Rugby/ Football Capture: Framing vs. Cropping

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Julian Mole

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Julian
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Hi,

Just wondering when the experienced Sports Shooters here are capturing their action images if they try to frame their images well at the point of capture (eg. get it right in camera) or if they aim for the catching the action first and then tightening up the composition afterwards by cropping the image in post to suit their needs?

I had my first go at rugby over the weekend and was caught out a few times by trying to frame properly in camera only for the subject to move in a way I didn't anticipate and I end up with a player a foot missing (for example).
So is it better in the heat of the action to frame more loosely and then crop (between 25 to 50%) into the image afterwards?

I guess also as you get used to it shooting games you can better anticipate the action. Anyway I would be interested to hear the thoughts of the seasoned togs here.

Julian.
 
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Union is more difficult than League as the players arms are waving about all the time with an ooooh, get you lovey gesture.
 
I don't do rugby but football and I always try to get it right in camera settings wise but frame alittle wider which allows me to crop and straighten images if needed
 
On a prime such as a 400mm you don't have much choice about 'fit' of course, but in any case compositional framing still remains important. The trick as you say is anticipating the action better - watch the players' body shape and direction, and use your spare eye (should normally be your left) to watch the field and look for gaps they may run into. And if you can, use your ears to listen out for other players calling for the ball or other instructions (not easy with crowd).

A lot of this has to do with game knowledge too - it really helps to know how the game is played, what the typical plays/directions are, and also which players are likely to give you a picture (more a matter of probability than certainty, but I always bear this in mind). I'm sure you love rugby enough to have watched loads of it, so apply that knowledge.

If the action is too far away to make a decent frame even on a long prime, you have to ask yourself whether its worth getting. I'd only be doing this for scoring plays or celes, to be honest. And your backgrounds will be a mess if in a stadium or similar.

On a zoom I've found many more keepers from staying loose and cropping in. This makes your job of following the action easier as you're working with the additional depth of field rather than against it (players will increase in relative size in the frame the closer they get to you, giving you less time to compose). Do note that the harder the crop the more pixels you're going to need out of the camera - upgrading my systems from 10mpx to 16mpx made a huge difference to my work in this respect.
 
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Hi Gary, Steven and David,

Thank you for your helpful responses, much appreciated.

And David thank you for the expanding your answer to include lots of very helpful info!

Re. Sensor size. Yes, cropping is something I normally try and avoid/ keep to a minimum as I only have 10MP (Canon 40D) and image quality doesn't hold up very well to large crops.
 
Yep - you're stuck on a prime lens but it's amazing just how much you can crop and still get a publishable shot. With a zoom like a 70-200 for the goalmouth I'll stay wider than strictly necessary as the ball can ping anywhere and you're more likely to get the action in the frame to then crop into. Better a cropped shot than no shot at all. However, you've got to be spot on with your focus point otherwise you get a very sharp picture of the spectators in the background.
 
dafphotographer said:
and use your spare eye (should normally be your left)
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Interesting. So you're saying that you SHOULD be shooting using your right eye? Surely you shoot with which ever eye you are most comfortable with/your stronger eye?!
 
i shoot with my left eye, if i shot with my right the camera would just be stuck on my face and full of snot
 
Thanks Tobers. Guess I will have to practice leaving a bit more space around the players and follow the action waiting for 'the definitive moment'.
However, you've got to be spot on with your focus point otherwise you get a very sharp picture of the spectators in the background.
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:-D Amen to that! Yes, definitely on a prosumer body like the 40D where I only have 9 AF points and no assist option! But have plenty of practice from shooting birds in flight so should be OK. Just as an experiment I tried playing with using the lower central AF and focusing on the legs of the player with the ball to see if that improved composition, remember I was trying to frame in camera, it worked ok but I went back to central AF point as easier to switch between Landscape and Portrait without having to move the AF point about - yes you boys with 1D bodies have it too easy! ;-)
 
Your relative depth of field with a 1.6 crop camera will be more at any given aperture than most pros get with their gear as they tend to shoot either full frame or with Canon 1.3 crop cameras.
 
Gary Coyle said:
i shoot with my left eye, if i shot with my right the camera would just be stuck on my face and full of snot
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Same,I shoot with my left eye. Only problem can be condensation on the back of the camera around the bottom right of the screen on the colder days from breathing through the nose...!
 
Seba said:
Interesting. So you're saying that you SHOULD be shooting using your right eye? Surely you shoot with which ever eye you are most comfortable with/your stronger eye?!
Click to expand...

I used to shoot with my left as it was most comfortable/natural, however when I realised I needed my other eye to watch everything else but the frame I trained myself to switch. It wasn't easy but I can definitely recommend it - you get a whole eye back!
 
I shoot with my right eye but always close the left to make looking through the view finder easier
 
I never considered that I probably have an exceptionally large head. Its for fitting all the brains of course.

And yes, the eye is closed for composing, but I often have it open to watch the field or sidelines. Its weird having one regular eye and the other at 400mm, but so long as your brain avoids trying too hard to resolve the two images as one, you'll be fine!
 
I shoot with my right eye and usually keep right eye open to watch for action. However its fustrating when your in a really close crop to the player your following, he passes the ball and you cant find it again and have to lower the camera :p! doh*
 
meatcandy89 said:
I shoot with my right eye and usually keep right eye open to watch for action. However its fustrating when your in a really close crop to the player your following, he passes the ball and you cant find it again and have to lower the camera :p! doh*
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Just how many right eyes have you got Tom :D
 
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