Jr. Cheerleader Pictures

I'm not going to personally bash sports photographers because I know when doing team shoot's it's essential to keep things moving in a timely manner. Plus providing individual attention to team members get's you into trouble if you do something for one girl that you perhaps neglected for any particular reason to do with another.

Parents like this pose better that you did with this girl vs. their daughter etc etc etc....It get's messy, and time consuming. One thing parents don't realize is special attention more times than not commands a higher price.
What we do at my studio is have the girls lay at a slight angle. This
way you have the legs to the side and they dont look like rabbit
ears. I am one of those photogs that shoot youth sports (send them
through like cattle). Actually we spens time posing our cheerleaders.
Girls like the stomach pose.
--
If it's not broke, hit it again....
 
I understand what your trying to say, but in this case the background works well. If they where wedding shots, or a simple family portraits, you would have a point :-)
 
Dude, you could have at least photoshopped out the Pepsi sign in the background. Or if you don't want to manipulate the image to that extent, you could have shifted your angle a few degrees off when taking the picture or used a larger aperture to blur the sign more so it is not so prominant.
 
I think they are all very good... One thing that annoys me is the
Pepsi advertisement on the school score board... Too bad you
couldn't find a nicer background... I'm not sure how vital the goal
and score board are to the shot over all... Not really a big deal,
but it just seems a tiny bit distracting to me.
Unfortunatly advertisments were everywhere along the fence surounding
the field. The Score boards pepsi logo wasn't the only thing to
contend with.
At least they are fuzzy enough to easily replace with something else like a copy of the Eagles side of the score board.
--
If it's not broke, hit it again....
With a bigger hammer,,, or that unbreakable toy...

--
Bryan - click, click, click, click, moo, click, click...
 
Dude, you could have at least photoshopped out the Pepsi sign in the
background. Or if you don't want to manipulate the image to that
extent, you could have shifted your angle a few degrees off when
taking the picture or used a larger aperture to blur the sign more so
it is not so prominant.
I think the scoreboard is fine, it all releates to cheerleading so IMO it belongs there.
 
Dude, you could have at least photoshopped out the Pepsi sign in the
background. Or if you don't want to manipulate the image to that
extent, you could have shifted your angle a few degrees off when
taking the picture or used a larger aperture to blur the sign more so
it is not so prominant.
I think the scoreboard is fine, it all releates to cheerleading so
IMO it belongs there.
It doesn't bother me so much either... Thanks for looking.

--
If it's not broke, hit it again....
 
Hitting your revised version with USM of Amt=20 Radisu=80, threshold = 0 does a nice job. You could mask out the background so it does not get the same level of impact. Both the young lady and the post look better after USM, IMHO.

All pics are nice by the way.

David
 
Dude, you could have at least photoshopped out the Pepsi sign in the
background. Or if you don't want to manipulate the image to that
extent, you could have shifted your angle a few degrees off when
taking the picture or used a larger aperture to blur the sign more so
it is not so prominant.
I think the scoreboard is fine, it all releates to cheerleading so
IMO it belongs there.
It doesn't bother me so much either... Thanks for looking.
That's the difference between an amateur and a pro. The pro
cares about that kind of detail (or in this case a huge freaking ad
in the middle of the picture at the attention point) in their
photos. Amateurs don't. A pro would never let that slide with a
blasé yawn.
 
I tend to disagree. Having the cheerleader in her element and environment makes it better than an artificial background, or lack of as in your example. IMHO anyway, a subject in a plain white background is not very exciting nor is it any

more thoughtful than the football field that you view as not "worried about the background too much...". The cheerleader is very much an integral member of the sport as the football player, so the thought of a hefty football player in a white background seems out of character than on the field just like the cheerleader. Actually, I believe photos of athletes of all sports are pictured best in their natural setting. But that's just my opinion.

Anyway, I think these photos are great except the very small flaws that others have already mentioned which can be easily fixed. Definitely on par with a professional doing these school photos. ^^
Brian,

Very nice shots! As parent of cheerleader (5 years now), I agree
there is room for improvement in the standard pics. You have done
that.

One of my biggest gripes about the school pics is that they look like
there is little thought in what the background is going to be. I
don't get the feeling that you worried about the background too much
either. Maybe you did but there is a lot of stuff in background that
takes away from your images (at least to me... not trying to be
harsh). Maybe try a completly different location in the future? You
have a great first start!

Here is my very first attempt to improve the background :



Not the best
picture but at least an improvement on the background issue.

John
--
Feel free to use any of these additional letters to correct the
spelling of words found in the above post: a-e-t-n-d-i-o-s-m-l-u-y-h-c
 
Dude, you could have at least photoshopped out the Pepsi sign in the
background. Or if you don't want to manipulate the image to that
extent, you could have shifted your angle a few degrees off when
taking the picture or used a larger aperture to blur the sign more so
it is not so prominant.
I think the scoreboard is fine, it all releates to cheerleading so
IMO it belongs there.
It doesn't bother me so much either... Thanks for looking.
That's the difference between an amateur and a pro. The pro
cares about that kind of detail (or in this case a huge freaking ad
in the middle of the picture at the attention point) in their
photos. Amateurs don't. A pro would never let that slide with a
blasé yawn.
Perhaps, but I think the Pepsi sign doesn't bother everyone viewing
the photos. I didn't notice it either, and yes I'm not a pro, nonetheless,
it's blurred enough and the subject is sharp and that's all that matters.
It's not like the sign was put up there for the purposes of marketing it for the
photo shoot. It's actually a part of their field, so it's not so bad, and I'm
not saying just because it's a part of their school, good or bad it's fine,
but the sign itself is not so bad that it detracts from the photo.
 
