Splitting the D
by d95vette

Comment by KaDi:
Hello from the Critique Club!

This image is very journalistic in its feeling--it documents a sports play in a way that might be appropriate for a newspaper. The yellow shirt of the girl demands attention and pulls the eye toward it. The girls from the opposing team serve to frame the subject. The limited depth of field makes no mistake of who/what the subject is. It appears to have been taken with a long-focal length lens, or so the compression would suggest.

The expression of concentration on the girls face brings an element of emotion to this image--it doesn't, however, appear to be the decisive moment. A half-second later when her foot inevitably connected with the ball her facial expression would possibly be more interesting.

I think the cut-off girl on the right detracts slightly--it would be nice to see a bit more or less of her. The ball sits tightly at the bottom of the frame--it would be a bit better, in my opinion, if it had a little room to move--perhaps a little field in front of it.

The red chairs compete with the bright yellow shirt for attention. (Even though this was a basic editing challenge, the red could have been desaturated some to lessen the effect.)

I think this image needs a little something more to hold the viewer's interest...the girl looking up past the defense, her foot in contact with the ball, a less cluttered background. You might try getting closer to the ground when taking these shots to avoid the clutter from the other side of the field. Though the long lens gets you close to your subject, it also draws the opposing team close to her which would be fine except, here, they have fairly passive body language. I feel one or all of these would improve the message of the photo.

Overall, a fine photo for the yearbook but a little rough around the edges.

I hope you find these comments helpful and not too harsh.
--Kadi

Dear FHM magazine ...
by d95vette

Comment by JamieWillmott:
Classic pose. Shame about the shadow.

Dear FHM magazine ...
by d95vette

Comment by alanfreed:
As a member of the male species, it would be hard to vote low for this one! A wee bit more contrast may have made this a 10... I give it a 9.

Dear FHM magazine ...
by d95vette

Comment by civilsavage:
nice composition, pose (oh bettie!), and lighting. she should have had red lipstick tho (ahem), and maybe some lusciously false eyelashes (a-a-a-HEM). otherwise, fantastic.

Dear FHM magazine ...
by d95vette

Comment by Lustre:
Nice picture - both technically and from a subject point of view. Lighting is quite good and colour is excellent. It helps that her costume matches her skin / hair. Personally I think it's cropped a little too tightly at the bottom (each of the other sides has at least 1cm) - it's not a big deal though. Good luck on the comments, they should range from "she's great" to "this is soft porn", but I think it's a great cliche shot.