potw 30.8.05

[Glen]

For this weeks PotW we have our first sports image. I picked this image because I liked the shot, but also it shows another two qualities, preparation and anticipation. To get this shot, John was most assuredly prepared and familiar with his equipment, but would have had to anticipate the action very well. How many times do we hear that the AF system is slow on the D70? Well John was using a D70 (not the gattling gun D2X) and a AF 80-200, a lens definitely not known for fast focussing, and he still managed to catch one of the players in mid air! This shot is well exposed and uses DOF to highlight the action. Well captured John, this is nowhere as easy as it looks. PS I have no idea what stage of play we are at. You have two guys from Peakhurst Inn playing imaginary balls, another player running through on the boil looking for the imaginary pass, whilst the guy with possesion seems to be trying a mid air tackle with his feet or maybe he just fell over because he fell asleep (as evidenced by his shut eyes).

[Glen]

The full thread is here: http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=8747

[Geoff]

Congratulations John - excellent action shot! You should be proud that YOUR image is the first sports image as Glen has said to make it into the hall of POTW! Cheers!!

[kipper]

Great shot John, and well deserved.

Glen, I disagree....the D70 AF is slow

[radar]

Well done John,

great sport action shot. Finally, a series that I was able to seen before it was named potw

Radar.

[avkomp]

great shot. nicely exposed, good colour etc etc.

nicely anticipated. dont suppose you went to that ground before play and put oil there just so the guy would fall that way!!

Steve

[stubbsy]

Congrats John - another great POTW and another one I missed first time around Thank god for POTW or there'd be more beauties like this that get missed.

[mrbillf]

Well done John,

Coming from Peakhurst myself, I certainly know the 'Peakhurst Inn' well. A great place to have a drink or two.

Congrats once again on POTW. Excellent colour and sharpness.

Regards,
Bill

[PiroStitch]

Congratulations John Nice sharp capture but 3 on 1 is hardly fair

[sirhc55]

John - as I said before, great pic(s) and well deserved POTW for the capture of the action

[Willy wombat]

I was blown away by the sharpness of the image. Nice one! Kick it to meeeee!

[johndec]

Thanks guys, to say I'm suprised is a huge understatement It was really my first attempt at sports photography and as I mentioned in the original thread, it was a huge learning curve. To get POTW for what I consider baby steps in a photographic genre is almost embarrassing considering the quality of images posted on this forum. However, I'll take it

I've played with most forms of photography (landscapes,macros,portraits,etc,etc) and got satisfaction from all of them, but I've never had so much fun standing up as I did yesterday. I sold 30 pics from yesterday to the coach of the dark blue team in the original thread and he has asked me if I'd be able to shoot some of next seasons games. I'll get to work the sideline instead of behind the fence, so I'm happy.

Of course, this genre of photography requires stupidly expensive lenses and a high frame rate cameras to do properly.... Perhaps I should have another look at flowers, bees and cute furry animals

[johndec]

I was blown away by the sharpness of the image. Nice one! Kick it to meeeee!

It was taken with a second hand 80-200 push-pull lens that I bought as a stop gap until I have the bucks for a 70-200VR, however I'm starting to really fall for this lens, it's so sharp you can shave with it.....

[Greg B]

I love this shot John , for all the reasons others have covered.

Great work, and a great PotW.

Good choice Glen.

[birddog114]

I've played with most forms of photography (landscapes,macros,portraits,etc,etc) and got satisfaction from all of them, but I've never had so much fun standing up as I did yesterday. I sold 30 pics from yesterday to the coach of the dark blue team in the original thread and he has asked me if I'd be able to shoot some of next seasons games. I'll get to work the sideline instead of behind the fence, so I'm happy.

John,
Congratulation! your fruits is now POTW.
There're chances for you to be a sportshooter, why not? and earning some dough for your lust, it's on the horizon, as said many times before, you're the guy who made it not the lens itself only. So keep this spirit flowing and you'll achieve your goal soon, hobby and biz can be mixed so you can justify the rewards and it's also the reason to say with an excuse to your other half.

Of course, this genre of photography requires stupidly expensive lenses and a high frame rate cameras to do properly....

More opportunities with the D2x or the near future of D200

[Glen]

Kipper, I agree with you, focussing is slower on a D70, that is my point, a good tradesman uses the tools at hand to the best of his ability - and look at John's results. As Birddy said, imagine when John gets better tools!

[Oneputt]

Good on you John.

[KerryPierce]

Excellent shot, John. Congrats on the POTW!

[Killakoala]

Well done John. Great pic, super sharp, nice rich colours, fantastic contrast and great timing.

[paulvdb1]

Great shot John - I like the punchiness of the shot. There's a balance of interest around the shot with a number of interesting things happening and all in sharp detail - can't complain about that!

[leek]

Nice shot John...

[Nnnnsic]

I just... don't... get it... I mean, where's the blur, why is there colour, where's the back of Glen's head?!

Good shot, John.

[agriffiths]

Great shot John, congratulations!
As for the 80-200 lens being slow I would have to disagree. The AFS version seems to focus just as fast on the D70 as the 70-200 VR. I would agree however that the 80-200 AFD version is a tad slow and requires a lot of skill to get images such as the beautifully crisp one captured by John. Very sharp! Well done John!

[mic]

Crisp, Colourful & Ugly Brutes.

Well done John, is this an example of the rule of thirds

Mic.

[Poon]

Glen,
Congratuation!!!
I like all of your pictures.
It surely beat 98% sports photos in newspapers.
Good combination and good color.
Love to see more photos from you.
----
Regards
Poon

[Glen]

Not be me Poon but by Johndec. You are very right it is much better than you get in most papers.

I see you are having very warm weather in HK at the moment

Regards


Glen

[Poon]

Glen,
Really?
We have HOT weather.
I think that Sydney is till cold and you expect warm weather.
We will have better weather next month.
We will have mid-autumn (moon festival) and the weather will be going not so hot.
----------
Regards
Poon

[Glen]

A friend was passing through and said it was about 30 something degrees. Still a little cold here, looking forward to slightly warmer

[marcus]

Nice shot! It's actually the second sports image that I can remember......unless mountain biking is not a sport?
(I'm pretty sure the shot I am thinking of was POTW)

[marcus]

Ahh yes it was from Piro:

http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=6070

awesome shot that one, and indeed..........sport!

[hARDWARE]

Well done, this is a great shot. I love the sharpness and colour. I'm hoping to get a D70s very soon and hope I can pull off some sports shots this nice.

[Neeper]

Very nice action shot!