Sports Photography

I really enjoyed looking at all of the sports photos. There were different things I liked about all of them, but the reason I liked all of them was because of the emotions they displayed. The passion behind sports is what drives athletes and fans alike, and thus as a journalist it is important to show that emotion in your work.

The one major judgement I disagreed with in sports was the first place award to Donald Miralle and his luging photo. While it is a very visually attractive photo, and certainly the most artsy of the photos in its category, I prefer the photo of the runner falling in the puddle, and the high school students clearing the track of snow to begin practice. To me those photos show the emotion behind what is driving the athletes. How far they are going to chase their dreams. The luging photo is certainly more attractice, but I don't get the same feeling looking at it. I don't see the same vivid story the others are able to paint without words.

I loved the sports action category, the emotions on all the soccer players faces are awesome. One of the girls braids is flying forward showing the force and speed of the game. And the poses of the athletes shows the stakes they were going for during this game. You can see the inter-county rivalry.

Once again, Donald Miralle had a beautiful photo that got 3rd place in the sports action category of Aaron Peirsol swimming underwater. It is so visually pleasing but looks more like a feature photo to me. I love the trail of bubbles coming from his mouth, contrasted with the angle of his body.

I LOVED the photo in sports features that got an award of excellence by Benjamin Sklar called "Beads of Sweat." I love everything about this photo. You can't tell why he's sweating unless you read the caption, but I love the sweat on the bald head. I love the cropping job. his eyes and the sweat are the main components of the photo and I think it's everything you need to see. The emotion and concentration in the subjects eyes is great. The cropping shows the detail of the sweat perfectly. A wider shot which would have showed he was a triathalete would have lost the effect of the beads of sweat on his head. The sunglasses are a nice touch too. They give just the right extra detail to add something that I can't put my finger on in the photo. But it takes it from more than just the bald head, sweat and eyes. They also give the look of an athlete because they are Oakleys, and it gives you a sense that he is doing something.