A few golf shots, but where should I focus?

Conquistador

Conquistador

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Edit My Images
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I couldn't decide for certain where I should be focusing. The ball, the club head, the hole? These were shot at 2.8 or 3.5 and I didn't want to go much higher than that as I liked the look of a small bit of the picture being in focus and the rest blurred, but what do you think?

Any advice welcome!

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Well for a start you shouldnt be behind them focusing on the backs..

the blur happens with whats in the background not whats next to the person... your background looks miles away so you dont need too small a doff..

also this should be in sports for better response :)
 
oh dear :)

Never take pics of the back swing...
 
Photos at the end of the follow though look nice. I have a few hidden away at home il try and upload tonight.

I like the 3rd one with just the ball, hole and the feet in the shot.
 
Id be tempted to focus on the ball - Thats where the golfers eyes should be and naturally everyone is following the ball once its been hit?
 
As Kipax says, never, ever take photos of a golfer before they have hit the ball. Taking images on the backswing/downswing is potentially asking for trouble.
I have never taken images of golfers, despite loving the sport, but if I do in the future, then I would concentrate on professionals with their help and assistance.
In the first shot, the golfer is taking what we call the "Texas wedge" - putting from well off the green, but not on a baked hard links course where you can get away with it. I would guess that the ball fell well away to the right of the hole, or maybe didn't make the green.
The second shot is just a no.
The third shot, from a different angle possibly, showing the ball - tack sharp - about to drop into the hole, preferably on the edge and toppling in.
 
Where you focus really depends on what you are trying to achieve.

If you are shooting event photos like the golf day then you'll want the person/people in focus, or any kind of portraiture. If you are shooting creatively then what you put in focus, the hole/flag, ball, golf cart, clubhouse is entirely down to you. Focus is all about the subject or point of interest in a subject nothing more.

In your examples FWIW - I would have focus on the golfer in images 1&2, and on the ball/hole in image 3.You could have more DOF in images 1&2. Nothing wrong with having the flag with a little more detail.

I agree with KPIAX though you should be the other side of the golfers - you want faces and expressions. Focussing on the material of the back of a polo shirt doesn't really make for a great shot unless maybe your background is the grandstand full of crowds at the 18th hole of a major and you are trying to tell a bigger story. I'd also agree that accepted practice, and indeed an absolute must for any photography of professionals is that you don't shoot before the ball is struck. Nothing to say you can't do it during a planned portrait shoot but do that to a PGA player and you'll know about it - and if you were accredited then you'll likely have that accreditation removed.
 
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