girls mid week. Needless to say, they got a kick out of it, and Ms Mitova made me an honorary Level 6 gymnast.

I added a few more shots to my member gallery, for anyone interested. Thanks.

http://www.pixalo.com/gallery/showga...500&ppuser=635

VikingPhotography · 21-05-2007, 14:35

Me likey.

It reminds me somehow of imagery that you'd see from the Olympics back in the 60's and 70's... the sort of mood shot that would have made its way into an editoriall piece in Sports Illustrated.

This is one of those instances where a mono treatment with grain/noise is practically a requirement to make the image great.

So: two thumbs up

bonniedidit · 21-05-2007, 20:28

Very nice, indeed. I agree with Viking that the mono and grain makes the image great.

fionaB · 21-05-2007, 21:18

fantaastic image, this does everything an image should do. holds the eye, tells a story... and is admirted for what it is. a work of art... i would have this on my wall!

Fi

Dave Canon · 21-05-2007, 23:51

A great image but there are a couple of areas which could be improved. Firstly the top area of the wrist band is burnt out. If this is from a Raw file you should be able to recover that. Secondly, the light patch in the lower right is distracting. You could remove this by cloning. I wish the shot was mine.

VeddieEdder · 21-05-2007, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Canon

A great image but there are a couple of areas which could be improved. Firstly the top area of the wrist band is burnt out. If this is from a Raw file you should be able to recover that. Secondly, the light patch in the lower right is distracting. You could remove this by cloning. I wish the shot was mine.

Duly noted. Thank you. Ill rework a dodge/burn when I get time. Yes it was shot in RAW, who doesnt shoot RAW these days?

Thanks for the input everyone.

nichpr · 22-05-2007, 01:41

I just can't imagine shooting 30,000 shots much less editing half that number - you must be numb. That said if there are more gems like this one in there, then it was well worth it.
Well done.
- Paul

VeddieEdder · 22-05-2007, 06:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by nichpr

I just can't imagine shooting 30,000 shots much less editing half that number - you must be numb. That said if there are more gems like this one in there, then it was well worth it.
Well done.
- Paul

Ha! Nevermind that 30,000. I shot two gymnastics tournaments prior to this one, so over 4 weeks, i've personally eddited 90,000 images. Not to mention the lacrosse, soccer, proms, and studio work I edit/print in between. I work about 65-75 hrs a week, with about a 40-50 hour lab time, mixed with about 20 hours of shooting per week, outside of the 36 hour 3 day weekend tourney's.

So much for my hobby. Not much time left for recreational photography.

But its all good, I wouldnt trade it for anything.

Thank god for summer break. No sports for 2 months. Catch up time

If you're interested, and they arent still password protected, check out my company's work.

Hugo Studios - Catasauqua, PA
Specialty Photographic, Inc. / Professional Photographers

**Dabhand16** · 22-05-2007, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeddieEdder

Ha! Nevermind that 30,000. I shot two gymnastics tournaments prior to this one, so over 4 weeks, i've personally eddited 90,000 images. Not to mention the lacrosse, soccer, proms, and studio work I edit/print in between. I work about 65-75 hrs a week, with about a 40-50 hour lab time, mixed with about 20 hours of shooting per week, outside of the 36 hour 3 day weekend tourney's.

You are certainly keeping busy! Good to see that you are enjoying it, and, presumably, it is keeping the wolf from the door.