My first football game!

PineapplePhoto

Ok, so yesterday I had my first football shoot-out!

It was... VERY tough, light conditions, worse... poor little highschool somewhere, but I think it went OK, for my first time. Used 2 Canon 30Ds, one with a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and one with a Canon 50 f1.8.

I was asked to shoot the game, cheerleaders, band, everything.

I did a little bit (minimal) of PP (mostly cropping) since the school asked me not to do any :dunno, please let me know how can I get it better? and if you see any "stunners" how could I improve it?

Thanks guys for all of the tips, I will be doing indoors volleyball next week! :huh

Any C&C appreciated.

here is the link: http://gallery.mac.com/pineapplephoto/100024

i_worship_the_King

I've PM'ed the long version, but here's the skinny:

GREAT WORK. Freaking High School lighting NIGHTMARE. Without $6000 lenses you pulled off some great work! clap

wxwax

For a first attempt, you did a super job. Some of the action shots will look very good with some cropping.

A number of shots are out of focus. Some might be because of slow shuuter speed/motion blur.

But some are because your aperture is wide open, given you a shallow depth of field. And you lost track of where your focus point was. In a lot of the cheerleader shots, for example, the person in focus isn't the one who should be. So my one piece of advice for your next shoot would be to make sure you know which part of your frame has the focus point, so you know what will be in focus and what will not.

Let's see your volleyball work!

PineapplePhoto

Thank you guys,

They say practice makes the master... and I did not expect such bad light... but anyways, one big question I will be getting a fast prime soon, should I go for the Canon 85mm f1.8 or 100mm f2.0?

I was shooting AI Servo (which made it harder) and my AF point was the center one. I think I will stick to ONE SHOT.

Another thing I will do different is shoot in Tv mode instead of Av.

What would be a good shutter speed is good for FB/VB?

at least 1/250?

wxwax

Proper shutter speed depends a lot on your focal length and also your distance from the subject. Bottom line, the further away they are, or the smaller in your frame they are, the longer your focal length is, the faster your shutter needs to be.

AI Servo's ideal for tracking action shots. But it sucks for more static sideline shots, it has a tendency to jump around. My quick cheat/shortcut is to keep it on AI Servo, and when I shoot cheerleaders etc., I grab a good focus then switch the lens to manual focus. This locks in the good focus. You just have to remember to switch the lens back to autofocus again!

I've never shot volleyball in a gym, I don't know which focal length would be best. My instinct would be to get the faster glass -- you can always crop the shots. Not sure if either lens autofocuses fast enough for sports.

PineapplePhoto

Ok, so shooting AI Focus would improve it somehow? I just had a hard time re-framing with the focus steady.

I will be buying the 85mm f1.8.


Thanks for the info I will post the shots!

rwells

PineapplePhoto wrote:

Ok, so shooting AI Focus would improve it somehow? I just had a hard time re-framing with the focus steady.

I will be buying the 85mm f1.8.


Thanks for the info I will post the shots!

Hey PineapplePhoto,

I tried to look at your shots, but that gallery/player just locked my system up.

Anyway, I would not suggest to turn your focus temporarily to manual, there are easier ways.

I just posted this info in this thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=646730#post646730

Hope that helps...

wxwax

Randy's suggestion is the best way to do it.

PineapplePhoto

Thanks Randy! I will try that.

rwells

PineapplePhoto wrote:

Thanks Randy! I will try that.

Hope that works for you.

Glad to help...

i_worship_the_King

Good call on the f1.8 Get all the precious light you can in an indoor setting... HATE taking V-ball pics... Anyway, one of the pros giving us tips said the shutter speed he uses never drops below 125-150% of the lens length to stop motion. For instance, when shooting on a 400mm lens he shoots at 1/500.

I've found his recommendations to be almost spot on, except when EXTREME amounts of motion are occuring. For instance it freezes people with excellence, but catching the ball frozen at impact during a fieldgoal or something still requires a faster shutter - the ball is just moving too fast.

Anyway, hope all this helps

hesaias

Good shots for the first time out!

Here are the only things I will offer, take more pictures, and remember Face, Ball, and Number. If you can get those 3 things in a picture, you will be doing great.

As far as gear, an 85mm may not yeild the kind of sots you want unless you get close to the sidelines action. 70-200mm is a minimum to be effective, and I am still too far away sometimes.

I shoot AI servo, center point focus. Your exposures look good, but you might try bumping the ISO up to get a faster shutter speed.

One thng I have to say will help is to follow the game and anticipate the shot a bit.

PineapplePhoto

hesaias wrote:

Good shots for the first time out!

Here are the only things I will offer, take more pictures, and remember Face, Ball, and Number. If you can get those 3 things in a picture, you will be doing great.

As far as gear, an 85mm may not yeild the kind of sots you want unless you get close to the sidelines action. 70-200mm is a minimum to be effective, and I am still too far away sometimes.

I shoot AI servo, center point focus. Your exposures look good, but you might try bumping the ISO up to get a faster shutter speed.

One thng I have to say will help is to follow the game and anticipate the shot a bit.

Thanks!

jonh68

I just bought a 85 mm 1.8, Nikon version for volleyball and I think it works great for volleyball action. It picks up enough light that I can flash bounce of of the ceiling. While you do lose range with the lens, it also makes you focus more on the shots you can get with it.

I find the best angles are about 3 rows up, standing behind the benches, and kneeling on the floor for great dig shots. When keeling on the floor, I recommend not using flash as it will be distracting. However, standing behind the benches or in the stands fire away.

I also use it for football. Again, you can't get action that happens across the field or even midfield. However, for toss sweeps, screen passes, or any plays and tackles that runs to your side of the field, it is just fine. I was getting 1/500 to 1/1000 shutterspeed at ISO 1600 A priority at a HS game Friday night.

i_worship_the_King

^ you must be VERY patient to take out the f1.8 at a football game...

however I bet those shots are CRISP.