Our third round of the Pacers Fan Photographer of the Game provided us with our most submissions to the contest yet! We thank you for taking your busy holiday time to send us some of your beautiful shots.

Frank McGrath, the official staff photographer of the Indiana Pacers sat down with us early in the week to take a look at the wide variety of photos that we received. We again loved the pictures that were submitted. They gave us countless smiles and we looked at each picture over and over to really evaluate the subject matter and what the photographer was trying to convey with their shot. As we always say, we know it takes a lot of guts to put your pictures out there for judgment, but we enjoyed looking at each and every photo – so thank you.

We want to offer huge congratulations to Tom Jacobson of Carmel, along with one very close runner-up, Kristeen Hudson; as well as a few comments from Frank.

“Soccer” by Tom Jacobson

Winner: Soccer

By Tom Jacobson

Comments from Frank: This picture stood out to me immediately as the clear winner of this round of photos. The timing was so incredibly spot-on and the color clarity was so good that I could not stop thinking about it. While sometimes timing can just be dumb luck, this great timing was due to photographer preparation. The photographer clearly saw the ball fly through the air; he saw this opportunity coming and he was ready for it! He had the camera ready to go and focused at the point of impact, and he completely capitalized on the moment. The movement and the faces of these players add such emotion to the shot as well. I also love how you can see the utter height difference of these two players. The vertical leap of the player in the green jersey is a story in itself, and this picture captures it perfectly. As I have said before, outdoor light is always nice to shoot in, but you have no control over it. In this instance, the photographer used what lighting he had to his advantage, but the color correction and editing were done very well. I have shot soccer and I know how hard it is to get this kind of timing AND get the story that you see when you look at this picture. All in all, I honestly have to say this is one of the better soccer pictures that I have seen. This is a dynamite photo Tom!

“Slam Dunk” by Kristeen Hudson

First Runner Up: Slam Dunk

By Kristeen Hudson

Comments from Frank: This was another picture that I really loved, and if it hadn’t been for Tom’s soccer picture, this would have been my winner. While I usually like to see my subject’s face, it is clear that wasn’t an option for this photographer. It is still a really great picture with very impressive timing on the shot. I talked about in my last blog about the different levels of difficulty in shooting a dunk, and the same can be said for this break away situation. In a breakaway situation, you can have to think ahead to the next shot and be focused down the court and prepared for whatever can happen. It can be a great shot or you can miss it completely if you blink. You can also see that the gym lighting was fairly dark and not ideal for shooting. This photographer showed very nice editing techniques with the brightening of the players and the court. The other great features of this photo were the detail that you can see in the player’s faces as they watch the shooter take his shot and the vertical leap of the shooter that is conveyed by the timing of this photo is extremely impressive. All in all, another really wonderful action photo! There isn’t much room for improvement here – and as I said, this would have been my winner if not for our Soccer picture.

 Overall comments: Once again, a very heart-felt thanks to those of you that took the time to share your images with us. We love looking at all of the submissions and we appreciate you giving us the chance to evaluate them, because that is how we all become better photographers. Keep sending in your shots so that you can be the Pacers Fan Photographer of the Game! Our next submission period to be the Fan Photographer of the Game for the Boston Celtics starts January 14^th!

There were also many wonderful images that were not mentioned here and we encourage you to view the entries on Facebook! We would also like to keep all of the images and enter them in the next submission period so that we might consider them for the next Pacers Fan Photographer of the Game! (You may submit additional images for the next round even if your picture from round one is being kept. Please email mreinker@robertsimaging.com if you would like to submit additional pictures.)

Thank you!

Our second very successful submission period for our Pacers Fan Photographer of the Game has wrapped up! We continued with our simple theme in that we would just like to see a person or even some “people in action” as the primary subject of the photograph. While landscape and outdoor photos produce amazing images, we feel that if we are going to send someone to shoot some of the best athletes in the country, we want them to be comfortable with their subject matter!

Once again, WOW, WOW, WOW! We received some awesome pictures that we know were very difficult shots to get. It was clear that everyone that submitted a photo took great care and time to get the best image. Again, it is hard to put your art and your images out there – so thank you for sharing them with us.

