New Project: TAR Player Portraits
- Thread starter JCIN
- Start date
The focus in the Shane portrait seems a bit soft, but Efren's portrait is spot on 
I'd recommend zooming and focusing on the eyes with plenty of light so you can get the focus perfect.
May just be the compression, too, though. Great shots, JCIN!
I'd recommend zooming and focusing on the eyes with plenty of light so you can get the focus perfect.May just be the compression, too, though. Great shots, JCIN!
I appreciate Creedo being reasonable. Much respect to you sir.
Efren and Shane look like they would fit into a western movie.
Very nice photos. Keep it up.
• For Posterity •
It is really difficult to make a profit fromn things like photographs, drawings, writing, etc. even if they are of exceptional quality.
There is however a certain amount of self-esteem that can be bolstered for a job well done in any endeavor and if you are passionate about that job then the reward for the creation of that item is in the creation of the item itself, not so much as to how much money you are going to make off of it.
If I were Justin, I would consider multiple things, one of them is to create these photographs so that they can be placed in pool rooms around the world. I would install a signature on the photograph for posterity along with a caption underneath the photograph. I would offer a medium for having the photographs printed, matted, shipped and mailed. There are businesses that handle the entire process.
In addition I would offer the electronic files (photographs) free of charge to those who might simply want an economical poster for their wall or pool room. Like some have mentioned, the cropping seems a little too close but art is and will always be in the eye of the beholder. For me, the Z-shaped eyebrows of Efren Reyes, when he is really bearing down on a shot are unequaled in interest, at least for me.
One of my pool buddies has a wife who took black and white photographs of the women of strip clubs in New Orleans. She did so well with the photographs that a book was published using the black & white medium, called Friday Night Grind by Jackie Brenner. (She also took a lot of b&W photographs of the pool players of the infamous Sports Palace of New Orleans but those weren't published or shown.
I'm not sure why the black and white medium attracts most of us, maybe it's the connection to the past or that to some of us, it simply looks good.
Regardless, if I were Justin, I would first consider making my goal to place my best photographs in the hands of those who would appreciate them the most and that would be the pool rooms of the world, both public and private. A financial reward would be a secondary goal.
In so doing, I might even limit these photographs to the TAR players, at least at first. There is a certain allure that comes with limitations and limiting the photographs to that particular group of players might not be a bad idea. That way the signature becomes a brand of sorts.
Going one step further, with profit in mind, the photographs could be signed by the players themselves for a fee, mounted and shipped. That way, the players and Justin might be compensated for their time and effort. Again, it really isn't going to be about the profit so when we are all dead and gone, some of our personal testaments to this world will be all that is left for posterity.
It is really difficult to make a profit fromn things like photographs, drawings, writing, etc. even if they are of exceptional quality.
There is however a certain amount of self-esteem that can be bolstered for a job well done in any endeavor and if you are passionate about that job then the reward for the creation of that item is in the creation of the item itself, not so much as to how much money you are going to make off of it.
If I were Justin, I would consider multiple things, one of them is to create these photographs so that they can be placed in pool rooms around the world. I would install a signature on the photograph for posterity along with a caption underneath the photograph. I would offer a medium for having the photographs printed, matted, shipped and mailed. There are businesses that handle the entire process.
In addition I would offer the electronic files (photographs) free of charge to those who might simply want an economical poster for their wall or pool room. Like some have mentioned, the cropping seems a little too close but art is and will always be in the eye of the beholder. For me, the Z-shaped eyebrows of Efren Reyes, when he is really bearing down on a shot are unequaled in interest, at least for me.
One of my pool buddies has a wife who took black and white photographs of the women of strip clubs in New Orleans. She did so well with the photographs that a book was published using the black & white medium, called Friday Night Grind by Jackie Brenner. (She also took a lot of b&W photographs of the pool players of the infamous Sports Palace of New Orleans but those weren't published or shown.
I'm not sure why the black and white medium attracts most of us, maybe it's the connection to the past or that to some of us, it simply looks good.
