KC v. Columbus (MLS) 6-14-08

KCBearcat

I've been reading a lot over the last couple days and I'm picking up a few things, but I thought I'd post a couple of pics and see what you guys thought of them. I'm a big boy and I can take criticism, so don't be afraid to be brutally honest.

As the thread title suggests, these photos were taken 6-14 at the Kansas City Wizards-Columbus Crew match at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, KS. It's a minor league baseball stadium serving as a temporary home while the Wizards build a soccer-specific stadium back over on the Missouri side of the line (where they belong).

As I said in the thread where I posted my own smug mug, I have field credentials to shoot these games. It helps to be a season ticket holder and know some of the bigwigs. Mostly self-taught, I've just gotten serious about photography. I bought a Canon Rebel XTi (the pics here taken using a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 lens) before a trip to Costa Rica and think I may have found something I truly love to do. :barb

Anyway, here are the photos...

1) Wizards forward Scott Sealy tries to avoid a slide tackle from Crew defender Danny O'Rourke



2) Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer prepares to take a goal kick



3) Wizards forward Claudio "El Piojo" Lopez takes the ball upfield and seems to say, "Where is everybody?"



Any and all comments are welcome... I defer to your judgment, oh wise ones... :bow

erson83

KCBearcat wrote:

I've been reading a lot over the last couple days and I'm picking up a few things, but I thought I'd post a couple of pics and see what you guys thought of them. I'm a big boy and I can take criticism, so don't be afraid to be brutally honest.

As the thread title suggests, these photos were taken 6-14 at the Kansas City Wizards-Columbus Crew match at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, KS. It's a minor league baseball stadium serving as a temporary home while the Wizards build a soccer-specific stadium back over on the Missouri side of the line (where they belong).

As I said in the thread where I posted my own smug mug, I have field credentials to shoot these games. It helps to be a season ticket holder and know some of the bigwigs. Mostly self-taught, I've just gotten serious about photography. I bought a Canon Rebel XTi (the pics here taken using a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 lens) before a trip to Costa Rica and think I may have found something I truly love to do.

Anyway, here are the photos...

1) Wizards forward Scott Sealy tries to avoid a slide tackle from Crew defender Danny O'Rourke



2) Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer prepares to take a goal kick



3) Wizards forward Claudio "El Piojo" Lopez takes the ball upfield and seems to say, "Where is everybody?"



Any and all comments are welcome... I defer to your judgment, oh wise ones...

The shots are about as good as you can do with that glass--buy yourself an intro piece of L glass-the f4 70-200 will blow you away. Even if it's a night game, the quality of pro lights will make it a breeze. If you love what you do now--you will be tickled with high quality glass

donek

They all seem underexposed to me. Looking at the direction of the shadows, you might be wise try shooting with the sun more behind you. You appear to be shooting more at the sun than away from it. Push your exposure 0.3 to 0.7 EV and change your position a bit. I think you'll do better. You might also try switching to spot or center weighted metering.

KCBearcat

donek wrote:

They all seem underexposed to me. Looking at the direction of the shadows, you might be wise try shooting with the sun more behind you. You appear to be shooting more at the sun than away from it. Push your exposure 0.3 to 0.7 EV and change your position a bit. I think you'll do better. You might also try switching to spot or center weighted metering.

Okay, I'll give ya the underexposure... I'm not sure if I played with the exposure for those in Lightroom... either that or I didn't use the auto white balance.

One reason for the location, though, is the desire for a wider shot of The Cauldron, the supporters section for the Wizards. On the other side of the net on that end of the field, I would be waaaaay too close. Could have waited for the second half, but that might have requried the Wizards to be playing well (wanted a reaction to the goal that never came)...

But I'll look at the exposure and the white balance and update the images on my smugmug site...

I appreciate the input... anybody else?

DJ-S1

I'm no pro, bear that in mind but here are my thoughts.

1. Blur the background. This leads into the "buy better glass" comment - wider apertures = background blur = better separation of your subject from the "noise" behind them.

2. Faces. Check out the photos on mlsnet - what makes them so good? In most of them, it is the faces. Effort, concentration, etc all shows through the faces of the athletes and makes for more dynamic shots.

3. Get closer. Either with lenses or by cropping tighter - many disagree with me on this, but modern dSLRs can handle a fair amount of crop and still produce excellent prints IMO.

4. Shoot. Lots. This should be #1 - the more you shoot, the better you get, just like most anything else.

You've gotten a good start for sure, and you have a great opportunity by having such good access to the action. Looking forward to seeing more -

KCBearcat

donek wrote:

They all seem underexposed to me. Looking at the direction of the shadows, you might be wise try shooting with the sun more behind you. You appear to be shooting more at the sun than away from it. Push your exposure 0.3 to 0.7 EV and change your position a bit. I think you'll do better. You might also try switching to spot or center weighted metering.

Okay, I've gone back and looked at them again. Just by changing the white balance to auto (instead of daylight) it seemed brighter and closer to a proper exposure. #2's problem is that Hesmer was actually in a shadow, so there's not much to be done about that. As for the location, the official team photog shoots from down there too... My shot of the first goal on Thursday against New York was blocked by his lens.

I've also changed to center-weighted metering and it does seem to help some. As soon as I am able, I'm going to try to find an f4 70-200mm L piece of glass so I can make them even better. I'd really like to get it before 9/13 when the Wizards host the LA Galaxy at Arrowhead Stadium. David Beckham would be a great capture if I can manage it. There may also be 40000 people in the stands which would make it that much cooler to be on the field.

On another slightly related note, at Friday's international friendly with Atlas AC from Mexico, a friend of mine, who works for the athletic department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said they Wizards had a guest player on the roster and said that if he got in that UMKC would love a picture. He said they would put one online (watermark it for me) and direct people to my site as well as print one in next season's soccer media guide with a photo credit. He got in. I got pictures. ivar