Ireland V Bulgaria Photo Comp

Dodgykeeper

The Entries!

1



2



3



4



5



6



7



8



9



10



11



Pls feel free to discuss the entries, no revealing who took what, poll will close next monday at 22.30

Sightaridis

I went with number 10. All the images are great, but 10 sums up the night for me and I really like it.

Gambler

Hmm Had a tough time choosing one, went with 7 but 3 is a close second for me

kjt

Did I win?

AnimalRights

Few honourable mentions b4 I say my winner.

#2 is good capture but the quality lets it down and so I can't give it the prestigious Janer award

#10 is the opposite, the sharpness and quality is superb.

#3 is a very good capture but because not enough of the ball is showing it doesn't quite do it for me.

#8 while a great photo is too me out of place here, yes it's at the game but the compo was for the footy on the pitch no?

#11 is a great capture but cropped way too tight

The winner for me is #1
While it's not as sharp as some of the others and yes it is cropped a bit too tight I love the capture of Hunt taking the ball on his instep, his curly mop adds to the sense of a flowing move.

Paulw

This is gonna be a very tough competition.

Brilliant photos.

Dodgykeeper

Paulw wrote: »

This is gonna be a very tough competition.

Brilliant photos.

I am hoping to get a pro to critique the photos next week when the poll closes!

Valentia

Sh1t!!!! I thought the number was under the photo and voted for the wrong one. Looking at the voting I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one.. :mad:

On (quick) reflection, maybe not. 8 is mine hands down. Sums up the match perfectly.

whyulittle

To be fair, I had to go back up to the top to see which came first, the number or the photo. I did vote for the right one though.

Valentia wrote: »

Sh1t!!!! I thought the number was under the photo and voted for the wrong one. Looking at the voting I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one.. :mad:

Valentia

AnimalRights wrote: »

#8 while a great photo is too me out of place here, yes it's at the game but the compo was for the footy on the pitch no?

I'm surprised you would say that. From what you were saying on the other thread I thought you would like an alternative take on things. I love it.

conkeroo

I went with number 10. Tack sharp, great positioning of elements and amazingly lit to create such an atmospheric shot.

AnimalRights

I also like the player in the background doing the same arms to the head pose as Keane.

shooter77

Here is my c&c, may sound very critical, but with so many good pictures, it was to only way to narrow it down.

1 - great action picture, as good as ive seen on here in a long time, great composition, great depth of field
2 - not sharp enough on the subject
3 - good action, BUT not enough depth of field, and although i understand your restircted, the angle of the photographer is just too high, great advert for lucozade
4 - good action picture but let down by the bulgiarian guys hand missing
5 - not enough in this
6 - poor crop, and not an 'action' picture, i.e. two men and a ball
7 - The buldiarian guy is too far away for this picture to be a good action shot, more of a portrait type shot of Doyle
8 - loving this picture, so different, sums up the match, good composition great in B&W
9 - with the bulgairan player going away from the camera it dosent do anything for me
10 - Great picture, any chance there mite be some more to the picture on the left for him to look into? Great capture.
11- Good action picture, but, the crop has let it down, too tight!

Narrowed down to 1, 8 and 10
and choose 10 , with the hope there is a bit more to the left of the frame in the original, but a good capture

shepthedog

Some superb examples of sports photography, many of which wouldnt look out of place in the national newspapers... Well done to all..

Valentia

10 would get my number two.

Saint_Mel

Valentia wrote: »

10 would get my number two.

Thats a bit harsh ... even if you dont like it theres no need to poo poo the pic

Valentia

shooter77 wrote: »

and chopse 8 , with the hope there is a bit more to the left of the frame in the original, but a good capture

You must have been fooled by the number on top like me. 8 has no votes :eek:

Valentia

Saint_Mel wrote: »

Thats a bit harsh ... even if you dont like it theres no need to poo poo the pic

:eek:

shooter77

Valentia wrote: »

You must have been fooled by the number on top like me. 8 has no votes :eek:

My bad, a typo, change my original post to number 10

AnimalRights

Was this poll linked to the footy forum?

af_thefragile

Its no. 10 for me.
Love the image quality, the narrow dof and the out of focus guys at the back in disappointment along with the subject... Great composition, great quality, great image, great pic!

AnimalRights

Are you saying it's great?

acquiescefc

3 floats my boat.

As soon as i saw it. The balls there, this picture doesnt need it.

MementoMori

2 gets my vote, even if the image itself isn't necessarily the sharpest.

I think it's a really good capture given the fact that is shows that everyone's attention is on the flight of the ball and the fact that it's uncertain whether the ball is going in or not. The tension in the stances of the players and the uncertain expectancy is why I think it's the best of the pictures. It might be let down a little by the fact that there could be more emphasis on the players but the fact that the picture needs to be include the goalposts, the ball as well as the players to work just shows how difficult a picture it was to obtain and this is why I would forgive it for the lack of sharpness.

In pretty much all of the other pics the action being captured is fairly standard in terms of a football match and apart from possibly number 10, none of them really manage to distil the essence of the match into one picture the way number 2 does. Number 10 does manage to capture the frustration of the game but at it's heart it's only really a capture of Robbie Keane in dismay, which is a pretty common occurance and as such is not all that difficult an image to capture. I'm also not that keen about the two other players behind him which I think manage to mess up the composition of the picture.

I'm probably being exceptionally harsh here especially considering I would be unable to manage anything approaching any of the shots posted. However I do think that the key element of sports photography is managing the trick of capturing the action, energy and effort of the game in a still image and I feel that number 2 best achieves this, even if it might be let down a little on the picture clarity side.

Trouser_Press

Enjoyed looking at them, great idea for a thread/poll.

