Take two! field hockey photos

[SquarePeg]

Shot with the 50-230 - some serious cropping and sharpening in Snapseed.

I don’t know the game or rules (yet) so this was difficult. Also trying to keep a low profile and shoot from well back of the sidelines to avoid being a distraction. The spectator side of the field is wide open and not a lot of fans can get to these 4pm games so no cover. Focus was hit or miss due to fast action and lack of good anticipation on my part. I want to improve on that and maybe get lower for more interesting angles.

Fuji Xt2 shooters - I shot these with custom af #3 accelerating/decelerating subjects, I think I need to try a different af setting next time. Maybe #5? Erratically moving subjects?

Also, I’m struggling with zone af choosing the wrong subjects. This is never an issue with Softball. Those who shoot football, soccer etc., how do you get the af zone to choose the subject you want when the field is crowded? I feel like the darker uni’s for the other team pulled the focus in just about every shot.


Here are some of the better ones

And a few near misses with af

Thanks in advance for feedback and suggestions.

 

[tirediron]

Not bad for a first go; I've never shot field hockey and I can barely spell Fuji, so I won't comment on the brand-specific questions. This seems to me that it would be very similar to shooting ice hockey (except warmer, and with better light). For that, I use continuous AF with a single AF point (the center) locked in and shoot wide. My technique is to simply track the puck/ball with a medium DoF; usually around f5.6ish. I think your shutter speed could be bumped up a bit; I see some motion blur in the arms and legs... (and this is purely personal preference) I like to shoot fast enough to freeze the players, but generally have a bit of motion blur on the puck/ball and stick.

 

[SquarePeg]

Not bad for a first go; I've never shot field hockey and I can barely spell Fuji, so I won't comment on the brand-specific questions. This seems to me that it would be very similar to shooting ice hockey (except warmer, and with better light). For that, I use continuous AF with a single AF point (the center) locked in and shoot wide. My technique is to simply track the puck/ball with a medium DoF; usually around f5.6ish. I think your shutter speed could be bumped up a bit; I see some motion blur in the arms and legs... (and this is purely personal preference) I like to shoot fast enough to freeze the players, but generally have a bit of motion blur on the puck/ball and stick.

Shutter speed on these was 1/1000 - 1/2000

 

[Gary A.]

I started with the first generation mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras. Those first generation had no capability or capacity to follow focus. I learned to use a single focus point, recital size is in the middle, then continuously pump the focus button. I use back button focus as not to inadvertently release the shutter and for ease of quickly recomposing the image. I am still using that methodology ... because it works for me. (I've tried continuous AF, but haven't put enough time into it to be proficient.)

 

[jcdeboever]

These are pretty good. I could never figure out the tracking crap on my XT2 and end up with a bunch of missed shots. So I kind of gave up and started to pump the shutter (no tracking), much better results, so that goes to show you that the AF is fast and it's a setting I am ignorant about. However, I would be hesitant on a sport I didn't know. So in that case, I would just continuous low, single point AF, set 1 multi purpose as a start. That setting is like an advanced SLR AF film camera and I've had decent results. If I'm not hitting it, then move to zone or wide AF tracking with the set 1 multi purpose. That is about the time I'm looking for the exit. I surmise it is an algorithm thing and requires a great deal of trial and error to dial it in. I have read up on it, intently, and I gotta say what I've been reading is dead wrong, almost as if people have to making that **** up, seriously. I've tried a lot of different things, maybe the AF tracking is crap, not sure. I talked to a real Fuji pro about this and he kinda laughed. He said, "the more you make the camera your decision maker, the more your keeper rate will go down, this has always been the case with digital". He asked me, "what do you do to fix it ? I said, "pump the shutter". He said, "you took the camera into your own hands and made it do what you wanted". He never said I shouldn't use that mode or tried to get me to try something different. He simply told me what I already know, the camera often makes the wrong decisions. He said the difference between a good photog and a bad one is that the good one knows how to get out of trouble on the fly. Single point AF, CL or H, no tracking, pumping the shutter works great for me. I will say that I put the focus square around the head height and make sure it auto orientates when switching from landscape to portrait.

I'm shooting a soccer game tomorrow and I'm going to manual focus it, the whole game. I have really got into it using film and it really boils down to DOF. So I'll shoot it digital MF, I'm comfortable with it. We work our butts off on all this tech, which is good tech, but no one knows how to communicate it's use. All the time I spent reading up on the Fuji AF and what not was a waste of time. A big waste of time. I would have been better off using that time in my camera and figuring it out on my own. I did, pump the shutter. I am not even going to pump a shutter tomorrow, just zone it, pick 3+ spots and let them fall into it.

