U8 soccer

Elaine

Allrighty...today I had the chance to try my first U8 soccer game. I've done a few practices now, but today was my first game. I tried to remember the tips from you sports shooters. I'll share some of my faves and would love some C&C so I can do better next time!

Canon 40D, 70-200 f/4 L IS (used at f/4)
ISO 800 or 1000
shutters ranged from 1/800 - 1/1250

1



2


3


4


5


6



Depending on where I was, my backgrounds either had a nice hedge/fence or a parking lot. I tried AI Servo but gave up on it. But then I realized I didn't have a focus point chosen, so maybe it would have worked better if I had chosen the center point? Anyway, I went with One Shot on rapid fire (center focus point chosen), but was a bit disappointed in the number of just OOF shots I got. Hopefully this will improve with practice. Anything else I should know about that?
I did do some cropping on these images and some minimal pp. I wish I didn't have to use such high ISOs, but it was cloudy today so that's what I needed to get the shutter up.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any input!

aktse

clap

Much better than the first series! Great improvement!

#2 and #4 are my favorite of the series.

I still think AI Servo with center point is the way to go if you're trying to track someone. Sometimes, use all focus points, but it really depends on the conditions of the day for me.

Elaine

aktse wrote:

clap

Much better than the first series! Great improvement!

#2 and #4 are my favorite of the series.

I still think AI Servo with center point is the way to go if you're trying to track someone. Sometimes, use all focus points, but it really depends on the conditions of the day for me.

Yay! Thanks, April! I'll try AI Servo again with center point focus and see what happens.

Ann McRae

Elaine wrote:

Yay! Thanks, April! I'll try AI Servo again with center point focus and see what happens.

Hi Elaine

I use AI Servo exclusively for sports (and often everything else since I don't always remember to change that).

These are pretty good. If you can (ie if the ref doesn't object) try moving to behind the goal to have a better chance to get faces in your shots:






On second look, you did pretty well in that regard too. Just keep shooting, you are well on your way.

johng

I agree - nice improvement. A touch over-exposed - which takes away some punch. But overall - very good improvement. Nicely done.

kini62

BIG improvement from last time. IMO exposure is pretty good, faces are nicely exposed, colors look great being it seemed to be pretty cloudy.

I'm surprised you got any in focus NOT using AI Servo. Try again with the center point only. I've tried with just the center point and all points- at this age there's still too much traveling in packs for all points to be reliable and not drift to another player.

Keep up the good work.

Gene

jjvfx

I think you should set AI Servo and use only the center focus. AI Servo is designed for tracking objects which is perfect for this. Nice Job!

Elaine

Ann McRae wrote:

Hi Elaine

I use AI Servo exclusively for sports (and often everything else since I don't always remember to change that).

These are pretty good. If you can (ie if the ref doesn't object) try moving to behind the goal to have a better chance to get faces in your shots:

...

On second look, you did pretty well in that regard too. Just keep shooting, you are well on your way.

Thanks, Ann! Great example shot, BTW. I was sitting to the left or right of the goal for these. That was definitely better than the side-lines! The refs are high-schoolers at this stage, so I don't think I'll have any trouble maintaining that position for future games. I've got lots more Saturdays of games coming up!

Elaine

johng wrote:

I agree - nice improvement. A touch over-exposed - which takes away some punch. But overall - very good improvement. Nicely done.

Thank you very much! Improvement is great in my book!

Elaine

kini62 wrote:

BIG improvement from last time. IMO exposure is pretty good, faces are nicely exposed, colors look great being it seemed to be pretty cloudy.

I'm surprised you got any in focus NOT using AI Servo. Try again with the center point only. I've tried with just the center point and all points- at this age there's still too much traveling in packs for all points to be reliable and not drift to another player.

Keep up the good work.

Gene

Thank you! Yes, it was completely cloudy, which I was kinda thankful for, since the game was right at noon.

I will definitely try again with the AI Servo and center point focus.

Elaine

jjvfx wrote:

I think you should set AI Servo and use only the center focus. AI Servo is designed for tracking objects which is perfect for this. Nice Job!

Thanks! Will do!