ZAP the ZAPPERS 1: Toeing the Line

Back to PhotoZAP page
Average of 12 ratings: 3.3 stars
 

12 comments Read comments Rate this article

Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Here's your chance to ZAP the ZAPPER!

By Adorama Learning Center Editors

September 3, 2010

We serve up our first ZAP the ZAPPER with this shot of Novak Djokovic squaring up a shot at Day 3 of the 2010 US Open. Do you love this shot, or is there too much to find at fault?


New to ZAP the ZAPPERS? Here's how it works!

 

 

 

 

Tech Specs: Olympus E-PL1 with Olympus M 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 zoom. 1/250 @ f/5.4 @ ISO 100. Aperture Priority mode. Cropped and adjusted for contrast and pop in Adobe Camera Raw 6. Smart Sharpening applied in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Photographer's Statement: I do like the way this shot is anchored and lined up with Djokovic's sneakers right on the edge of the frame and that the ball is in-frame, but that's about the only things with this shot that really work for me at all, on any level. First of all, it is back-focused on the blue wall, so even if I'd cranked up the ISO to get a truer action-freezing shutter speed as opposed to the sluggish 1/250 second while racked out at maximum aperture on this variable-aperture zoomer, there would still be soft edges on the action when printing this image out. Agressive Smart Sharpening makes it look OK on-screen, but this isn't print-worthy. And let's not look past the awkward stance captured in this frame.This shot just doesn't work all that well any way you slice it!

 

Now it's your turn: ZAP the ZAPPER by leaving your critique of this shot in the comments below!

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Forward this article to a friend
To use this functionality you should have JS enabled
Bookmark this page

Reader Rating and Comments

12 readers rated this article. Average rating: 3.3 stars
 
  • View
  • 12 comments
0 of 0 people found this comment helpful
 
Good but

I like everything about the tennis player: posture, dynamics, exposure in the shadows, expression. I dislike everything about the background: horizontal line placement, flowers, spectators; although the clean blue is good. P.S. I haven't read the Statement yet.

by Arg in Aus on September 26, 2010

1 of 1 people found this comment helpful
 
Purpose of image

There is always a purpose for a photo. Purpose being a client assignment or personal assignment. If this was for OLYMPUS ', I would crop in a lot. - Top down above the brim, - left in to close to the ball - bottom up to the knees. With the The 'focus' is then clearly on OLYMPUS. It would be gerat for an OLYMPUS website along with a story.

by rjsphoto in Palmerton, Pa. USA on September 8, 2010

0 of 0 people found this comment helpful
 
Decapitated?

It is a competition, therefore there are spectators. Too bad they aren't spectating? Of course that can't be helped, but in the crop, the heads of the ladies at eleven o'clock would have been better kept whole. I would also like to see the athlete standing on something. The crop needs just a little more below the tips of the toes so he doesn't appear floating on nothing. The ball? I didn't even see it at first. Again, when we pick on a 'live' action shot it is real easy to find all the shoulda', coulda', wouldas in the image, but the ball really does get lost in the plant. Guess we'll just have to talk to the other player to get the ball coming in higher or lower. Great detail and color saturation, even in the shadows. Wonderful grab shot of the emotion, concentration, and story of the fight!

by Bob K in Tulsa, OK on September 5, 2010

0 of 2 people found this comment helpful
 
Pic for sale?

I don't think his mother would by it.

by A/b in Oxford NC on September 5, 2010

0 of 0 people found this comment helpful
 
Bokeh lacking

The background is too distracting (i.e. too much DOF). A slower shutter speed would have helped with the sense of action and the background, although you would have missed the definition in his arm and leg muscles. Tough call. The feet at the very edge of the frame is a little distracting. Intensify of Novak's expression is excellent. Good shot. Better than I could have done yet we expect more from our role models.

by AJ in Texas on September 5, 2010

2 of 2 people found this comment helpful
 
Good composition, but technical flaws

Good job showing eagle-eye competitive concentration. Interesting composition: eye-elbow-elbow, eye-ball-racquet, and eye-foot-foot nested triangles. Pose not graceful, but emphasizes power and speed compensating for imperfect balance. Intensity contrasts with ironically disinterested spectators. I like aligned motion blur of the hands, racquet and ball; emphasizes the action of the moment and line of motion. Weaknesses: Crop shouldn’t cut shoes. Background too busy. Flowers, logo, spectators chatting, little girl watching, etc.; distraction piled on distraction! Burn flowers. Adding subtle background blur post-production might improve this, given the photographer was rightly trying to minimize DOF, shooting in AP at the max aperture for this lens. I suspect photographer was limited by the equipment here. Maybe rent a wider-aperture lens next time. Capture is flat. Blown highlights and chromatic aberration around the shoes, maybe some backfocus. Poor advertisement for Olympus.

by Charleston Dave in Charleston, SC on September 5, 2010

1 of 1 people found this comment helpful
 
Good Image Gone Bad

My biggest complaint with this image is the excessive DOF and motion blur. An exposure at 1/500 f/4 would have been more compelling. You don't need the motion blur from the slower shutter speed because the intensity of the subject conveys plenty. You could mask and blur the background but that wouldn't make up for the lack of sharpness in the foreground. In its present form, the background appears sharper than the foreground subject. Too bad because the timing and intensity on this shot is great.

by Mike in CO on September 5, 2010

0 of 0 people found this comment helpful
 
Double fault

The exposure is good, but I don't care for this as much as the others for two reasons: First, he just looks awkward in this stance -- knock-kneed and pigeon-toed. It is what it is, as amateur philosophers like to point out, but I like my athletic action shots to show the players in more idealized poses. Maybe that's just me. My second beef is with the depth -- there's a little too much going on in the background despite the crop.

by PD in Waterloo, Ontario on September 5, 2010

0 of 0 people found this comment helpful
 
Too much cropping

I find that is a great shot, shows power. On the other hand since you cropped the photo, I think you went too far on the shoes. Also, if you do some clonig on the line on top of the wall and try to eliminate the distracting bubble on the top lef corner it will look much better.

by Mr Di in Dominican Republic on September 5, 2010

0 of 0 people found this comment helpful
 
The eyes have it

Can't help but notice the sence of urgency in his eyes ... How he's totally focused on hitting the ball. Also note the power and muscle tone in his right arm and leg.

by Trebor in New Jersey, USA on September 3, 2010

Items per page
Showing 10 of 12 results
Page:

Was this article helpful?

Rate this article

Your rating:

Post a comment

*required fields

Was this article helpful?

Rate this article

Your rating:

Post a comment

*required fields
Bookmark this page