sking

Two boys participate in the inflatable raft contest at the Palm Island

Family Aquatics Park in Casa Grande on the Fourth of July.

Marcello,

You shot a very serviceable news photo.  It may not have the drama for a front page photo in most papers, but would make a good inside photo.

I have a couple of suggestions to make the photo stronger.  First, I don't know your intention, but I would crop about a third of the top of the photo out.  It doesn't add to the photo unless your point is to make Melbourne the topic of the photo.  As Bill Allard always says, edit out anything that is not the picture.  I wonder if the photo is a "Hail, Mary" shot taken with the camera held high about your head???  I always take several photos when shooting such a way, each with the camera tilted a little more up (or down) to ensure I get a framing that is best.

My second suggestion is that while the picture has impact for the scale of the march and the people involved, there is no particular focal point or subject for the photo.  Whenever I have to make a photo of such an event, I try to find a particular person or emotion or something that becomes the focus of the picture with the event being the context.  Unless, as I said, the point of the photo is the size of the crowd.

Anyway, just my ramblings.

Good shooting.

Steven

A team hands off the baton during the National Junior College Athletic

Associations National Track Meet held in Mesa, Arizona in May 2014.

Kiss a snake first thing in the morning, and nothing worse can happen

to you all day long. A school principal kisses a snake to pay off a

challenge to his student body regarding their physical education

achievements.

A middle school student contemplates his next move at a citywide chess

tournament.

A woman's hands demonstrate her tension as she talks about her

mentally ill adult child.

Sonny Heil, 6, gets up close and personal with a billy goat in the

petting zoo on the midway at the Pinal County Fair on Thursday afternoon.

Members of the 4th U.S. Cavalry capture Confederate pickets during a

recreation of the Battle of Picacho Pass at the annual Civil War in

the Southwest assembly on March 11, 2012 at Picacho Peak State Park

south of Casa Grande, Ariz. Hundreds of re-enactors recreated the

Civil War battles of Glorieta Pass, Valverde and Picacho Pass over the

weekend. The battle of Picacho Pass was Arizona's only Civil War

battle, and is considered the westernmost battle of the American Civil

War .

More than 1,000 elementary school children participate in a Unity

March to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

Bill,

Either of your two photos of Jimmy Carter are excellent news photos. I can imagine either of them being used in a newspaper or news magazine as they capture something beyond the carefully managed campaign image. They capture a real emotion and sense of despair. Congratulations on two excellent and historic shots.

I remember once watching a video where Eddie Adams (a great photojournalist of the 60s-90s) was talking about shooting lots of pictures.  He said, "I know photographers who shoot 10,000 frames and still don't get the picture."

Well, sir, you GOT the picture!

Steven King

Nick,

Of the current photos posted in the "sports" folder, I think this is your strongest.  It is the simplest to "read" and understand, and your technique is good.  The subject sells the photo well too: one can see the determination and concentration on the runner's face, as well as the tension in the runner's body.  The short depth-of-field helps isolate the runner from the background, yet the context of the game is still present with the image of the catcher in the background.  All in all, a good shot.

Steven

Anura,

This is a wonderful slice of life photo. The lighting is fantastic, and it is enhanced by the partly cloudy skies. The composition is strong and the colors are saturated without being over the top. This is a very strong photo that I can easily imagine being used in an editorial way.

My only quibble is that I might slightly lighten the head of the man on the left and the torso and face of the man on the right. I wouldn't lighten them a lot, just enough so that when the photo is printed, the image doesn't turn to soot and ashes.

All in all, an excellent submission. 9/10

Steven King

Performers with Ballet Arizona wait backstage for their cue during an

outdoor performance.

Johnny,

I think this is an awesome photo, especially in the fashion category.  It certainly looks like the sort of editorial photo that gets printed often.

The composition is strong and the model's physical posing is perfect — the way the legs keep the same angle, the way the arms and head complete a slight but true S-curve, the way the boots are clearly delineated and shown, and even the double-yellow line leading to the model at a balance point in the photo.  The tones are good and reinforce the separation of the model from the background.

I have just two very tiny quibbles: first, I would like to see the bottom of the frame darkened down just a little to force the eye more to the top two-thirds of the image.  Something subtle here would work.

Second, I would have liked if the lens were open one more stop (if that were possible) to get just a smidgen more separation between the model and the background.

My suggestions are just that, however.  As I said, this is an impressive fashion photo.

Regards,

Steven

Mr. Slawekw

Of all the photos in the series, I think this is the strongest.  The composition is strong, but simple and uncluttered.  It tells the story well, and it is easily "read" by the viewer.  If I were the picture editor at the newspaper, this would be the lead photo.

Best regards,

Steven

A ranch cowboy rides a bronc using his day-to-day gear during a rodeo

in Arizona on Feb. 26.

Nick,

This is a great(!) photo.  It shows everything the viewer needs to see: the baserunner (who should not slide at first), the fielder, the ball, and the setting. A viewer can instantly garner what the situation is based on the elements of the photo. Your angle even allows the viewer to see the intensity of expression on the fielder's face.

Good capture.

Steven