Soccer
Hey everyone,
This is my first attempt at shooting first grade soccer, they were pretty darn quick with the ball. I am having a lot of trouble with focusing and getting clear crisp shots. Maybe I should ditch the circular polarizing filter who knows. Your comments and criticism (and advice) are requested!
1. EOS 300D, 300mm f/4 Lens w/Haze Filter (Non-IS) - 1/4000s, f/4, ISO 400.
2. Settings as above...
3. EOS 30D & 70-200 f/2.8 w/Cir-Pol (Non-IS) - 1/1250, f/2.8, ISO 200, 135mm
4. Same settings/gear as photos 1 & 2...
5. As above...
This is my first attempt at shooting first grade soccer, they were pretty darn quick with the ball. I am having a lot of trouble with focusing and getting clear crisp shots. Maybe I should ditch the circular polarizing filter who knows. Your comments and criticism (and advice) are requested!
1. EOS 300D, 300mm f/4 Lens w/Haze Filter (Non-IS) - 1/4000s, f/4, ISO 400.
2. Settings as above...
3. EOS 30D & 70-200 f/2.8 w/Cir-Pol (Non-IS) - 1/1250, f/2.8, ISO 200, 135mm
4. Same settings/gear as photos 1 & 2...
5. As above...
0
Comments
Fantastic lens, but this shot is too soft for my taste; probably a focus issue, as I don't believe that the 300D has AI-Servo, which is what you need for soccer.
I couldn't grab EXIF data, but it seems as if this shot may have some major JPEG artifacting going on. What did you use to down-size it for posting? (BTW, all of them as a bit too big as it is.) I think you're going to have to increase the quality of the downsize at the expense of bandwidth to keep the quality.
And why the ISO 400? ISO 200 would have been fine on this.
Also, lose the filter. You have an excellent lens, and unless this is a $300 haze filter, you're degrading the image quality. I shoot soccer with my 300 f/4L IS without a filter, and have yet to wish I had one on it. Pull out the lens hood to offer some protection and you're fine.
Too bad about the other red player in the background. Maybe darken the white pole in the background as well to decrease the emphasis.
Good framing, and good action as the defender is completely "burned" in this shot.
Photo 2 iss sharper, but blown highlights. Good framing, but an awkward body position. Too bad about the red car, as it's competing.
Circ-Pol filter? Again, yank it off, as it's causing more harm than good on this lens. Way too soft again, but I think it's focus issues.
Photo 4 is OK. Not really exciting.
Photo 5 has excellent action, too bad about the overexposure.
All in all, not a bad first shooting.
John
Canon shooter
Good stuff Andrew, you might want to drop the sizes down a bit, a good size to post is 800x600. makes it easier to view
I need to have a go at soccer and football and cricket and hockey and all that sporty stuff too ..... happy shooting Andrew, and welcome to Dgrin.
... Skippy
.
Skippy (Australia) - Moderator of "HOLY MACRO" and "OTHER COOL SHOTS"
ALBUM http://ozzieskip.smugmug.com/
:skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin
Ditch the haze filter. All that does is ADD have.
Can I ask why you used a circular polarizer in the first place? I think you might have a misunderstanding of what that is used for. Ditch it as well.
A former sports shooter
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John Patrick - I used the save for web option in photoshop to downsize them... It was an accident that my 300D was on ISO 400 instead of 200 unfortunately, lesson learned there. I think I managed to change it for the last five minutes! It was such a difficult field to shoot at because one side had the grandstand, and the other was lined as a carpark so equally busy! I feel like they are all a bit overexposed courtesy of the sunlight. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Skippy - Thanks, will definately be making them a bit smaller next time!
Mercphoto - I made a fatal error on my 30D even that I have only just realised... It was on one shot mode instead of AI Servo, whoops, another lesson learned! I used the circular polarizer because I though it would help to increase the colour saturation a bit, maybe this is not the case though...
these are not very good
what are your settings ?
make sure the cam is on focus priority and aim for the eyes
Randy
http://www.CarolinaSportsPhotography.com/
Which settings do you mean exactly? I shoot in aperture priority mode with the aperture as low as it will go. ISO 200, but accidentally 400 on some of the shots.
How exactly do I aim for the eyes? Currently the auto focus selects it's own auto focus point, should I be selecting the middle one only? Thanks for your help.
When you need a CP you need a CP. Its one of the few, if not only filter whose effect cannot be duplicated in post processing.
A former sports shooter
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A few thoughts...
- I agree with the others that you should not use the polarizer...you will not see much benefit from it in this situation and you will lose light. If you want more saturated colors, do this in post (on the computer), or adjust the color settings in camera.
- In a well lit field like this, you may not want to open up the aperture all the way, nor do you need to. At 2.8, the shallow depth of field will require your focus to be spot on, and if you are just starting to learn to shoot fast moving sports, this may be difficult. Using a higher aperture, with greater depth of field, will be more forgiving on your focus. At the same time, you can keep the aperture low enough to blur the background.
- I would recommend using your center AF area and aim for center of mass of your subject, until you get more proficient at focusing. Once more proficient, you can begin to experiment with tracking mode and different AF zones.
- If both sides of the field are crowded, making it hard to find a good shooting location, ask the coaches or referee if you can shoot from the sideline. Most of the times they will agree. And with a 300mm lens, you will certainly look professional. Before shooting a lacrosse game recently I asked the coach if I could shoot from the field. His reply was "buddy, with a lens like that, you can shoot from where ever you want." And I only had the 70-200.
- Overall I think the composition of your photos, and the timing of your shots are good.
You are off to a great start and asking the right questions. I think you will see the quality of your photos improving rapidly.
wide open aperture is a good start but make sure u get at least 1/400 shutter speed by bumping the iso up...since this is a canon 400, 800 or even higher is fine....better to have a little noise than blur
yes, use the center sensor only and put the player's eyes in the crosshairs and also make sure the cam is set to AI-Servo so that as you track the player w/ the ball you can keep the shutter button 1/2 depressed and the cam will
stay focused on that player
Randy
http://www.CarolinaSportsPhotography.com/
I used to use this camera briefly, and its limitations are rather severe. Your best bet is not to go 1/2 depressed and try to make the camera track the subject, because the camera simply will not do that. You will have to slam the shutter button. It shouldn't fire until focus has been achieved.
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
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The 300D is the Digital Rebel. I have read the manual and you are right it will only work in sports mode. I can set my 30D to AI Servo though.
One last question if I may, is there are a way to stop the harsh reflections coming off the white shorts? Would exposure compensation fix that or have I mis interpreted what it is used for? Thanks again.
Yes, setting exposure compensation to -1/3 should fix that. I do this on very bright days so not to blow out the highlights on white helmets, shorts, etc.