A few Soccer pics for C&C

[rat_1_ca]

1)

2)

3)

4)

 

[syphlix]

3 and 4 are pretty fuzzy

#2... why is the goalie's hands on his jewels shouldn't they be up and out?

3 and 4... their eyes are always shut

 

[shortpballer]

need to be using faster shutter speed. They are all blurry

 

[ocular]

#2 looks posed. They're all scared of gettin hit in the balls, it's a scrotum joke ....................haha.....................................

 

[ToddLange]

speed up the shutter next time so they're not blurry. and make sure the subjects are in focus

 

[SrBiscuit]

open up that ap and crank the shutter...
if that doesnt cut it, you'll need faster glass.
sports is tough and requires the best equipment (or so ive read on here)

 

[surfndcoolwater]

1.the car is the first thing i saw
2.should have shown a bit more on the right... btw.. did he make that goal?
3.its too blurry
4.seems like its focused on the background

 

[bigtwinky]

#1 I dont like the crop, or lack of crop. The fence and the car are distracting. I like the lines he is making with his body, but to me, sports photography is about emotion and should always have faces with expressions in them (well, almost). The photo is also too centered in the frame

#2 Again, the photo is too centered in the frame. Would of loved a closer crop of the image where the kid with the red shirt is on the left hand side of the photo and the 3 on the wall fill out the right hand side. Seeing their faces much clearer would be great. Or a very close crop of all 3 of them with their hands on their crotch hehe

#3 Nice job capturing the kid in the red's expression, its what makes the picture.
You might crop it a bit closer to remove distractions on the sides. And as said, you definatly need a faster shutter to freeze the action.

#4 Same as #3, but a more interesting angle

Look for different angles to shoot from when at games. Shooting from behind the goal (if allowed) can give you better results. If you can't get there, look at being near the corners to try and capture the kids coming down the field. Straight on action shots and battles for the ball are what is interesting in the game. Those kind of things rarely happen with the kids running towards the sidelines. This would also help elimanate some of the fence/car/background distractions.

Also look for shots of the kids after a goal is scored, or the ones sitting on the bench with their heads in the hands, or a frantic coach.

As said, sports photos are all about a fast shutter speed. To do this, you need good light and good equipment. Try and get a shutter at 1/200 or faster at the very least. Its ok if the ball has movement in it, but not the person.

If you can't get a fast shutter speed, look for moments in the game where the action is a bit slower but there is still emotion, such as the goal keeper just getting the ball.

 

[KmH]

+1 for shoot from the end line near the goal if you can, or the corners. Shoot the action as it is approaching you, to get more faces in your shots. If you stay at the same end you'll get the chance to shoot each team in attacking mode.

Try to get the sun behind you so the players aren't backlit. Put your rig on a monopod.

Put the camera in A mode (aperture priority) and Auto ISO. Set the aperture to the widest your lens has (unless it's wider than f/2.8). If you have a variable aperture lens it will change automatically as you zoom. Set the focus mode to continuous. You'll get some oof shots but the more you do it the better you'll get.

There's no substitute for reach. For soccer, 300 mm is about the minimum on the long end and 500 - 600 mm is better. A 2nd body with a wide angle zoom for the close in shots is handy to have.