first soccer shoot

joshhuntnm · November 14, 2009

Went out to a soccer field to try my hand at shooting soccer.

First learning: this is harder than it looks!

Second learning: close down the aperture and give yourself some room in depth of field.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

StevenSzabo · November 14, 2009

1,4 and 5 I think could all benefit from a vertical crop depending on what sort of megapixels you're dealing with. 7 is a maybe, I think it needed to be taken about half a second later so she is closer to the ball, and maybe looking at it

3 the DoF is a little to long, the ref is to sharp making for an odd image

6 is cutting room floor, sorry, focused on the guy behind looking at the action as opposed to the action.

all in all not a bad series for a first attempt...keep workin at it.

Frog Lady · November 14, 2009

not bad for a 1st attempt. I would, in the future, orient your camera in portrait mode for the majority of what you shoot on the soccer field.

Also, IMHO, #6 isn't worth saving. The focus is clearly on the players behind the main action and it would have gone in the toss it file.

just my two cents.

C.

time2smile · November 15, 2009

your hooked

rainbow · November 15, 2009

Good first time. I would advise against your conclusion of stopping down to get increased DOF. The best shots tend to have shallow DOF (and closing down would decrease your shutter speed) to isolate the main subject. But you have to be better at focusing. I would experiment with center focus point only in either AI Servo or One Shot.

nipprdog · November 15, 2009

rainbow wrote:

I would advise against your conclusion of stopping down to get increased DOF. The best shots tend to have shallow DOF (and closing down would decrease your shutter speed) to isolate the main subject. But you have to be better at focusing.

Agreed.

Elaine · November 15, 2009

I'm no expert, but I shot soccer with my 70-200 f/4 on f/4, and I wouldn't want to close down any more than that. I set my Canon 40D on rapid fire and AI Servo on center point focus, portrait orientation most of the time, and a high enough ISO to give me a high enough shutter (I like at least 1/800 or faster). That combination gave me plenty of keepers. You're right...it's not as easy as it looks. But it can be fun!

Jacobovs · November 16, 2009

Frog Lady wrote:

not bad for a 1st attempt. I would, in the future, orient your camera in portrait mode for the majority of what you shoot on the soccer field.

Also, IMHO, #6 isn't worth saving. The focus is clearly on the players behind the main action and it would have gone in the toss it file.

just my two cents.

C.

I'm not sure that I totally agree with the notion of shooting in portrait. Most of my better action shots are in landscape. Portrait is usually good for just that, if I want to isolate a player to get just him/her in the frame. The majority of my shots are in landscape ( 80% vs 20%). IMHO:D

joshhuntnm · November 16, 2009

Elaine wrote:

I'm no expert, but I shot soccer with my 70-200 f/4 on f/4, and I wouldn't want to close down any more than that. I set my Canon 40D on rapid fire and AI Servo on center point focus, portrait orientation most of the time, and a high enough ISO to give me a high enough shutter (I like at least 1/800 or faster). That combination gave me plenty of keepers. You're right...it's not as easy as it looks. But it can be fun!

just ball park, how many end up in focus this way? I had LOTS out of focus. I used the. . . (what is it called?) focus on all nine points mode AI servo. it was frustrating. IN the world of portraits and weddings, which I have done more of, the only time something is out of focus is when I mess up.

nipprdog · November 16, 2009

joshhuntnm wrote:

just ball park, how many end up in focus this way? I had LOTS out of focus. I used the. . . (what is it called?) focus on all nine points mode AI servo. it was frustrating. IN the world of portraits and weddings, which I have done more of, the only time something is out of focus is when I mess up.

From your other thread.......

Btw, it helps if you actually have experince shooting sports, before you start charging for it.

Just saying........

joshhuntnm · November 16, 2009

nipprdog wrote:

From your other thread.......

Just saying........

yeah, the above photos were for that very purpose. I didn't intend to sell them; just trying to get some experience.

Elaine · November 16, 2009

joshhuntnm wrote:

just ball park, how many end up in focus this way? I had LOTS out of focus. I used the. . . (what is it called?) focus on all nine points mode AI servo. it was frustrating. IN the world of portraits and weddings, which I have done more of, the only time something is out of focus is when I mess up.

