Caught in the Action. . .Finally!
While the Polaroid One-Step had been out for some time, the complexity of personal cameras during the days of my upbringing was sadly lacking. Even the 35mm personal cameras of the day were sadly sub-par. Only a true, professional 35mm camera took decent photos, but a person needed a PhD. in photography to work the intricate settings in order to get an acceptable photo. (Okay, for all you camera buffs, this may be overstating the predicament, but compared to our digital cameras today, home photography in the Seventies and Eighties was almost like using a two stones to chisel a picture on a rock wall.)
Now this may be a strange equation, but add the simplicity of camera technology during the Seventies and Eighties to the fact that I played soccer and what you have as a result were a ton of photos of me standing out in the middle of a vast screen of green. My parents (my mom in particular) took photos of me playing the only sport I truly ever loved and displayed them for everyone to see. However, the problem with the pictures lie in the fact that I was just a colored speck out on the field. Because I usually played central defense, the times I was closest to my mother's camera was when I was standing still at mid-field, while the action with the ball took place in front of the opponents goal. Therefore, these pictures portrayed me as an actionless, colored speck out on the field. I remember the first good action shot I ever saw of myself was actually taken for the Wheaton College newspaper, and it was not taken by my mother.
Why all this photo build-up? Well, last weekend, a fellow teacher informed me of a friendly match to be played between any foreigners available versus a team of Kunming police officers. I found out about the match the day it was to be played, so Suli, four of my students, and I made our way to the Northside in search of some soccer, maybe some glory, and a few snapshots to put on my blog.
As Suli got used to my camera, her initial shots looked something like my mother's. In Suli's defense, we showed up a bit late, and I only got onto the field for the waning moments of the first half. So her chance for photos were a bit limited. However, if you cannot pick me out, I am the one holding my hand up to protect my eyes from the afternoon sun. The police officers all wore Spanish national team jerseys (red), while we wore royal blue practice vests.
Now, the positive aspect of my mother's photography and Suli's initial photographs is that my twin brother (in my mom's photographs) and my students (in Suli's photos) also suffered from the problems of taking action shots of soccer; they also tended to be colorful dots standing around on a large green field. In fact, in the above photo, Russell (one of the seniors at KIA) can be seen shifting his weight (oooh, aaaah!). He is the athlete in the middle of the photo wearing long black shorts, a grey t-shirt, and the practice vest, just left of the the man with the ball. Therefore, the troubles of shooting soccer can be applied to others.
The soccer athletes who have the most good, amateur pictures of themselves are wingers. Because wingers play near the sideline, and nearest the photographer, the person taking the photos has more opportunity to snap close-up, action shots. Case in point, Merwin (in the pants), a junior at KIA, and Weng Bong (with the ball), another senior, receive the benefit of being near the fan-side of the field and having a decent photo taken of themselves. Merwin played left midfield, and Francis played left forward, so they were often in perfect positions for photos to be taken. Russell, on the other hand, playing center midfield is once again just a colored after-thought, right in the middle of this photo.
Just so no one thinks it is still impossible to get good,amature action shots of soccer, the most positive thing about digital cameras is the software applied to the home computer. With a good quality photo and decent software, a person can crop a digital photo and bring the action closer to the viewer (ooooh, aaaaah!). I know, everyone knows that, but it greatly increases the accesibilty of good soccer photos for the amature photographer. Just look at the above photo of Weng Bong eluding two police officers. The original photo was good, but when I cropped the image and brought it in even closer, the action became even better, more life-like. Suli really did a nice job with that photo.
By the way, Foreigners, about a dozen goals, Police, two goals.
Now this may be a strange equation, but add the simplicity of camera technology during the Seventies and Eighties to the fact that I played soccer and what you have as a result were a ton of photos of me standing out in the middle of a vast screen of green. My parents (my mom in particular) took photos of me playing the only sport I truly ever loved and displayed them for everyone to see. However, the problem with the pictures lie in the fact that I was just a colored speck out on the field. Because I usually played central defense, the times I was closest to my mother's camera was when I was standing still at mid-field, while the action with the ball took place in front of the opponents goal. Therefore, these pictures portrayed me as an actionless, colored speck out on the field. I remember the first good action shot I ever saw of myself was actually taken for the Wheaton College newspaper, and it was not taken by my mother.
