Soccer Turnament in Valencia, Spain

Manfr3d

Winter is great, its cold and dark outside. And between xmas and
new years is the ideal time to flip through the frames taken during
the year.

I normaly dont shoot sports, but on my Vacation in Valencia I was
lucky to see a public soccer turnament. The following pictures
were taken with a Pentax istDs and a 70-210mm/4.0 MF Zoom.
It was bright enough to shoot at f8, which allowed me to manual
focus on a specific region on the field without having to worry
alot about what's in focus and what not (DOF was great enough).

I took maybe 200 frames here are the ones that I like most:

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


I'd be happy to hear your feedback

johng

Considering you don't do sports I think you did a commendable job. So, take my next comments with a grain of salt - they apply only if you wish to shoot sports in the future:

IMO the sharp downward angle makes it difficult to get a quality action shot. You usually want to be at eye level or below so you maximize facial details.

Of the lot, 1, 4 & 9 are probably the best.
Shot 2 - underexposed - tough with dark skin and too far for flash so your choices are expose for the face and blow highlights or (as you did) protect highlights and lose details. IMO it's always better to expose for the faces - those details are usually a lot more interesting than the ball.

Shots 3 & 8 are someone's back - not very interesting. That's the thing with sports shooting - getting a sharp shot isn't the only thing you need.

Shot 4 - here is where the downward angle works to your benefit - this shot works better than the action shots IMO because you can see the play unfolding. However, it is still underexposed IMO

shot 5 - would be a great shot if the angle were correct because the timing was top notch - you can't see faces so the shot isn't great. I know I'm repeating myself but looking at the tops of heads isn't that interesting.

6 & 7 just don't have anything interesting going on

Now, your instincts were good in several of these shots - but your location ruins them as sports shots, IMO. There in lies the important lesson - location, location, location - in sports shooting it's a requirement to be in good position.

Manfr3d

Thanks for the troughout feedback John!

Not knowing much about sports photography I obviously
took a completely different approach than you suggest.

The reason why I chose these photos is that they have
sth. geometrical going on for me. Image 3 is such an
example. I like Image 6 because one gets a sense of
the game's tactics.

Your suggestion with the faces seems great, as emotion
can make all the difference. I realize this only now, I
focused on the ball and the play and not on the players.

I will definitly try to shoot different the next time I have
the chance to photograph soccer.

Thanks for you comment!