I definitely wouldn't use focus on all nine points, if I'm understanding you correctly. Do you mean you're letting the camera choose which of the 9 to focus on? If so, I would think this would be more frustrating than usual. Try center point alone focus. And yes, you'll still get some out of focus...as you're trying to follow the action, the focus may move to a player you didn't intend to be the main focal point. That's the part that takes practice. I found it helpful to pick a particular player and try to just follow them for a bit. (Choose one you know to be a real go-getter.) And as much as possible, I planted myself at the ends of the fields, near the goals, as that seemed to provide the best views for the action. The ball is usually always trying to be moved toward a goal, so if you're at the end, you can capture the faces moving the ball. (I was always trying to just capture one team in particular, so I went to their goal, and switched with them at half time.)

And now I will say that the good folks here in the sports section have helped me greatly as I've attempted to shoot my son's soccer and baseball and swimming, and I really don't have enough experience to sound like I know what I'm talking about, so please feel free to take what I say with a big spoonful of...whatever!

Frog Lady · November 17, 2009

Jacobovs wrote:

I'm not sure that I totally agree with the notion of shooting in portrait. Most of my better action shots are in landscape. Portrait is usually good for just that, if I want to isolate a player to get just him/her in the frame. The majority of my shots are in landscape ( 80% vs 20%). IMHO:D

jacobovs - let me start off by saying I really like your shots and have been consistently impressed by the ones you've shared. But - if the OP is trying to sell to parents, for the most part, they're going to want shots of their precious little ones showing off their skill. So I still believe for what he is trying to do (sell to parents) that he should shoot in portrait mode exactly b/c it isolates a player.

and Josh, Elaine is correct - use the center (or one only) focus point.

C.

Jacobovs · November 17, 2009

Frog Lady wrote:

jacobovs - let me start off by saying I really like your shots and have been consistently impressed by the ones you've shared. But - if the OP is trying to sell to parents, for the most part, they're going to want shots of their precious little ones showing off their skill. So I still believe for what he is trying to do (sell to parents) that he should shoot in portrait mode exactly b/c it isolates a player.

and Josh, Elaine is correct - use the center (or one only) focus point.

C.

Hi Frog Lady, thanks, I totally agree. I was not thinking of sales , more of publishing.

Mitchell · November 17, 2009

Josh, nice first outing.

Your first shot is the best in this group. You need tighter crops on these. You also need to try and get the eyes of the player in the shot which really adds to the excitement of the photos.

A few of these look soft. I'll leave it to you to figure out your focus issues. I'm a Nikon guy, but I shoot soocer with a single focus point on continuous focus mode. I also use the autofocus on button which improves tracking.

Keep shooting.

kini62 · November 18, 2009

Soccer 90% portrait mode, center AF point only with the xxD bodies. Shoot wide open if you're using a Canon 70-200 L of any type. Get lower. Sit on a short stool or on the ground.

Gene

Jacobovs · November 18, 2009

kini62 wrote:

Soccer 90% portrait mode, center AF point only with the xxD bodies. Shoot wide open if you're using a Canon 70-200 L of any type. Get lower. Sit on a short stool or on the ground.

Gene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrhG8dGcook

Something to think about

I was intrigued by this question so I looked back at all of my my soccer shots. I realize that I shoot almost exclusively in landscape and frequently crop to portrait. Looking back at the shots I realize that shooting in landscape with a long lens allows me to capture much more action than shooting in portrait. I would be interested in the opinions of others. Thanks for making me look at this, I never thought about it before.

nipprdog · November 18, 2009

Jacobovs wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrhG8dGcook

Something to think about

Not really.

He's talking about shooting for publications, and sqaure crops. Sell many sqaure photos.

Also, he refers to defenders coming into the shots. Buying parents don't care about that. They care about shots of their kids.

About the only time I turn my camera on it's side is for group shots. Otherwise, shoot tight, and isolate.

Jacobovs · November 18, 2009

nipprdog wrote:

Not really.

He's talking about shooting for publications, and sqaure crops. Sell many sqaure photos. Also, he refers to defenders coming into the shots. Buying parents don't care about that. They care about shots of their kids.

About the only time I turn my camera on it's side is for group shots. Otherwise, shoot tight, and isolate.

I am not disagreeing with you. I know that this is what parents want and that he is talking about publications. It was just a revelation to me that people shoot soccer vertically all the time. I will give it a try.

StevenSzabo · November 19, 2009

#3 is a touch to close :P but a great set of shots

first soccer shoot

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