Semi Pro Football

[tevo]

I had the opportunity to shoot a semi-pro football game the other day. It was a whole new level of intensity, size and speed. I hope to shoot NFL one day . I'm aware that the stands were empty; it was unavoidable, there were very few people at this game. As always, feedback is appreciated.

#1

Lock On by theofficialtevo, on Flickr

#2

Smack by theofficialtevo, on Flickr

#3

Catch by theofficialtevo, on Flickr

#4

Intercept by theofficialtevo, on Flickr

#5

Sack by theofficialtevo, on Flickr

More from my Sports set

 

[Tiller]

They all look great to me!

 

[Derrel]

I shot a semi-pro football game once....it was...interesting. I thought the quality of play was well,well below that of Pac-12 football which I am used to seeing play in-person (Oregon Ducks vs whoever comes to town). But the one semi-pro team I shot did have hot cheerleaders!!! Your shots look a bit dark...not much detail in the faces, and I wish I could see the players' faces better.

I dunno...the bar for sports pics has been set pretty high by people shooting football with 300/2.8 and 400/2.8 lenses ,which totally blows out the backgrounds, and really puts emphasis on the foreground. Like in the shot of the interception: you caught the play with great timing...but the power lines, and the equipment shed and the big dumpster/storage box, and the pine tree in the background are killing the shot. This is a case of where LENS matters, a lot. also, their feet are very near the bottom of the frame, so that makes it look dull...needs more space BELOW the feet, to convey that the defensive back is actually leaping to make that pick on the ball. If you have more frame on the negative, I would re-crop that one, and then blur the background and give it a fake 400/2.8 "look".

These look like a Lightroom pre-set or Photoshop filter that desaturates and darkened has been applied to them. Is that the case?

 

[imagemaker46]

I think they all look fine, good action, sharp. A little more separation from the backgrounds would have made them look better, Pretty much what Derrel mentioned.

 

[Fairdale]

A lovely set of photos with great action captured in them Good Job

 

[tevo]

I shot a semi-pro football game once....it was...interesting. I thought the quality of play was well,well below that of Pac-12 football which I am used to seeing play in-person (Oregon Ducks vs whoever comes to town). But the one semi-pro team I shot did have hot cheerleaders!!! Your shots look a bit dark...not much detail in the faces, and I wish I could see the players' faces better.

I dunno...the bar for sports pics has been set pretty high by people shooting football with 300/2.8 and 400/2.8 lenses ,which totally blows out the backgrounds, and really puts emphasis on the foreground. Like in the shot of the interception: you caught the play with great timing...but the power lines, and the equipment shed and the big dumpster/storage box, and the pine tree in the background are killing the shot. This is a case of where LENS matters, a lot. also, their feet are very near the bottom of the frame, so that makes it look dull...needs more space BELOW the feet, to convey that the defensive back is actually leaping to make that pick on the ball. If you have more frame on the negative, I would re-crop that one, and then blur the background and give it a fake 400/2.8 "look".

These look like a Lightroom pre-set or Photoshop filter that desaturates and darkened has been applied to them. Is that the case?

I shot these with my 70-300 4.5-5.6, so the backgrounds unfortunately remain quite in focus. When I can manage to set aside $2500 for a used 300 2.8 I definitely intend to purchase that lens. As for the artificial defocusing of the background, any advice on that? Thanks for the tips on crop I'll keep it in mind. I start with a preset in Lr that handles the colors and I process from there. I tried to keep the set relatively consistent, but have yet to find a definite processing style I like.

 

[vintagesnaps]

When you choose a vantage point you might try noticing what will be across from you that will be your background. Of course that will change throughout the game as the play moves and as people along the sidelines move in and out of your range of vision.

You seem able to get your shots framed nice and straight so it might look better to have just the bleachers showing than one or two people on the sidelines; they seem to stand out more than if there was a crowd. Or it could work to consider other people in the scene part of your composition and have them balanced in the shot - be aware of people in the background so they're not cut off. Shooting sports takes a lot of practice, you seem to have done well capturing the action and the flow of the game.

 

[tevo]

When you choose a vantage point you might try noticing what will be across from you that will be your background. Of course that will change throughout the game as the play moves and as people along the sidelines move in and out of your range of vision.

You seem able to get your shots framed nice and straight so it might look better to have just the bleachers showing than one or two people on the sidelines; they seem to stand out more than if there was a crowd. Or it could work to consider other people in the scene part of your composition and have them balanced in the shot - be aware of people in the background so they're not cut off. Shooting sports takes a lot of practice, you seem to have done well capturing the action and the flow of the game.

That's a good point, thank you. Eventually I will move up to (longer) 2.8 glass and a FF so the background will become less relevant since it will be mostly defocused, but vantage point is something that I didn't actively think about.