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7D Youth Soccer
jmphotocraft
Registered Users Posts: 2,987 Major grins
with 70-200/2.8II. Thanks for looking...
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-Jack
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
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As for cropping, all these images are for sale on my SmugMug site and I leave them at 3:2 so the parents can buy whatever size they want and apply cropping themselves. Or I will when I review the orders. Also most of the action and poses would crop to a 4:5 or 1:1 shape, and sadly, parents just don't buy many 8x10s. A vertical 2:3 is so often just too tall and narrow, with lots of dead space top and bottom, or cut-off body parts. #10 is an exception to this - it was part of a sequence of a corner kick. I held the camera vertically. This is the only shot of the sequence that does not cut off a hand or foot. I also like to offer 3:2 shots as they include more context. I love the story that is being told in 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9. If parents want to crop in on their star, that's fine.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
www.seanmartinphoto.com
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it's not the size of the lens that matters... It's how you focus it.
aaaaa.... who am I kidding!
whoever dies with the biggest coolest piece of glass, wins!
I think when my kids are old enough to play on full size fields I'll rent something longer, like a 300/2.8 or Canon's forthcoming 200-400/4.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
I'd think that 200mm on a 1.6 CF body would be plenty of reach on a U10 field. You can't cover the whole field, but the lens is light enough that you can run around at get the shots close enough.
Just curious how often parents ask for a particular crop. I have never tried to sell pictures are these kinds of games--or any games, for that matter.
It's totally fine for U10. I like to position myself behind the end line to one side of the net and cover about half the field, with the team I'm shooting driving towards me. Ideally the sun will be at my back or to the side. Then I will stroll down the sidelines to the other half to get some coverage of the defense and goalie, but I admit I am biased towards shooting the offense.
I've shot up to U12 with this setup. It was a little short for that, I think that's a full size field. But I still got a good amount of keepers. I would imagine trying to follow soccer action at the opposite end of the field with a much longer lens would be difficult. At that magnification players would be moving out of the frame very quickly.
SmugMug allows customers to perform their own cropping on each image at time of checkout. After 3 years of shooting my town's baseball and 1 year of soccer, only a minority of people actually do this. Either they don't notice that they can (or should) do it, or they don't care. So I usually end up doing it for them when I approve the order. Also the vast majority of prints sold are 4x6".
I even tried uploading images that were already cropped to a 5:7 or 4:5 shape, just to see if I could coax or even force people into buying 5x7" or 8x10" prints. Nope. People would rather cut off body parts and buy a $2.99 4x6" than part with $7.95 for a 5x7" or $14.95 for an 8x10" of their child that they could proudly display in their home.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
I think most people never think about cropping to begin with, nor realize how much cropping can affect the impact of an image.
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
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I think you're right. So long as their kid is in the shot and doing something interesting, they're fine with it. Every now and then I check out those shooters who go around soccer tournaments and get a few shots of each team, then sell them online. Most of the pix are terrible: poorly composed and poorly WB/exposure corrected, and probably jpegs SOOC. Yet people seem to buy them--go figure...
I shoot with a 70-200 f/2.8 and a 400 f/2.8 prime, and I can say that I don't get many keepers from the far end of the field. It's not so much the magnification as it is all the bodies between the lens and the action; that, and the fact that, the keeper aside, most players have their backs to the camera.
I notice the same thing with the amatuer motorsports I do (well, used to before spinal surgery!). My main competition here shoots with such fast shutters the cars look parked on the track. But people buy them up. I don't always understand why some shots sell either.
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
Often times shooters don't really know the sport they are shooting, so they err on the safe side. I can imagine that getting the right amount of motion artifact, especially while panning, is rather difficult to do and took you a lot of practice to get right. Maybe these other shooters just don't have your skills! My son used to ski competitively, and I spent a lot of time by the side of the course figuring out proper SS and getting a smooth and even pan. Was never really happy with what I got, though...
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
I don't think one has to have an artistic eye to appreciate a well-panned motorsports shot with a speed-streaked background. Such shots have mass appeal.
I think to actually make a living off of sports/events photography you have to print or at least take orders on-site, and provide cost incentives for people who buy on the spot. If you're not doing that, I'd say THAT is your #1 reason. I am simply not set up to do it, but photography is only a side business for me.
Once a year I ride my motorcycle at a track and there is always the same photographer there. He has 6 view stations and there is always a feeding frenzy around them. That's how it's done, folks. He doesn't even print on-site, but the viewing and ordering closes the deal.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
I agree with that. In my mind the whole on-site ordering thing is crucial and I consider that part of marketing. Like you this is just a side thing for me and only so much capital investment and energy can go into this. The day job pays too well, and I love it too much, to spend too much time and effort on the photography.
Back to the soccer photos, if I were to have images like that of my daughter when she starts playing sports in 5-7 years I'd be thrilled by what you captured!
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
I'm in a similar position. Although I don't love my day job, it would take too much hustle to make photography pay as well. It would cease to be fun.
Thanks! 2 and 5 are my boy, it is a thrill to be able to get these shots. When I show pics like these (and of our 6yo daughter dancing on stage) to my wife, she forgives me for buying the toys!
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
hehe...that's my justification as well!
And agree about making a living at it...I do love my day job--it's very rewarding--and it is nice to shoot purely for the pleasure of it. When I cover pro sports for media outlets, I feel like I shoot very differently and don't have the luxury of taking my time in post. Still, it's kind of a thrill sport in itself: quick editing, captioning, and FTPing it off in near real time.
That does sound like a thrill and I would love to do that someday. I took a look at your Giants v Padres gallery (great stuff) and I see you're shooting a 5DII. I have a 5DII as well, how do you find the AF for Baseball? Never tried mine for Baseball action. Do you use Servo mode? Center point with expansion points? Any reason you are not using a 7D or 1D? Thanks in advance.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
The AF and burst mode are weaknesses of the 5D2, but the images are better than any other Canon except a 1Ds. For most sports I use timing rather than burst mode, and am well dialed into the 5D2. I use Servo with center point only (no expansion) and get great focus. That said, I also shoot with a 1D4 and a 1D3 (as a back-up, which I believe I used in that last Giants game because my 1D4 was in for its annual cleaning). However, my favorite shots are almost always from my 5D2.
Who is wise? He who learns from everyone.
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