Taken in Surf City USA - Huntington Beach, California
I'm taking a huge risk on this one because the background is so busy. I really debated back and forth but I'm hoping that the intensity of the player's passion for the sport will overshadow everything else. Besides, what's California Beach Volleyball without the spectators and the palm trees (and the suburban condos), right? Let's see how this scores... hope it scores decently at least.
Statistics
Place: 15 out of 230 Avg (all users): 6.6256 Avg (commenters): 7.4167 Avg (participants): 6.6623 Avg (non-participants): 6.6056 Views since voting: 1550 Views during voting: 341 Votes: 219 Comments: 16 Favorites: 0
What a nice moment! Stopped action, great expression on the player....and look at those muscles! The sand adds a nice touch.
The background is this image's biggest liability...you know that and so did your commentors. I think opening up the lens to its widest f/4.0 would help...and in these bright conditions that could easily be done by bringing the ISO down to 100.
I like the inclusion of the referee with the whistle in his mouth. It puts the game in context. I also like the palms and condos in the background which add to the setting. I agree with one commentor that the advertisements are a distraction. Any time there's text in an image it begs to be read. But the most bothersome of the background elements to me is the woman in blue framed between the player's legs. So, other than changing your camera settings, hunting around for a good background and waiting for the action to happen in front of it can also be a good strategy.
I also like the angle of view that puts the viewer slightly below the plane of the leaping player. I'd prefer to see more sand and less sky. I'd like to see more indication of the net, too, since I thinkk it would add to the story of the sport being played.
Your risk-taking payed off and the voters rewarded you...but I think it's worth going back and perfecting this type of shot. Nicely done.
nice capture, it would be good if ball is further close to him. One thing I must say the the eye of the player is following the ball and that really makes this photograph come up front.
Very nice. You captured the essense of this challenge quite well. My suggestion for an even better photo is to have cropped out the net ref to make this photo less 'busy'. Great effort though!
great comp, great color, great lighting, excellent capture, great emotional value, the only thing I can say is that is bad of this image is two things. The advertising, and not enough shallow DoF. After all, it is about the player and not the ads or the fans.
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