A glimpse of the shoot

Written by Photography, Volleyball

The photographer from yesterday’s shoot posted some of his images onto Facebook. Since he was probably lazy, he uploaded higher resolution images last night, and re-uploaded the shots this morning with lower resolution. Every image aside from the player in the crutches was obtained at a great desktop resolution (96dpi at 1710×1140).

As soon as the man walked into the gym with many bags of equipment, I knew he was not “expanding” his portfolio, but rather trying to earn an extra buck (which he admitted later in the evening). This is a bit sad since his quality of work decreases significantly due to his lack of true passion for what he is doing.

He arrived 30 minutes into practice. It took him about an hour and a half to figure out what kind of lighting he wanted for the shot. He constantly kept telling his assistant to change light settings and move the lighting around. He wasn’t aware of the rules of the game and he didn’t know how he wanted us to pose. Early on, he told us what we are doing might seem unnatural, but it was his lack of knowledge of the game that threw us all off.

My split is unrealistic not only to the volleyball savvy, but the athletically illiterate as well. I do admit that the lighting is well done (in my shot), but the idea is a bit poor. Eric’s shot on the other hand is quite the opposite. The idea is amazing, but the lighting is not up to par. His face being extremely underexposed and is hidden from view. Considering Eric is quite photogenic, I think that was a big mistake.

Scott’s image probably had the best composition of out all the images he took. I do agree that his does “tell a story”, but the lighting throws some of the message away. The loss of color information on his arms and forehead and neck makes him look more like an angel rather than a veteran of the game. I was surprised with his lack of performance considering he had some good images up in his portfolio on Facebook. I think his inability to deliver was due to his lack of knowing the sport.

Finally, I managed to grab one shot of myself blocking in the middle which I liked. Good form, good height, and good lighting. Can’t ask for more.