First time soccer pictures

[TamiAz]

I was at the dog park today and there was a soccer game going on right next to it.. I thought I would take some pictures to practice. I'm trying to improve taking sports photos since my daughter plays softball. I'm a new at all this and I have limited equipment (Nikon D5100, 55-300mm (5.6) lens). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

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[tirediron]

I'd say given your equipment and the conditions it's a very good start. If possible choose a shooting position which will allow for some light on the player's faces.

 

[Tony S]

Get your camera off of auto mode unless you have changing light conditions, and even then quick adjustments come easy. Your exposures will change depending on dominant jersey color/brightness in the image and how much of it is filled with your subject Those with lots of whites will underexpose faces, those with darks may tend to over expose. You want consistency between shots and compositions. Sure, take your first couple shots on one of the auto modes to start then use that as your starting point for going manual. What you are looking for is getting the exposure on the faces correct, don't worry about blowing highlights in jerseys that don't have any detail in them to start with. With a little pre-thought you can have two manual settings in just a few seconds. You need one for those shots where the faces are in full sun and a second for when they are facing you with the sun to their backs. It's pretty quick to set these up for when you move from one side of the field to the other.

As for the action you did pretty good, that all comes with knowing teams and sports and being able to predict where they will make the next play at.

 

[COLTSFANATIC1]

other than some minor lighting issues, I'd say good job