one from my sons junior cup football match...advice appreciated.

Carlo

Carlo

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Carl
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This is one of the few pics from last Saturdays cup match that i'm pleased with. More to do with having niggling issues with my new 1D Mk II than anything (but that's a different thread!!)
Experts will probably find lots wrong with this one, but i love it, how it conveys the action and competitiveness(love the shadows from the in air player!)!
What i would like is some advice, things like where's the best place to position yourself, what to watch out for, best angles, any tips really. Going through my pics afterwards noticed there were too many 'back shots' for my liking and i've only captured 2 goals so far!! (hard to stop myself actually watching the game! :LOL:)

10052558856_93d7c34421_c.jpg
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3Dcup1 by Carlos575, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Carlo,

You have every right to be pleased with that shot. There is a lot that is good about it, reasonably background, blurred by tight DoF, good focus, frozen by nice fast shutter speed, and some drama. So the fundamentals are good. Personally I would crop out the right hand player altogether.
I can't really help you on position as football is not my sport. However regarding reach, you could consider using a 1.4x converter. That lens is so good that the effect of the converter on quality is not that great. Of course you will lose a stop to F4 but thats not too bad.
Alternatively lookout for a 2nd hand 400m f2.8.
 
You really have to decide on what you want to capture and position yourself for that... That's why photographers usually cover "a team." You can't adequately cover "a game" from one position, you have to move.

Re TC's: If you add TC's you will have a shallower DOF... (the same is true of using a longer lens). I.e. a 400mm @ f/5.6 (2x tc) will have ~ 1/2 the DOF of the 200mm @ f/2.8. This can be good/bad depending on the situation; just be aware.
 
aePhoto said:
Alternatively lookout for a 2nd hand 400m f2.8.
Click to expand...

then what would he do when the action gets anywhere near close to him? in fact wiht a 400.. anywhere in his half?
 
sk66 said:
You really have to decide on what you want to capture and position yourself for that... That's why photographers usually cover "a team." You can't adequately cover "a game" from one position, you have to move.

Re TC's: If you add TC's you will have a shallower DOF... (the same is true of using a longer lens). I.e. a 400mm @ f/5.6 (2x tc) will have ~ 1/2 the DOF of the 200mm @ f/2.8. This can be good/bad depending on the situation; just be aware.
Click to expand...

Do you mean deeper DoF, not shallower? DoF will grow as the smallest aperture goes up from f/2.8 to say f/5.6.
Personally I wouldn't advise using a 2x converter. The 1.4 converter is design to minimise the loss of F stops.
 
aePhoto said:
Do you mean deeper DoF, not shallower? DoF will grow as the smallest aperture goes up from f/2.8 to say f/5.6.
Personally I wouldn't advise using a 2x converter. The 1.4 converter is design to minimise the loss of F stops.
Click to expand...

No, I mean shallower DOF. Focal length and subject distance have twice the effect on DOF that aperture does.

I use a 2x all the time, but only the latest (ver III). I would put one on a 70-200 f/2.8 for football assuming good light. (140-400mm f/5.6)

This was a test shot with the Nikon 70-200 + 2x TC III...I meant to take it wide open but I bumped it to f/6.3 by accident.


Demo Shot by skersting66, on Flickr

But the lens I would use is probably my 120-300mm f/2.8
 
If the player in yellow is your son, I can see why you would like this image. However I think it would have been better if you had his face in the shot. This is only my personal opinion.

The light was kind to you on this shoot and I also love the light when it's like this.

Perhaps it's something to consider when you next get to shoot.

Backgrounds can make or break a shot so it's also a big factor when deciding where to shoot from, ie your angle. Sometimes it's impossible to choose the background so then you have to limit the effect of the background by shooting wide open and putting it as out of focus as you can. Remember though that this will also make your focus more critical as DoF will be narrower/ shallower.

The general opinion is to shoot from a lower perspective ie sit down on floor or on a low stool. This can sometimes make the background look even worse. In this case I would shoot from a higher point and limit the poor background. Something only you can decide on the day at the given venue.

The 70-200 IS mk is a brilliant lens for sport, I love mine, even more so on a FF body.
 
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Tugster said:
If the player in yellow is your son, I can see why you would like this image. However I think it would have been better if you had his face in the shot. This is only my personal opinion.

The light was kind to you on this shoot and I also love the light when it's like this.

Perhaps it's something to consider when you next get to shoot.

Backgrounds can make or break a shot so it's also a big factor when deciding where to shoot from, ie your angle. Sometimes it's impossible to choose the background so then you have to limit the effect of the background by shooting wide open and putting it as out of focus as you can. Remember though that this will also make your focus more critical as DoF will be narrower/ shallower.

The general opinion is to shoot from a lower perspective ie sit down on floor or on a low stool. This can sometimes make the background look even worse. In this case I would shoot from a higher point and limit the poor background. Something only you can decide on the day at the given venue.

The 70-200 IS mk is a brilliant lens for sport, I love mine, even more so on a FF body.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice Tug, just the things i wanted to hear!
btw, not my son in the pic, he's the team goalkeeper. A tough start to the season, lost 4 out of 5 matches 0-11, 1-13, 1-8 and 0-5.
Think i should set up near his goal to get some guaranteed action shots, but don't think he'd appreciate that!
 
Nice capture Carl, like others have said I would have cropped out the player on the right. Sometimes you cant help the back grounds at our level of sports photography, but I try and walk round the pitch to see where the best place to sit is. I prefer to sit behind the goal near the corner flag that way I will have better chance of getting faces in pictures.
The main thing is to enjoy what you do and practice often.
 
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