Ball games

This photograph is a very close second for me, for all the same reasons as my first selection, however, there are several different factors in this that really make it work. Namely, the right shutter speed to freeze the action and motion of the water, and the clever use of dodging and colour to highlight the boys away from the background – just the right amount for me. The depth of field is just right to capture the splashes and the boys' faces, and is deep enough to capture the main players in frame. this separates it nicely from the background and foreground.

Again I tip my hat to this photographer, well done.

The reason for choosing the swimming pool shot over this one is simply down to the difficulty of getting in the right place and getting the composition. Whereas this is a more professional shot, the other just captured a magical moment. This is not meant to detract from how good both these images are, but I had to choose one winner.

A lovely simple photograph: gorgeous light, great composition and motion – just enough light in the shadows to make out the clothing and textures.

I like it when I see images that have captured a moment and haven't been overly worked.

I'm not sure that it would hold up so well when printed out though as there is quite a lot of noise in the outer edges, and as previously mentioned, when it's printed out you scan the whole image rather than just the focal point.

Good for an online folio. Well done.

Ball games! It says it all with the subject of this photograph. It's an intriguing image, and it caught my attention.

This is in my top ten because of the composition, the lighting and the way it answers the brief. In terms of imaging processing I think it's a little over-cooked on the contrast, colour saturation and vignette. I think less is more in this case. I think with some tweaking it would be an outstanding image to have in your portfolio.

Still, it answers the brief, captures a moment and grabs your attention, so it's in my top 10 for this competition.

What a great photograph, you can almost feel the boy's emotions, playing his favourite game out in the rain – who cares what the weather does!

Being in Black & White really focuses your attention on the moment rather than the location. I'd like to know if he was playing by himself or part of a team... I get the feeling he is a lone player.

This photograph is not about technical ability, camera choice, lens or settings. It's all about the moment.

Well done.

A great graphic image: great composition, great light, great colour! A lovely photo for your portfolio.

I like graphic photography and this is perfect for an agency to use in a branding project or marketing material.

I have no idea what sport this is though, which is a good thing in this case, and means it can be used for lots of different purposes and would also mean that photo libraries would be interested in using it as a stock image.

Well done the photographer.

A great sporting image. The timing and composition are spot on, but for me it's missing something.

I think the cropping is perhaps too tight, showing up the pixels, the sharpening of edges. I'm guessing it's a jpeg straight out of the camera. For me it needs some processing – an increase in contrast which would lift the saturation in turn.

Saying that, I do like it, especially the look in his eyes, the motion of him flying through the air and the separation from the background.

A good sport shot.

A lovely Black & White – it deserves to be printed out nice a big so it can be appreciated properly. The subject lends itself to the use of Black & White perfectly, it highlights the textures of the golf course, the scale of it and the foreshortening of the perspective. Really nice.

It would be worth a touch of cleaning up in post, and the one white area near the top right, and a tweaking of the contrast so the details of the hut and dunes can 'just' be seen. My preference really.

A great photograph to have in your portfolio.

I selected this as it is a fun image and good interpretation of the brief. It's a shame we didn't see more woofs submitted.

I like the look captured in the dog's eyes. You can feel that any second now he's going to grab the ball and run off with it.

Technically I think there is room for improvement. It's a shame it's so dark on the backside of the ball – perhaps if your setting this up again you could use a reflector to bring some light to the ball, this would let the dog pop out.

Also, the processing with the warm yellow bottom half is a bit too strong for my taste.

That said, it's a fun image – good composition and timing and nice and sharp on the nose with just enough depth of field for his eyes.

Well done.

Lovely photograph, great composition and action – it says 'ball games' perfectly.

Technically this is spot on and there's not a lot I can add other than "I like it". Nice processing gives it a slight edgy feel, and great timing to get the composition right along with the ball splashes.

I would like to see this printed out which would mean the only thing I would do is lose the foot top right and the rubbish at the bottom. This would be a great portfolio print with those items taken out of the scene.

It's an interesting exercise to do, looking at your photography as prints versus just online. I find online your eyesight doesn't see the whole image and you tend to focus on the key elements that lead you into a photograph. When printed out you see much more as your eyes scan the whole print. Without those elements in the submitted photograph I would have played it one spot higher.

Still, a gorgeous graphic photograph. Well done.

I love this image – the boy's concentration on winning the game, that they are both in the same lowdown crouch with the third boy standing over scratching his head. You feel the fun and tension.

I've pushed this image up my queue of selects over the past week, and now it's in the top ten. The more I see this shot the more I like it. Technically it's spot on – great composition, colour love, great processing.

A great lifestyle/street life portfolio image.

I love this photograph. I know this sport very well as I work in this field, but this is a very different style to what I see normally.

The use of a slow shutter speed is what makes this photograph work for me. It captures the power and motion of many different elements all working together to get a photograph that says: "polo is a high speed action sport".

The colouring is interesting, although personally I'd dial it down a little as it's bordering on over-processed.

Love it, well done.

A gorgeous image: great composition, beautiful tonality, really well processed! Well done that photographer.

I struggled not selecting this shot in my final top ten to start with. But in the end I felt it was probably submitted to the wrong challenge, it just doesn't say 'Ball games' to me! The more I looked at the other images that came in, the further down the list it went. To be clear, it is a gorgeous photograph and others can learn a lot studying it closely, but sadly it is in the wrong challenge.

I had to review it though! Well done to the photographer. I would have loved to give it an award.

Another great graphic image, and in black and white which really helps draw your eyes into the guy in the foreground.

I like the heads being cropped out as this frees the overall image from having distracting elements. Yet you'd love to know what they are saying. I think I would have cropped it down a little more and lost the top line as it only highlights the lens distortion. It would have been even cleaner.

Technically, a little over-processed, which has broken down the detail and not sure it would hold up when printed out for a portfolio. Online, sure.

Well done to the photographer.

I liked the overall composition, the colour and feel this image had, and it would have made a higher grade but for the one thing thats sticks out: the balls are different sizes.

I presume this is a composition rather than a single shot, which if is the case then why have one ball a different size?

I would probably have gone for one ball, with one reflection which would have made it really graphic and usable for marketing material.

Well done for submitting it.

Hmmm, something is just a little odd with this shot. Can you see it? It took me a while to work out what is was that bothered me. There is an unreal feel to it, which of course is my personal view of this image... and why I am reviewing this challenge as my eyes see things.

If you look at the grass, lower left two sections, scan across to the middle grass sections, and to the right grass sections. The grass doesn't match and I can't quite tell which, if any of the three sections is original.

I'm not sure what is going on here but I get the feeling this isn't quite what it seems and didn't start out as the image we now see. I would love to see the original shot.

Hmmm, not sure what else to say. Of course the composition is amazing! Incredible in fact. I'm so sorry if I've got this wrong – I stand corrected if so, and tip my hat to you.

A very striking photograph that captures the motion of the boy brilliantly. The composition is very graphic with nice colouring, overall a very strong image.

Did you have more shots from this set? It would be good to see the other frames. I would have probably edited out the boy in the water so it was a little tidier. But then that can be controversial for some. As a portfolio image I would have taken him out.

Well done, I like this shot.