Identifying Footballers for captioning?

shapeshifter

shapeshifter

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Anyone out there who does professional football photography. How do you ID the footballers after the game so you can caption in PM with code replacements? 30% of the time I can not see their numbers on the shorts! I had all the numbers relating to the footballers but when I could not see the numbers I had trouble in captioning.
 
You must make a point of taking a shot of all the players with their numbers
 
Someone has suggested take a shot of the teams at the start of the match when they line out.Do they always line out?
Those Togs who transmit photos at half time must know the players of by heart then?
 
When I used to shoot sport, what worked for me was: when I shot something likely to be a useful image, I'd immediately shoot the back of the shirts (showing the number) of the main people involved. I could then find the players' names from the team sheet (which was checked for accuracy before kick-off) when processing the images back at the office.

Obviously this isn't ideal for all situations, especially when there are a large number of players involved in the pic. But it allowed me to at least name the main players who were 'on the ball' or whatever.

Otherwise if the team have a website, check it out for a named team photo; that's got me out of a hole or two in the past.
 
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You get to know players, teams and numbers after a few games of covering teams. its a little strange at the start of a new season with new squad numbers.

Shorts number, boot colour, hair (David Luiz, Colo at NUFC) etc, tattoos. anything that may make someone stand out more helps as well.

If I'm still not sure on some players I will hunt them out before the end or even take and lock an image taken after some action with the number on
 
I will try and combine those ideas.I ended up doing the player ID by using the colour of boots and laces.LOL
 
I try to get the players as they walk out on to the pitch. I am trying to get the whole player in the shot with the number on the shorts AND their boots.

Import those pics quickly at the start of the match.

Try and get subs as well when they come on.
 
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I usually ask the players who they are.... "Oi, number eight! Ya missed the goal. Ya rubbish. Whats ya name...!? Need to caption this muzzy shot of you being rubbish"
 
You think it's hard with football, try captioning rugby with larger squads. League is even worse as replacements seem to come and go on a whim.
 
pk42 said:
You think it's hard with football, try captioning rugby with larger squads. League is even worse as replacements seem to come and go on a whim.
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Yepo.. the trouible wiht rugby and most of non league football is that theres no number on the shorts.. backs only... at least wiht pro football you ahve a chance numbers facing you...

Even worse... CRICKET .. no numbers or names on display , no team sheet and no tannoy system or decent scoreboard .... scorers who are too busy to tlak to you..
 
Whilst I'm about it.Is there a place on the internet I can download the teams for code replacements ?
 
If it's a game where there is a lot of players who I just don't know (lower leagues) then I make sure to include some audio (if I've not managed to grab their number). So Ill shoot something that I know I'll want to use later .. I'll keep an eye on that player for a few seconds after the shot until he shows his number more clearly, then quickly add an audio note to the image via the camera *cue bingo readers voice* .. "number 17, Ashburton Rovers Athletic Old Boys" ... Depending on the situation I sometimes screen grab (before the game) some key faces from the Internet who may be in attendance but this is quite hit and miss ... a portrait shot of a player pre season compared with 5 months in and 80minutes on the clock - it's can look like two different people ... Finally I will ask around (although only in the wire room (or similar after the game) There will quite often be a photographer from that club in attendance .. although I try and keep my questions to a minimum - so if I have 4 players to tag I try and ask them all in one go rather than 4 separate times to interrupt them ...
 
Get a "back shot" if you've picked a shot from a sequence on your camera with the number not on show. Mark the back shot so it is ingested with your selected shot. After a while you'll know who everyone is.

If your workflow supports it, spot the player and press the record button on your camera and make an audio recording of you speaking their name & number on the selected shot.

World Cup was great as players had numbers on their back, shorts, and front of shirt. Still got a few wrong though.
 
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You eventually know the players by face the more you shoot them or follow them. If it's a grassroots league, definitely take a shot of their number. Professional teams it's easier. Watch away games or something on TV and you'll get used to who is who.
 
Try shooting Netball/handball where they just swap shirts :(.
 
I came to this forum searching for help on this topic.

Shooting Championship rugby is easy, but national league teams is a lot more difficult, including some teams who can't be bothered to produce a team sheet. I've gone down the road of photographing the face and adding a voice note.
 
Bluesman graham said:
Try shooting Netball/handball where they just swap shirts :(.
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Bit of off topic - but I don't think jerseys as swapped in Handball ... at least not on the Champions League/International level.
But as people have pointed out.. as you do any sport/team.. you start to recognise the key players pretty quickly.
 
For the top flight teams (all over Europe etc) there's a very useful site which tells you what boott the players wear, which includes team lineups with picture of the boots eg white Nike Tiempo Legend. It's a good fallback when all the other methods cited above have failed..

It's at http://www.footballbootsdb.com/
 
when I shot juvenile games and no numbers on shorts, I ask a team to turn round (as I'm taking team shot),take one shot and then I have all faces with numbers matching.
I know its not practical with football and might look or sound unprofessional ,but when its a tournament with several teams, it got me out of a hole a few times
 
There's nothing unprofessional about that at all if you have some measure of control over the game.
 
At the lower leagues, I would sometimes review the shots on back of camera and any good shots without visible numbers I would then take a few moments during quieter times to id the players and just note down their numbers on a notepad.
 
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