Hockey Photos

[speedneeder]

I was going back through some hockey photos from last March and decided to try something different.
Any comments for improvement are appreciated.

[Donald]

That's a wonderfully clever idea. You could develop that further and have different image coming through in the corner; e.g. portraits of the player that we see in action. It's all about the composition of course - making sure you take the action shot with enough space to bring the other image into the corner.

Good one.

[speedneeder]

Thanks Donald. You are right, there needs to be a different mind set when taking photos for this to work well.
This is not something I have ever tried before, and the results are fairly good I think.
I forwarded a copy to the skater's Mom, and she was very excited and appreciative.
When I showed it to my wife, she said, "who made that? That's cool". lol, thanks hun!
Honestly this isn't something that I am particularly drawn to, but apparently hockey mom's are. It is something I plan to do more of in an attempt to provide a high quality and unique product for my photography business. We'll see if the cost to time ratio works out Since I gave this one away for free, the ratio didn't work out well at all!

[FrankMi]

A very professional looking image Brian, and well thought out. This is one of the very few times where watermark type of text works in an image as it is pertinent to the subject.

[speedneeder]

Thanks Frank

[rpcrowe]

Very creative montage!

[speedneeder]

Very creative montage!

Montage, is that was this is called? I don't like the term collage for this type of photo so I have been referring to it as a composite photo

[vladimir]

Great, cool idea!

...I may steal it one day... That wouldn't be a copyright violation - would it?

I have a question, though. Why is the text so blue? Especially - if it has a word "yellow" in it?
Reminds me of "say the colors" brain teasers.
Or - did you plug the brain teaser there on purpose?

[Maritimer1]

That is great, Brian. The blending is very subtle. You could also work up some posters, if you have the time, that the parents might like to purchase. I think templates for sports posters can be purchased, but they can be done from scratch, too. Just don't make my mistake and flip the hockey player photo... I made him into a lefty<LOL>. It was just a practice run for my husband to look at so no harm done

Looking forward to seeing more!

[speedneeder]

Great, cool idea!

...I may steal it one day... That wouldn't be a copyright violation - would it?

I have a question, though. Why is the text so blue? Especially - if it has a word "yellow" in it?
Reminds me of "say the colors" brain teasers.
Or - did you plug the brain teaser there on purpose?

Vladimir, if you stole my photo we would have to fight! :P
It's not like I didn't see something similar at some time and made my own version of it!
Blue text - good question! I originally made it yellow actually, but I didn't like how it looked in the image. In the future I will try team color text with black outlines maybe? Blue was just a simple neutral color for something I was experimenting with.

Thanks for your comments

[speedneeder]

That is great, Brian. The blending is very subtle. You could also work up some posters, if you have the time, that the parents might like to purchase. I think templates for sports posters can be purchased, but they can be done from scratch, too. Just don't make my mistake and flip the hockey player photo... I made him into a lefty<LOL>. It was just a practice run for my husband to look at so no harm done

Looking forward to seeing more!

Hi Myra!
Good point on the flipping images! This is something a true hockey parent would notice immediately and really turn them off! Yep, I'm working on some posters now. My web site now has poster size prints, but I need to check on file size vs print size stuff, so I'm not actually sure what is 'available'!? Thanks for the idea on templates - though really I think my niche is to provide high quality custom/unique stuff that people just can't get anywhere else. Hopefully this will also allow me to charge more money one day!

What did you think of the desaturated element of the photo? To me the coach and child element is very compelling.

[speedneeder]

OK Vladimir, better?

[vladimir]

OK Vladimir, better?

Much better!
I think it makes perfect sense to have text matching the team colors.

BTW, I wasn't going to steal your photo. Just the idea...
Can I?..
Nobody will notice!..
I'll have little ballerinas there instead of your hockey players!

I don't want to fight with you... You look like Terminator in your avatar!

On the second thought - I am probably never going to have time for a creative project like this, so - no worries.

[FrankMi]

LOL! I love it! Ballerinas in hockey gear! I just can't wait to see that image!

[speedneeder]

LOL
Great idea Vladimir

[vladimir]

Ha!
Ballerinas in hockey gear - that wasn't my idea. That was Frank's.
But the concept is kinda interesting.

[Maritimer1]

Brian, those are great. My only suggestion would be to watch where you cut off your photos and to blend them a bit more... see the first one with the coach and the player? The way it is now, it looks a bit like the player is coming up out of the ice. I didn't notice that the first time I looked at it, but for some reason, I do now! Maybe blur or desat the red line a bit before doing the overlay?

In the second photo, I very much like the inset of the player on the bottom left. Not sure how I feel about the coach and player in the corner for two reasons: the coach's head becomes transparent ( I think that could be fixed by masking out everything above the blue line) and the size seems to overwhelm the main subject in the photo.

Also, I want to change the ratios...What if you reduced the size of the coach/player and moved the action shot to the right of the screen so you end up with three photos on the diagonal?

OR (Don't you just love those ORs and BUTs<LOL>)... leave it the way it is (reduce the coach and player) and type the name or the player (and his number) plus the team in a vertical manner with a larger font? Like this:
#1
C
H
A
N
D
L
E
R

The team name could be written next to his name in a smaller font.

Just thoughts. I'm just jealous because I don't have any new shots to work with <LOL>. You're definitely onto a good thing!

[Maritimer1]

Vladimir, I saw the neatest shot earlier this spring. The neighbours across the street have two kids. The 12 year old girl is seriously into dance (ballet and highland) and the boy is very into hockey. A local photographer who seems to specialize in dance/fashion took a photo of the two kids on a white background, each in full "gear". The boy is posing casuallly and the girl has a hand on his shoulder, on her toes with one leg extended in a very nice arabesque. I can't remember if she was looking at him or the camera. Great photo, though!

[speedneeder]

Myra, good suggestions, I know what you mean about the image proportions, I adjusted them a few times already
As far as new photos? Don't make excuses, these photos are from last season!
I was just bored and playing one night.
FYI, the boys' mother is threatening to become my first customer outside of fund raising and friends/family
I just wish I knew what I should be charging!

[Maritimer1]

I just did a quick google check of prices for sports posters. (Photography + sports + posters + cost). I came across everything from $40 to $160. The $40 were quite basic whereas the $160 version had textures, frames, lots of print and several photos. I imagine the quality of the printing process would be a factor, too. Also, the person who had the $40 mentioned that it would be lower for friends. (This was found on a flickr site.)

What if you did one poster for that mother, for free or at a very low special rate in return for her being your advisor and promo person. Ask her what she thinks a fair price would be for the poster, use her figure (if you think it's enough) as your price and ask her to help you spread the word about the product. Do you think that might work?

You could also charge according to the number of photos included.

As you can likely tell, it's an idea I've played around with a bit, too. For me, it would be equestrian and hockey. (NOT together<LOL>!)