 

[tirediron]

Not bad for a first go; I've never shot field hockey and I can barely spell Fuji, so I won't comment on the brand-specific questions. This seems to me that it would be very similar to shooting ice hockey (except warmer, and with better light). For that, I use continuous AF with a single AF point (the center) locked in and shoot wide. My technique is to simply track the puck/ball with a medium DoF; usually around f5.6ish. I think your shutter speed could be bumped up a bit; I see some motion blur in the arms and legs... (and this is purely personal preference) I like to shoot fast enough to freeze the players, but generally have a bit of motion blur on the puck/ball and stick.

Shutter speed on these was 1/1000 - 1/2000

Huh... well then, that's probably not motion blur I'm seeing...

 

[CherylL]

Thanks for posting the photos. They look good to me I hope you post back at the end of the season on what worked and what didn't for you. I would like to get schnauzer running photos. What does "pumping the shutter" mean?

 

[Gary A.]

PS- On your images, not taking into account any modifiers like: don't know the sport, camera is new to me, et cetera ... meh (honestly). You're not shooting tight enough, unless it shows some fantastic athletic/visual display - you gotta have the ball, puck, shuttlecock, et al in every shot, too much distracting background detail, not enough faces/facial expressions. You have 230mm, shoot at 230mm. Fill the frame. It will be harder. You'll have less keepers. But the keepers will be significantly better. Shoot from the sidelines. Remember what Robert Capa said, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

 

[jcdeboever]

PS- On your images, not taking into account any modifiers like: don't know the sport, camera is new to me, et cetera ... meh (honestly). You're not shooting tight enough, unless it shows some fantastic athletic/visual display - you gotta have the ball, puck, shuttlecock, et al in every shot, too much distracting background detail, not enough faces/facial expressions. You have 230mm, shoot at 230mm. Fill the frame. It will be harder. You'll have less keepers. But the keepers will be significantly better. Shoot from the sidelines. Remember what Robert Capa said, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

Word. I am so guilty of that because I'm a painter. Always trying to fill the canvas. Not good in photography.

 

[Gary A.]

PPS- The XT2 has lighting fast focus ... try pumping the AF button, it works well.

 

[Gary A.]

PS- On your images, not taking into account any modifiers like: don't know the sport, camera is new to me, et cetera ... meh (honestly). You're not shooting tight enough, unless it shows some fantastic athletic/visual display - you gotta have the ball, puck, shuttlecock, et al in every shot, too much distracting background detail, not enough faces/facial expressions. You have 230mm, shoot at 230mm. Fill the frame. It will be harder. You'll have less keepers. But the keepers will be significantly better. Shoot from the sidelines. Remember what Robert Capa said, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

Word. I am so guilty of that because I'm a painter. Always trying to fill the canvas. Not good in photography.

Why not?

 

[jcdeboever]

Thanks for posting the photos. They look good to me I hope you post back at the end of the season on what worked and what didn't for you. I would like to get schnauzer running photos. What does "pumping the shutter" mean?

Pumping the shutter. It mean's to hold down the shutter half way to focus, then at the perfect time (hopefully), depress and capture the subject successfully as intended. It takes a rhythmic feel, and cadence to get it off. It is a wonderful experience. Pump it till it happens

 

[jcdeboever]

PS- On your images, not taking into account any modifiers like: don't know the sport, camera is new to me, et cetera ... meh (honestly). You're not shooting tight enough, unless it shows some fantastic athletic/visual display - you gotta have the ball, puck, shuttlecock, et al in every shot, too much distracting background detail, not enough faces/facial expressions. You have 230mm, shoot at 230mm. Fill the frame. It will be harder. You'll have less keepers. But the keepers will be significantly better. Shoot from the sidelines. Remember what Robert Capa said, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

Word. I am so guilty of that because I'm a painter. Always trying to fill the canvas. Not good in photography.

Why not?

Why not what?

 

[waday]

Thanks for posting the photos. They look good to me I hope you post back at the end of the season on what worked and what didn't for you. I would like to get schnauzer running photos. What does "pumping the shutter" mean?

Pumping the shutter. It mean's to hold down the shutter half way to focus, then at the perfect time (hopefully), depress and capture the subject successfully as intended. It takes a rhythmic feel, and cadence to get it off. It is a wonderful experience.

No no no.

It all has to do with how the face is punched...

 

[jcdeboever]

Filling the canvas with a small subject in the middle is a no no. You can get by in some aspects of painting