Football Photography

Characteristics

Characteristics

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444
Name
Jason
Edit My Images
Yes
My friend is the assistant manager of a local football team and has asked me to take some pictures this weekend.

I have just bought a few bits over the past few weeks.
Upgraded from a Fuji S7000 to a D90 to the D300s over christmas.

Obviously, I havent got the foggiest.:shrug:

Any tips (inc basics)
I was thinking can you guide me on the following.
- Basic equipment required
- Position
- Camera settings

Thanks
 
Hi Jason

Basic Equipment

Camera body x 2

Long Prime lens, 300MM minimum

Medium zoom lens (70-200MM, Preferably F/2.8) or shorter prime lens ( i use a 135MM F/2)

Monopod

Fishing type stool or hardcase to sit on

Positioning

Sit down LOW, the lower the better, it makes the players dominant in the frame

I have two preferred positions: First is behind the goals about 10-15ft in from the corner flag

Second is along the touchline level with the edge of the box.


Camera settings

I use Manual 99.9999999999999% of the time, otherwise you can use AV. I dont like AV for football so i use TV and a couple of handy custom functions of the MKIII.

In Manual you want the following settings (roughly)

S/S 1/640TH 1/800TH
F/2.8
ISO adjusted to suit conditions, but as low as possible
Single AF Point, usually Centre
Spot Metering
AI Servo

For AV or TV

Keep the same settings but use Centre Weighted or Evaluative Metering

When you edit the images you need to crop as tight as possible my picture editor always says, shoot tight and frame tighter ;)

Try to avoid cropping Limbs off players, unless its a closeup. If you do crop limbs, crop them above or below the joints.

Hope this helps

Andy
 
I've only shot 1 match and it was under floodlights and got a few OK images nothing exceptional I don't think.
What I learnt,
fast glass I used a 70-200 f/2.8 IS yeah I'm on canon so find your own.
Higher shutter speeds or you will get blur try to get 1/320 or fasterThat was the bare minimum really to just get ball blur
Up the ISO, I limited myself to 400 I was afraid of too much noise which left me on slower shutter speeds so some ball blur and maybe foot blur.
Try to fill the frame with the players so less cropping.
Try to pinpoint a few players at a time don't bother with the wide shots 2 going for a header type or 1 running with the ball they are far more pleasing to the eye than the penalty area just full of players waiting for a cross try get the guy crossing the ball.

Some of that sounds pretty easy but bare in mind these guys are running about, your tracking them with the lens on a fairly narrow field of view it is far from easy. Unfortunately I am unable to show my photos off as the game was an FA organised game. I shot with the permission of the club and they have the images.

I know a few of the mistakes were lack of knowledge of my kit, The ISO was the main thing I can fix the problem after so I should have allowed it to go higher to allow me to shoot with a faster shutter. 800 or 1600 would have made a lot of difference

I hope I get another chance to try it out again I did enjoy it as the game went on the images improved.
 
Can't add to much, i've shot a few football match's, while a 300mm prime would be nice it's quite expensive unless you are going to do this in a serious capacity, i use a Nikon 70-300mm VR not the fastest of lenses, but you can get some decent result's, if you haven't got it already try using the battery grip with your D300s, this will give you a good increase with FPS providing you use the right battery's, as for shooting, you should be able to get away with ISO 800/1000 with the D300s, always try and keep the ball in the action, and try to minimize things like cropped heads, legs, feet, arm's, i know easier said than done with the action moving fast, but shoot off plenty of frame's and you should get a few decent keeper's (photos not goalie's :D) i generally use shutter priority, but i'm sure there's no hard and fasten rule's, it's whatever suit's you best, also try getting hold of a small stool, the type fishermen use when there sitting by the side of a river, i use one with my Monopod and find it great, then just go and enjoy, hope that helps :thumbs:

Apologies, i should have read Rovers Andy's post first, as i've duplicated a couple of his point's :bonk:
 
Try to get the ball in the picture if it's an action shot, it looks better.
Don't forget the celebrations after the goals, or the reactions of the crowd/managers etc.
 
Thanks guys (and Rovers_Andy about the positioning).

When I say local, I mean local.
But its nice to be asked (only if have the micky taken after with a pint after).

Its £4 on the gate, and I get in for free.
No money for me, but it will be nice to use the camera other than learning about f stops (yes I know nothing).

Just need a monopod now.
 
Rovers_Andy said:
Hi Jason

Basic Equipment

Camera body x 2

Long Prime lens, 300MM minimum

Medium zoom lens (70-200MM, Preferably F/2.8) or shorter prime lens ( i use a 135MM F/2)

Monopod

Fishing type stool or hardcase to sit on

Positioning

Sit down LOW, the lower the better, it makes the players dominant in the frame

I have two preferred positions: First is behind the goals about 10-15ft in from the corner flag

Second is along the touchline level with the edge of the box.


Camera settings

I use Manual 99.9999999999999% of the time, otherwise you can use AV. I dont like AV for football so i use TV and a couple of handy custom functions of the MKIII.

In Manual you want the following settings (roughly)

S/S 1/640TH 1/800TH
F/2.8
ISO adjusted to suit conditions, but as low as possible
Single AF Point, usually Centre
Spot Metering
AI Servo

For AV or TV

Keep the same settings but use Centre Weighted or Evaluative Metering

When you edit the images you need to crop as tight as possible my picture editor always says, shoot tight and frame tighter ;)

Try to avoid cropping Limbs off players, unless its a closeup. If you do crop limbs, crop them above or below the joints.

Hope this helps

Andy
Click to expand...

cheers andy...i wish i'd had this info last saturday..:thumbs:
 
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