Join Now
Join ePHOTOzine, the friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more for free!
Having scanned numerous pages in the gallery it is apparent that sports /action pics generate significantly less interest amongst members and I was wondering why. When sport plays such a large part in our lives.
What makes a good action pic to you?
Are the action pics simply not good enough?, I think many are and I wish I had more time to go through them.
Pete how about a monthly comp on action or movement.
Depending on you interpretation last years topics didnt offer a lot of scope to include acion pics while other topics showed the same or very similar pics in more the one comp topic.
Alan
I have been thinking the same thing there have been some excellent rally and F1 pics in the gallery of late and they get no reaction at all, and i am sure they are a lot harder to captue than a lot of other pics, an action comp would be a good idea and just in time cant wait for the F1 this weekend.
Some action pics have generated lots of comments, these tend to truly capture the action. I remember an F1 (I think) car spraying lots of loose stones for one.
Lots of 'action' pics tend to freeze the action and sometimes this is not appealing. My own rugby shot is made by the players expression, not the fact it is action, as such.
Personally I find F1 totally boring and so tend not to look at car pics at all. Before you suggest this is a guy/gal thingI like most other sports and often look, but don't always comment (same is true of many photos I view).
Perhaps the small compression does not lend itself to action images where there is likely to be much detail and the photography style, such as panning, possibly just looks like a blurred thumbnail. This means that possibly they don't even get viewed as often as they should.
I'm all for an action based competition, though.
Cheryl
Thanks Chris/Cheryl, I'm glad the comp idea appeals to you both, lets hope Pete agrees. (It will certainly make me enter a pic)
Good point about the thumbnail size, I hadnt considered it. I agree that a truley frozen pic of a car/background might as well have been shot in the driveway and it does nothing for me but there is so much scope for the action gallery and so many sports that when the subject shows movement or defies (forgive spelling)gravity it has taken no small measure of skill or pure blind luck to achieve this and I wonder if people are even put off posting due to low interest, good or bad.
Alan
Alan,
I guess it's to do with access and time. The easiest place to take shots is in and around your home and work. Then, there's time on holiday. If you're passionate about a sport, it's not always easy to see it live and get close enough to take good shots. Most sports take place at a given time, you can't spend all day / week waiting for the right conditions. I've never tried myself, but I guess you'd need a pretty fast long lens as well, and they're not cheep.
Photography at a sporting event may also detract from the event itself. I'm a big fan of rugby but wouldn't dream of taking my camera along. I might miss something or loose my camera in the pub afterwards! Apparently, our most popular "sport" is fishing and I haven't seen a single shot of a bloke holding a carp. You yourself have only posted the one shot.
So saying, I'm trying a bit of everything at the moment and maybe moving out of my comfort zone would be good for me.
Edward
Thanks for the comment Edward, I do hold my hands up and say that I am reluctant to post my sports/action pics because I see how many are treated. (simply by not being acknowledged be it good or bad)
I would like to emphasize that I mean all action pics not just sport, and also taking your camera out to the local park on a Sat/Sun will doubtless provide an oppertunity to shoot sport at the amatuer level reducing the risk and need for an expensive long lens.
Alan
Come to think of it, I did take some action shots of a kite boarder of the north Norfolk coast. I was quite pleased with the shots but didn't post as I felt I was straying into the land reserved for sports journalists. In addition, I normally flick straight past sports / action photos in the gallery as they don't do much for me. Anyway, I may dig out my kite boarding pics and see if anythings worth posting.
I raised a similar concern when I first joined - commenting that pictures I added during the early hours of the morning did not receive much of an audience, because they had vanished into the reader gallery by the time everyone got into work and started skiving away on the website.
I think it was SuziBlue who suggested that pictures added at times like that eventually received the same audience, but that it usually took much longer, as people discovered them over time.
I have also taken to mixing series of photos up now, because I was starting to think maybe that putting pictures from the same series one after each other just meant people got bored - for example, I was surprised that my later, more flamey, fire pictures got less clicks than the first one, considering they were, well, more flamey.
I think its an interesting way of experimenting with an audience, and seeing what combinations/order (if any) people respond to most effectively.
I dare say I will re-post identical pictures on occasion in the future, to see if new / different audiences at different times of day respond in a different way.
My own thoughts: I find it very hard knowing what is a good picture and what is not in all categories, but photographs which are designed to convey movement are anathema to me in particular. Personally I don't know what I should be looking for, and that makes it hard to know what to say.
On the matter of the subject, while I am not interested in cars per se, I am attracted to some pictures regardless of their content, and I expect many people feel similar about other subjects - so that's not necessarily the problem.
How many action shots get posted as a proportion of the total?
Katie
What exactly is the definition of an action shot anyway? Would my picture of a dunnock or ice water be classified as action shots? Or are we taking about Alan's Round the bend shot?
Hi Alan - I have to agree that sports/action shots generate less interest on this site than other types - I would suggest that a landscape, animal shot or flower image would receive more interest than a sports photograph of 'similar photographic merit' (whatever that is).
Thanks for the comments, as a little test I have just posted a Pic of a Duck in flight and included it under the sports/action gallery as the duck is in motion, (sorry dont know how to do a link yet).
not too sure what this will prove if anything but its a free ad for my pic 
alan
Alan,
Although you quite justifiably say that sport is a big part of our lives - which it is as a nation - perhaps it just isn't such a huge draw for the photographers on this site at this time. Or perhaps we need some pointers to allow us to start! A kick up the proverbial!
I think Mr Monster is right, too, when he says that it is easier to take people, things in the house, things in the garden, birds, animals and landscapes, than it is to take sports action photos. I go to football matches, and there isn't enough room to put your arms by your sides, let alone hold a camera.
I used to row (as in boats, not arguing), and took some photos then, but had two cameras stolen while I was out on the river. That put me off! Wish I had access to it all now, though, it is magical for photos.
Maybe the definition and categorisation of sport/action might also be problematic. Are we talking about the subject or the photo?
Ooh! my brain hurts - going back to the TV. No brain needed for that :o)
Katie
Add a Comment
ePHOTOzine, the web's friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more.
Login or Join Now
New to ePHOTOzine? Join ePHOTOzine for free!
Join Our Free Newsletter
Awards
Current Competitions
foliopic 'Movement' Competition
1st May 2012 - 31st May 2012
This month's competition theme is 'Movement' which can be interpreted in a number of ways. You could photograph an animal running, a person walking or a car speeding...
Featured Directory Listing
May's Photo Month
Check out ePHOTOzine's inspirational photo month calendar! Each day click on a window to unveil new photography tips, treats and techniques.
Interact
Photography Gallery Photography Forums Recent Forum Activity Members' Meetings Members' BlogsSearch ePHOTOzine
Having trouble or would like to make a suggestion? Create a report
Calibrate your monitor so you can see 16 different shades.
ePHOTOzine © 2001 - 2012 Magezine Publishing | Contact Us | Site Map | Top