Regardless, if I were Justin, I would first consider making my goal to place my best photographs in the hands of those who would appreciate them the most and that would be the pool rooms of the world, both public and private. A financial reward would be a secondary goal.
In so doing, I might even limit these photographs to the TAR players, at least at first. There is a certain allure that comes with limitations and limiting the photographs to that particular group of players might not be a bad idea. That way the signature becomes a brand of sorts.
Going one step further, with profit in mind, the photographs could be signed by the players themselves for a fee, mounted and shipped. That way, the players and Justin might be compensated for their time and effort. Again, it really isn't going to be about the profit so when we are all dead and gone, some of our personal testaments to this world will be all that is left for posterity.
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The focus in the Shane portrait seems a bit soft, but Efren's portrait is spot on
In another post, Justin indicated he was using an aperture of f2.8 which would explain the soft focus in some of the photos (in places like the nose and the ears).
A different aperture, say f4, would provide additional depth of field to bring more of the face into sharper focus.
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Justin,
While I think your photography skills are awesome I am still holding out hope for you as a master of the 12 foot snooooooka table. The skills you portrayed 4 years ago at Eric's house were just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't give up the dream my friend. As always I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for pool over he last half decade.
Thank You Always!!!!
-don
While I think your photography skills are awesome I am still holding out hope for you as a master of the 12 foot snooooooka table. The skills you portrayed 4 years ago at Eric's house were just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't give up the dream my friend. As always I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for pool over he last half decade.
Thank You Always!!!!
-don
The first business I ever tried in pool was photography. There is zero money in it. Like not even enough to cover the expenses let alone the time required to do any kind of prints. I do still stuff now because I enjoy it. If a friend wants something I have done I will give them a high res file but I have no real interest in trying to sell any photos at this time. Maybe that will change in the future but based on past experience the juice isnt worth the squeeze.
these photos are amazing. very humanizing. so much more interesting than a stock pool photo in my opinion. great job so far and good luck going forward i'm very interested to see more
DC where the hell ya been? good to see you, JCIN is good with a camera for sure. its a tough racket-what aint. Sold that house left the snooker box, so happy to be out of Vegas, Getting a GC4 put in my house in LA pretty soon. hope your well, i'm in Germany at the moment and will be back in a month or 2 then perhaps in your area, might come see you and Will. Fatboy World Tour 2013 continues....
i know one guy who earns a living with photography-its not fun any more for him, he spends more time infront of a computer than behind the camera. Things changed in that biz. Tough action, you are gifted and hopefully that will turn to dollars for you someday.
Not to open a can of worms or anything, but this is the kinda stuff the industry needs--Personalities. People need something to relate to and get behind besides balls going into pockets. This encourages that.
Awesome stuff, Justin
your right make the players stars like they did in golf 50 years ago and you have a viable industry, we all cant be famous, but the cream rises to the top and should be treated as such
Its this damn iPhone. Does that to everything.
The focus in the Shane portrait seems a bit soft, but Efren's portrait is spot on
May just be the compression, too, though. Great shots, JCIN!
The focus on the Shane shot is soft. That shot was the best of a weak bunch honestly. So far all of these "sessions" have lasted less than five minutes each. I set up one light and say "Hey can you stand here for a minute?" Then try to get some sort of expression thats interesting while firing off exposures like mad. After minute three they start kind of looking bored and you can see them thinking "Is this idiot done yet?" It is a weird thing for almost anyone to be in front of a camera so its understandable.
I need to get a practice model then spend some time and nail down all the lighting, focus and exposure settings so when I do get these guys for a very short time in front of the camera I get a better quality set of pictures to work from. Its a fun project so far.
Cheers JCIN, glad you decided to post these. They really do seem like they'd be perfect decorating an upscale pool hall. I suspect 90% of the patrons don't recognize the top players anymore, but if they saw these they'd surely ask and maybe get a lil education.
I like how even Efren's collar looks a little worn. Meanwhile with Shane, I can't imagine that face ever looking old.
I like how even Efren's collar looks a little worn. Meanwhile with Shane, I can't imagine that face ever looking old.