Frank McGrath, the official photographer of the Indiana Pacers, sat down with us Roberts folks this week to determine our winner. We want to offer big congratulations to Tim Biddle of Indianapolis, along with three runner-ups and an honorable mention; as well as a few comments from Frank.

“Slam Dunk,” by Tim Biddle

Winner: Slam Dunk

By Tim Biddle

Comments from Frank: This picture is just an all-around awesome shot. The timing is absolutely perfect. Timing on a dunk is so hard to get and there are really three levels of difficulty when it comes to the dunk shot; you can either get the player with the arms back over their head and ready to slam the ball in, you can get the ball right on the rim (which is this picture here), and you can get the player hanging/bending the rim after the shot. All of these are very tough to get and they require the photographer to push their button early in anticipation of the shot. And, as every photographer knows – this can either go very well, or it can go very badly and you miss the shot entirely! I also want to touch on the composition of this photo. This picture was framed beautifully, and it told a story about the game. You can see all the major “characters.” You have the action of the shot, the other players reaction, you can see the crowd and the cheerleaders on their feet (which shows it was an exciting game), and you even have the ref in there. All in all, this shot stood out as the winner because of the great anticipation of the timing, and the great composition that told the story.

“Eye on The Ball,” by Doug Clements

First Runner Up: Eye On The Ball

By Doug Clements

Comments from Frank: This was a great picture and I had a hard time deciding between this one and the winner. This is a fantastic picture as well and involves impeccable timing with the placement of the ball. It also includes the face which carries so much emotion in this picture. The framing is very nice as is the color because it is hard to get good lighting in those high school gyms! Ultimately, if you could have expanded the frame a bit more and maybe included the face of the player whose hands we see on the left of the shot. It doesn’t quite tell a story the way the winning picture did, but none the less, this is a really beautiful picture.

“The Ride,” by David King

Second Runner Up: The Ride

By David King

Comments from Frank: This was a great shot and very well framed. It is difficult to capture the entire vehicle, plus rider, plus background when someone is traveling at this speed. I have to assume you were panning to get this motion in the background, and this was a great technique to use for this picture. The subject is extremely clear, but you tell a story with the moving background and the motion in the tires. Another thing that is not easy to do is to get you and your camera out of the way of the mud!! But, it looks like you did a nice job of avoiding spots on your picture. All in all, a great action shot.

“The Block,” by Rob Baker

Third Runner Up: The Block

By Rob Baker

Comments from Frank: I had to keep this photo in for the second round. I keep going back to it and really appreciate the timing of this picture. Here are my original comments regarding this photo: Again, the timing on this photo was impressive. The composition could have been improved slightly by zooming in on the blocker and filling the frame a little bit more. It is also always great to have a face in pictures – seeing the face of the person making the block would have been ideal (but that may not have been possible at that specific game). The editing and color correction on this is also nice as I have to assume you were in a gym with fluorescent lighting, and that can be tricky. With some different zoom and editing, you would have a killer picture.

“The Holiday Dog,” by Greg Hess

Honorable Holiday Mention: The Holiday Dog

Comments from Frank: Yes, I know this is outside of the theme of the contest, as we do specify that we want to see a person in action for this contest. But, in the spirit of the season, we could not help but include this “holiday dog.” It is a good action shot, the movement in the dog’s ears and skin around his nose is very well timed. The placement of the ears and the snow shooting up around his feet show the motion and convey the dog’s excitement. And the coloring on this image is crystal clear. This picture definitely got us in the holiday mood…and even wishing for a little snow on these warm December days!

Overall comments: Once again, a very heart-felt thanks to those of you that took the time to share your images with us. We love looking at all of the submissions and we appreciate you giving us the chance to evaluate them, because that is how we all become better photographers. Keep sending in your shots so that you can be the Pacers Fan Photographer of the Game! Happy Holidays!

There were also many wonderful images that were not mentioned here and we encourage you to view all of the entries on Facebook! We would also like to keep all of the images and enter them in the next submission period so that we might consider them for the next Pacers Fan Photographer of the Game! (You may submit additional images for the next round even if your picture from round one is being kept. Please email mreinker@robertsimaging.com if you would like to submit additional pictures.)

Thank you!