5-A-Side football

[foodpoison]

This is my second time shooting a 5-A-Side shoot.
Most shots are f/5.6 with the occasional 4 and 4.5
All at ISO3200 on the Canon 40D
All with 55-250IS
All either 1/200 or 1/250 (admittedly too slow, want more like 1/300)
AI servo, centre point
Continuous shutter release

Some of the better ones:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9. He just missed the shot

10.

more to follow

 

[foodpoison]

11.

12. Experimental, would particularly like C+C on this one

13.

So! Tell me what you think! Tell me how I could improve with realistic information please (not information like "you need a faster lens" because if I could have afforded one I would have got one)

There are plenty more on my flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/stphotographs so if you fancy having a look on there and picking any out that you particularly like/dislike, feel free to stick them in here and give me a rollicking.

So! Constructive criticism and comments please

Thanks for your time

 

[david1701]

no need for a kit change they're nice. motion is frozen and there isn't much noise.

really like 1
2 needs to be rotated slightly in PS but i like the composition
3 is an interesting angle
4 and 5 I like as is
6 is ok but not execeptional
7 could do with a bit more crop, so could 8
9's too dark
10 they're all facing away and theres no real focal point because of that
crop 11 some more
12 is interesting, not really sure if i like it or not
13 needs a crop, but i like the light in it (gives context) so am unsure

how were they shot?

 

[foodpoison]

As said David
ISO3200
1/200 or 1/250
f/4-f/5.6

Thanks for the input, have taken it into account, but it's all the sorts of things I thought to myself when processing them, but due to it being ISO3200, noise is okay in my opinion (I like it) but then when cropping it just increases the noise, or when brightening up a shot too much.

 

[foodpoison]

Also as far as #2 goes, it's an optical illusion. Check out the verticals, they're vertical.

 

[foodpoison]

Anyone else for anyone else?

 

[keith.l]

I quite like the one you've labelled as experimental. The vignetting is a bit heavy for me, and I'd like to see a bit more detail in the blacks, but I like it because it's different. The difficulty with the more typical ones is that we see great football shots everywhere we look, so the bar is very high.

I think #1 could have been a decent portrait with a bit more light in the eyes. Perhaps you could try a few with onboard flash acting as fill to the floodlights.

 

[foodpoison]

I quite like the one you've labelled as experimental. The vignetting is a bit heavy for me, and I'd like to see a bit more detail in the blacks, but I like it because it's different. The difficulty with the more typical ones is that we see great football shots everywhere we look, so the bar is very high.

I think #1 could have been a decent portrait with a bit more light in the eyes. Perhaps you could try a few with onboard flash acting as fill to the floodlights.

I personally like the moody lighting caused by the floodlights, although I do agree with the lighting in the eyes. Perhaps a bit of dodging could help