HELP!! sports fotography....

maya · May 12, 2011

i just started shooting soccer images, and i dont have a clue how to do it. i have my camera set on auto mode and sometimes i switch it to sports mode. sometimes my pictures come out blurry or it focuses on the back ground!! i sometimes have it on Av but it usually freezes it wont let me do continuos shooting!! please help i have a canon t2i with a 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 what mode should i have it on? thatnk you!!!
my pictures are on face book "elmayatimes"

Ryan L · May 12, 2011

Soccer is usually in the day, so you should have plenty of light. Start with the lowest ISO you can while achieving the shutter speed you want to freeze action. Keep playing with your creative modes and eventually you will be able to play around in manual. For now, stop putting it on AV, AV keeps your aperture the same, but your shutter speed varies with lighting conditions. Honestly, I dont use the sports mode, but I assume is lets you adjust shutter speed. A minimum for freezing sports....Personally I try not to shoot any sport under 1/250th. I usually try to achieve around 1/500th for action sports outside with movement.For sports like soccer I would use AI Serco, it will track your subject as they move in the frame. If you cant find you are able to shoot fast enough, up the ISO until you get the speeds you want while in TV mode. Just remember you will have more grain as you step up in ISO.

Oh yeah, dont forget to read your manual, I am sure it has all of this already. Really you need to understand your camera, why buy a SLR if you only keep it in auto? Then it s glorified point and shoot.

manaheim · May 12, 2011

This has to be a troll. :lol:

Bitter Jeweler · May 12, 2011

Yup, since 2009!

Cyclographist · May 12, 2011

I shoot a lot of soccer games. You're gonna wanna shoot at least at 1/650 if you dont want blurring. Focusing is challenging though and i had the same problem you did with it focusing on the background. My simple solution is i vhanged the focus settings to center spot focusing rather than dynamic focusing. It means you have to keep your subject in the middle of the frame but chances are if you're shooting soccer, you dont have time to worry about the rule of thirds. I shoot with a nikon so I dont know what the settings for canon's are, but they should be similar. Best of luck with your shooting!