Why all this photo build-up? Well, last weekend, a fellow teacher informed me of a friendly match to be played between any foreigners available versus a team of Kunming police officers. I found out about the match the day it was to be played, so Suli, four of my students, and I made our way to the Northside in search of some soccer, maybe some glory, and a few snapshots to put on my blog.
As Suli got used to my camera, her initial shots looked something like my mother's. In Suli's defense, we showed up a bit late, and I only got onto the field for the waning moments of the first half. So her chance for photos were a bit limited. However, if you cannot pick me out, I am the one holding my hand up to protect my eyes from the afternoon sun. The police officers all wore Spanish national team jerseys (red), while we wore royal blue practice vests.Now, the positive aspect of my mother's photography and Suli's initial photographs is that my twin brother (in my mom's photographs) and my students (in Suli's photos) also suffered from the problems of taking action shots of soccer; they also tended to be colorful dots standing around on a large green field. In fact, in the above photo, Russell (one of the seniors at KIA) can be seen shifting his weight (oooh, aaaah!). He is the athlete in the middle of the photo wearing long black shorts, a grey t-shirt, and the practice vest, just left of the the man with the ball. Therefore, the troubles of shooting soccer can be applied to others.The soccer athletes who have the most good, amateur pictures of themselves are wingers. Because wingers play near the sideline, and nearest the photographer, the person taking the photos has more opportunity to snap close-up, action shots. Case in point, Merwin (in the pants), a junior at KIA, and Weng Bong (with the ball), another senior, receive the benefit of being near the fan-side of the field and having a decent photo taken of themselves. Merwin played left midfield, and Francis played left forward, so they were often in perfect positions for photos to be taken. Russell, on the other hand, playing center midfield is once again just a colored after-thought, right in the middle of this photo.Just so no one thinks it is still impossible to get good,amature action shots of soccer, the most positive thing about digital cameras is the software applied to the home computer. With a good quality photo and decent software, a person can crop a digital photo and bring the action closer to the viewer (ooooh, aaaaah!). I know, everyone knows that, but it greatly increases the accesibilty of good soccer photos for the amature photographer. Just look at the above photo of Weng Bong eluding two police officers. The original photo was good, but when I cropped the image and brought it in even closer, the action became even better, more life-like. Suli really did a nice job with that photo.
So where does this leave me? Well, I still tend to play in the central defensive area of the field, quite far from any photographer. However, with my digital camera, and the help of my computer software, Suli snapped this action shot, which I cropped and closed in on. Prior to the work on my computer, I was just a colored speck on a large green field. However, now I look like I might be in action. Of course that police officer sure makes my action look pointless because all he is doing is standing like a colored speck out on a large green field. Help me out a little bit mister; this is supposed to be me in action!
By the way, Foreigners, about a dozen goals, Police, two goals.
posted by Roland at 6:56 AM
1 Comments:
Now that I have finally stopped laughing at the change in perspective, I admit that those tiny dots in the picture were very hard to recognize. The thing that made it hardest, was that Roland and his twin, Robert, sometimes played on the same team. They wore the same uniform (with numbers that were too small to see through the camera lens). I admit that some of the pictures of Roland are probably Robert. BUT, in my defense anytime that one of my children was involved in a team sport, a musical concert, a drama, graduation, or any other group activity- the only person I focused on, was "MY" child. Everyone else was a blur. Paul, Roland's dad, would see the whole game and comment on an assist, or a save which completely escaped my eye, which was trained on "My" child (who of course was the "STAR" in my eyes).
Now that the 35mm camera has a Zoom command, guess whose nose is right in front of the lense. I still miss the action, because I zoom in too close.
Mom
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