Wikipedia:Picture peer review/Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky

Got inspired by the Javier Solana image, since there are few FP of persons I would like to hear what the community has to say about this one. The image is of high resolution but suffers from much noise, I would like to see if it could be improved if someone with better knowledge then me in photoshop could work a moment on it. Other then the noise I think it's up with the FP criteria. --Krm500 (talk) 02:32, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nominated by: Krm500 (talk) 02:32, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

Although it has significant enc value in Wayne Gretzky it's not likely to succeed at FPC due to bad composition. The hockey stick and the subject's right arm are both cut off. MER-C 09:52, 25 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Was hoping for more comments before I'd reply. But IMO it isn't a bad composition, it is a profile shot, the stick being cut off doesn't matter IMO. The arm however is unfortunately cut of, but would that matter that much in a possible FP candidacy? --Krm500 (talk) 02:09, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  - You can count on somebody (everybody?) opposing it for that reason. -- I. Pankonin (t·c) 04:15, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    - Well compare it to the Javier Solana image; same thing could be said there, bad composition. It got featured quite easily. I tweaked this image a little bit, got rid of some noise and asjusted colours, etc. Do you really think it wont stand a chance? If so I wont try a FP candidacy, but I want to explore every option before I quit. --Krm500 (talk) 11:04, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      - Valid point re Javier Solana. I was also going to say that Gretzky has a weird look on his face here, but again the same criticism could be levelled at the Solana photo. This image is widely used, it's far and away the best image in the Gretzky article, and Gretzky is the one ice hockey player that people are likely to have ever heard of (I say this as a sports fan from a non-ice hockey country), so I think encyclopaedic value is good. The background seems a bit noisy as you said. I might have a bit of play to see if I can do anything about that. Would the fact that he's in a Rangers uniform work against it? Personally I think it's worth a try (which is not to say I'd put money on it getting promoted). --jjron (talk) 08:18, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      - I had a bit of a go at this last night, but couldn't do any better than your edit. The original is really noisy. The noise reduction that has been done on the edit is a good job, but unfortunately removes a fair bit of fine detail on his clothing, skin, etc, and still doesn't totally fix the noisy background. As I said I couldn't do any better. I'm a little bit cooler on the FPC nom, but I would perhaps lean towards 'weak support' personally. --jjron (talk) 09:09, 1 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
        Thanks for your reply and help. I'll contact the uploader and ask him if he has any larger size, then adjustments would be easier. Something to keep in mind about this image is that it is taken over 10 years ago, before the introduction of DSLRs. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a historic photo but the age should be kept in mind in a possible future FPC. This is what it says in the criteria "Exceptions to this rule may be made for historical or otherwise unique images. If it is considered impossible to find a technically superior image of a given subject, lower quality may sometimes be allowed." --Krm500 (talk) 11:28, 1 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
        Yes, I considered the age too, and wondered whether this had been scanned from film, perhaps along with film grain. Of course we can still get pictures of Gretzky (not being able to do this is a saving grace as an excuse for lower quality pictures of dead people), though admittedly not playing. Undoubtedly there are better pictures of him playing, but for them to be available freely licensed is an entirely different story. As I said originally I know almost nothing about ice hockey, but I believe his time at the Rangers was towards the end of his career, possibly past his heyday - this wouldn't work against it a bit would it, with people preferring a shot from a team he played with at his peak? --jjron (talk) 11:38, 2 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
        This is most likely scanned from film since it was taken in 1997. He wasn't at his peak but he still managed to be top 5 in scoring two of his last three seasons, and lead the team to the Conference Finals in 97. I'm still positive this would be a good FP candidate. --Krm500 (talk) 18:35, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Seconder

Nominated at FPC by jjron. --jjron (talk) 10:06, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]