Torn between 8 & 10, they're the only ones that really hint at the story of the night - frustration. The others are, mainly, just nice shots, but could have been taken any time.

Trouser_Press

Valentia wrote: »

You must have been fooled by the number on top like me. 8 has no votes :eek:

I just voted for the wrong one too

LuckyLloyd

Great job guys! Really good photos that I enjoyed studying for a few minutes.

In the end I voted for 10, sneaking it over 8. Modern top level sport (rightly or wrongly) is about more than just competing. It's about the joy or agony of the result as much as anything - both for the players and the fans. All these photos are great, but 8 and 10 manage to tell the story of the game aswell as being interesting on the eye in their own right.

I guess there is a lot of luck in capturing a great shot aswell btw. 8 is a super idea, and almost pulled off to perfection. The photographer in that instance just got unlucky that someone bent down or inadvertently placed their hands in the frame, leaving an obstruction in the top left hand corner. I really wanted to vote for that picture, but that obstruction takes away from it enough (though not by much) that I went for 10. Bad luck detracting from a great idea that I imagine was very difficult to execute.

So 10 it is, a class picture of Keane. Who says these guys don't care?

Paulw

Looks like a clear 1-2-3.

Plenty of votes at least and a fun competition.

Borderfox

Number 1 for me

Paulw

And the results are?????

Come on, name the photographers for each image.

Ho_hum

Paulw wrote: »

And the results are?????

Come on, name the photographers for each image.

I take it you won?

Paulw

Ho_hum wrote: »

I take it you won?

Nope, wasn't me. I'm just curious as to who it is, although I've a good idea.

Dodgykeeper

In third Mr Shepthedog



In Second PaulW



And the winner and your New Boards.ie International Soccer photography champion is Irish 147

Paulw

Well done Michael. Great photo.

A fun competition, for sure and worth the entry.

Next competition at a rugby game??????

City-Exile

Congrats to Irish 147.
I voted for your pic myself.

This isn't a gripe, just an observation, but I think the images should be 800px on the longest side.
Having them so small didn't do justice to many of them.

Also, the suggestion above that it's down to luck is an insult to everyone involved.
If you've gone to the trouble to position yourself, set your camera appropriately and photograph the player, luck can not be considered as a factor.

I for one don't believe in luck and like to quote Louis Pasteur when he said, "chance favours the prepared mind."

Paulw

City-Exile wrote: »

This isn't a gripe, just an observation, but I think the images should be 800px on the longest side.
Having them so small didn't do justice to many of them.

I have to agree there. Larger would have been better (but probably wouldn't have altered the end result).

City-Exile wrote: »

Also, the suggestion above that it's down to luck is an insult to everyone involved.
If you've gone to the trouble to position yourself, set your camera appropriately and photograph the player, luck can not be considered as a factor.

I disagree with that. Of course luck has a bit to play. Yes, you definitely need to be prepared - camera setup correctly, etc, but it is luck as to what way a player faces, at such a moment. For the Robbie Keane photo, if he turned more to his left, the image would have had less impact, and a photographer on the other side would have had a totally different image.

kensutz

Paulw wrote: »

I disagree with that. Of course luck has a bit to play. Yes, you definitely need to be prepared - camera setup correctly, etc, but it is luck as to what way a player faces, at such a moment. For the Robbie Keane photo, if he turned more to his left, the image would have had less impact, and a photographer on the other side would have had a totally different image.

He would've been facing me full on then and I would've won

shepthedog

Congrats to Irish147 and to everyone who took part.. Some really quality images..
Roll on the next challenge!!! How about away in Sofia?? I am sure boards will pay for flights etc etc.!!

irish147

Thanks for voting for my photo of Robbie, but Mr Shepthedog, and PaulW images also could have won, but its nice to read view on each image, and its a good way to learn about Soccer photography. I have only done a few games, its good fun, and lets get ready for the next game.

Thanks

Michael

(Its back to Tennis and Snooker for me now ))

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

In third Mr Shepthedog



In Second PaulW



And the winner and your New Boards.ie International Soccer photography champion is Irish 147

kensutz

shepthedog wrote: »

Congrats to Irish147 and to everyone who took part.. Some really quality images..
Roll on the next challenge!!! How about away in Sofia?? I am sure boards will pay for flights etc etc.!!

I'm there!

irish147

kensutz wrote: »

I'm there!

Sofia --- if there is no wex gaa games on that weekend, I'd pop over to Sofia :)

Ho_hum

irish147 wrote: »

Thanks for voting for my photo of Robbie, but Mr Shepthedog, and PaulW images also could have won, but its nice to read view on each image, and its a good way to learn about Soccer photography. I have only done a few games, its good fun, and lets get ready for the next game.

Thanks

Michael

(Its back to Tennis and Snooker for me now ))

Congratulations irish147, I was too late an arrival to vote for your photo, but I would have done - it's a beaut! Summed up the mood of the evening, which, to me, is the real skill.

Loved the McGeady photo too, beautifully composed, a lovely shot. A superb standalone image, regardless of the circumstances of the game.

No offence but the Hunt shot was pretty ordinary, maybe it's my monitor but it didn't look as vivid or technically expert as the Keane and McGeady photos. Was it taken by a fan from the stands?

Congratulations again irish147!

City-Exile

Paulw wrote: »

I disagree with that.

That's because you believe in luck, Paulw!
I don't and I will persist until I get the shots I want.

Paulw

City-Exile wrote: »

That's because you believe in luck, Paulw!

I also believe in magic.

Actually, I'd be curious to know who each image belongs to in the comp, all 1-11.

Ho_hum

City-Exile wrote: »

That's because you believe in luck, Paulw!
I don't and I will persist until I get the shots I want.

As the old quote put it, "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it".

Jefferson would doff his cap to you, City-Exile.