First attempt at Sport Shots (and first post!)

amb3rsil

amb3rsil

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138
Name
Andrew
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi,

Big hello to everyone here, newbie forum member and finally plucked up the courage to put my first post up. Was asked to take some shots of a local hockey team club. These I think were the pick of the bunch. First time I have shot sports, WELL difficult! C & C most grateful!

Thanks,

A

1) Push Hit

hockey38_1024x588.jpg


2) Penalty Corner Receive

hockey34_855x768.jpg


3) Penalty Corner Hit

hockey35_779x768.jpg


4) Goalie On the Floor Save

hockey30_1024x670.jpg
 
I can't give you advice since I aint a professional so i'll leave it to the professional photographers on hear :) But i like the 4th one!
 
Welcome, I like the last one, its in focus (y) not too keen on the others.

Im not an expert Im learning also, so dont take my comments too seriously!

I think you would be better going to a proper match, this looks like a practice or a training session. You would be able to concentrate on your photos whilst the girls are playing and not taking any notice of you (y)
 
Welcome, and nice to see that you've got the courage to post images.
I've done a fair bit of sport photography myself - even getting paid for it these days. Although I still don't consider myself an all knowing pro - but I thought to give you my views and little advice. Hope it helps....

I will go through the pictures one by one.. so you can get a little advice on each. But don't take it too seriously, these are just my opinions... Not the ultimate truth.

1. Cropped this one too tight, would be nice to see other players around and more of where the ball is coming from and where its going to. Other option would've been to shoot it so you'll see the players face.
Try to include more in the image, just a player with her back towards you and a ball do not make that interesting of a photo.
Timing on this one is nice - you got the ball just coming (or leaving) the stick. Good capture of the moment.

2. For this one even this tight crop could work, would benefit from a little more in the photo and most importantly the BALL. Always try to include the ball, puck or whatever to the image.
You've got a nice angle on this shot - I like the fact that you are at the same level as the player. THe background is quite distracting in this one.. and as mentioned it seems this was a practice session so it is even more 'messy'. due to the variety of colors of shirts and shoes.. would've worked better if all were wearing team outfits..

3. If you would've captured this from the front, it would have been a very nice shot. Now the messy background distracts from the player. But even from this direction I think this is nice shot.. really caught the moment once again in this one. Shame about the background though...

4. Once again - show me more !!! (y) Include a goal, the ball and even the shooter (if she's not too far) to the shot. This gives us more of feel as to what is happening in the picture. If you were going for the 'save shot' then taking it in front of the action would once again have been better. Then you get to see the face and expression of the goalie - from this angle the face of the shooter would have been a nice addition.

You have got the exposure nicely in the photos (second one could've been a little faster as it's a bit soft) so that's great, you also have caught the moment nicely in 1 and 3, so you seem to know the sport a bit and know how to anticipate the movement of the ball.

All in all a good and brave try at first time sports - a subject that is possibly the trickiest to capture. But when you get 'that' shot.. you'll be smiling all the way home! Keep at it, practice and don't give up. There is plenty of good in these shots, especially when you think this was your first go !!!
 
Thanks very much for your advice REALLY appreciated. I am conscious about the focus, think I need a quicker lens and/or use a monopod. I had a tripod but field hockey was just too damn quick, so I ended up hand held for the majority of shots. (A slight hangover, if I am honest prob didn't help the shake free hands!)

Great feedback. Absolutely right about the lack of other elements in the shot. I did take some advice here about always getting the ball in the shot where possible and not taking photo's of the backs of heads. It is pretty tricky though! I do quite a lot portrait and macro, so I think my problem stems from just focusing on one element..namely one player rather than trying to get a "action" shot with more of a story element.

Based on your advice I went back through the shots and found these:-

#1 Hopefully this shot tells a story a bit more. It's not brilliant, the angle/focus/exp isn't great but..compositionally with the ball needing to get to the player in the distance through the opposing player seems to work? Maybe the receiving player should be the focus though rather than the girl hitting it to her?

hockeyhmm1.jpg


#2 Same girl practicing the penalty corner pickup..Totally agree about the messy background..This though showing her concentrating on the ball though and it being in the shot..Again focus and messy background though.

hockeyhmm2.jpg


#3 You mentioned on the shot with the single player and the ball, it would have been better to see her face. I caught this one and was a bit gutted the stick was chopped off the shot. But is this more what you mean?

hockeyhmm3.jpg


Thanks SO much for your advice. Really appreciate it.

Cheers,

A
 
Hello there,

Liking these images, these are really nice one.
The last two of this lot are very nice.

The second shot with a clean background and I think it would be great.. (unfortunately we can't always control the background...) But I like the image, the ball is in it, you can see her face and the concentration.. well caught. Faster lens on this one, so the image would be nice and sharp..

The third one, just missing the tip of the stick. So that's a little downer on this one, but yes that's the sort of shot I thought about. Along with the second shot I am sure these would be great on the teams website's photo gallery (if they have one.. if not, suggest you would be willing to take pictures for it. That is if you live close by and want to do it..It would be a great way to get more practice!!)

The first one is showing more action, still quite empty image. But I hope you agree that it is better than the first image of the first set you posted? Another little bit of advice is that maybe try to get the two players a little closer to each other in the image.. now there is a little bit 'too much' in between the two opposing players to make it 'intense' image. Still, improvement from the before mentioned shot!

I think you'll have more luck in getting more 'action' to the shots near the goal. I would imagine that's where you get a good bunch of players trying for the goal. So over there you can't avoid having plenty of action in your image.

I look forward to seeing more of your images, and I hope that these little bits of advice encourage you to take more pictures!!
 
loving the 3rd one the penalty hit with the water coming off the astroturf
and just something about the way her right leg is positioned i think it looks great.
i know some girls who play hockey i may try and tag along with them and take some photos.
(plus some of them are rather pretty ;))
 
GooGaBu - Many thanks for your advice! Great to get some feedback and will certainly be thinking about it on my next outing. Had to buy some more memory cards, as sports just chewed through my 2gb card! Will post some more when I can. I'm gonna stick at it though, always shyed away from sports but catching the bug I think.

Scottishpaul - again thanks for the comments. The spray off a water based pitch is great, so try and get to one if you can. I'll post a couple with spray shots if you like. Make sure you get down low (I was sat on my bum for that shot) to get it though.. good luck with the ladies..from a photography point of view of course :)
 
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