That's the difference between an amateur and a pro. The pro
cares about that kind of detail (or in this case a huge freaking ad
in the middle of the picture at the attention point) in their
photos. Amateurs don't. A pro would never let that slide with a
blasé yawn.
Ok so where do I start...I have a swim team picture of my daughter that was made by a well known and professional photographer in our area. In the background you can see a 24 inch by 4 foot long banner that say's Wachovia National Bank.... It serves no purpose other than advertisement. Yet it's still there. Of course he shoots film and things like that can't be edited out as easily but never the less it didn't seem to bother him any.

Your opinion of what should and shouldn't be in the background of an image is dependant on the one viewing it. Granted there are things I'm sure every photographer views a little differently than another. That doesn't make anyone's particular vision any more right or wrong than anothers...It only makes it different. Whichever vision is best in my opinion is subjective to the one viewing the photograph, so even then your best effort could be viewed as a biased yawn as you put it, or could be viewed as a wonderful work of art. It all depends on who is viewing it and with what standards they choose to judge it by.

I accept the fact that my photo's will be viewed with mixed reactions. Not everyone will like it and this is fine with me. I'll continue to do what I do and let my clients decide if I have earned my pay, but in the mean time, I'll take these different opinions, sort them out and take to heart the ones I feel will benefit me in the future.

One more thing. A professional would never ever address someone as "Dude."
you know...since we are discussing proper professional etiquette.

--
If it's not broke, hit it again....
 
I'm curious why you haven't commented on the 'metal' in the right side of her mouth. This might be a brace, etc., several posters have commented on this. It distracts from her otherwise beautiful smile.

Is there an issue with doing a little cloning or healing in Photoshop?

BTW, I think the Pepsi sign is fine, it really connects the cheerleader to the background setting.

--
Best regards,
Doug
http://pbase.com/dougj

http://thescambaiter.com
Fighting scammers WW for fun & justice
 
I'm curious why you haven't commented on the 'metal' in the right
side of her mouth. This might be a brace, etc., several posters have
commented on this. It distracts from her otherwise beautiful smile.

Is there an issue with doing a little cloning or healing in Photoshop?

BTW, I think the Pepsi sign is fine, it really connects the
cheerleader to the background setting.

--
Best regards,
Doug
http://pbase.com/dougj

http://thescambaiter.com
Fighting scammers WW for fun & justice
Doug I haven't commented on it however I have made note of it. These photos posted were more or less quick edits, so I'll clone them out before it goes to print. I apreciate everyone who commented on it bringing it to my attention as I'm sure her mother will find it pleasing even though to her it may not be necessary.

--
If it's not broke, hit it again....
 
haperature wrote:
I tend to disagree..........
Well.. I am glad you do... that's what makes this world a wonderful place. But I never asked if anyone agreed or disagreed... I just gave my thoughts & an example (can't imagine why anyone else hasn't posted an example?)

What I like may not be what you like (I'll take "sterile" white to a Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Wachovia sign any day) ....but that is why each of us can have our own camera to capture the images the way we want.

Brian captured some nice images and asked for opinions.. He certainly got that!

John
 
haperature wrote:
I tend to disagree..........
Well.. I am glad you do... that's what makes this world a wonderful
place. But I never asked if anyone agreed or disagreed... I just gave
my thoughts & an example (can't imagine why anyone else hasn't posted
an example?)

What I like may not be what you like (I'll take "sterile" white to a
Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Wachovia sign any day) ....but that is why each of
us can have our own camera to capture the images the way we want.

Brian captured some nice images and asked for opinions.. He certainly
got that!

John
I know you didn't ask if anyone agreed or disagreed. Sometimes writing in forums can come off negatively, but I meant no disrespect. Just like the way you expressed desire over a white background, I disagreed to just state my preference as well. I'm sorry if it came off in a bad way. Absolutely did not mean to as we are all entitled to our opinions and preferences. And I definitely agree with you that that is "why each of us can have our own camera"...to express to our individual liking. ^^ Thanks for pointing out that I have to be a bit more thoughtful in how I word my opinions. :-)
 
haperature,

Thanks for the comments.... I was not offended... but maybe a little defensive.

When someone posts an image for c&c they are going to get a lot of different viewpoints.. that is a given. I frequent the lighting forum mostly and there are usually two types of posts.... those showing what someone has recently done and those asking for c&c. Things usually turn sour when c&c is given although it was never requested.

Now .... I am going to ask a question.. You and a few others mentioned that you didn't notice the sign in the background. One of the first things I do when I see a picture of a person is to look at their eyes. I want to see the catchlights which to me gives the person life. The next thing I do is look to see what distracts me from looking only at the subject.. I want the subject to draw me into the picture.

So did those that said they did not notice the stuff in the background really not see it or was it not distracting enough to pull them away from the subject? Would you have noticed it on a print more or less than on the web? Just wondering.

John
--

Feel free to use any of these additional letters to correct the spelling of words found in the above post: a-e-t-n-d-i-o-s-m-l-u-y-h-c
 

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