Shooting football... any advice for someone that hasn't shot this sport before?

W44NNE

W44NNE

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Hi all, I've been invited to shoot a football match at a large-ish stadium. I normally shoot Automotive so it's a bit of a new one for me, as I try to expand on my repertoire of photography.

Have you got any tips?

Techniques, focal lengths, JPEG vs RAW (I'm normally solely a RAW shooter but I will need to hand over the files asap for this so is JPG better?), should I be creative or shoot tight on a specific player etc.

As you can probably tell, I'm a complete newbie to this, so any help, no matter how trivial would be really helpful.

Thanks
 
Basic tips would be to get low down, take a stool or sit on your gears hard case if you have one, something like that - standing up for photos really doesn't work very often

Look for the best comination of light and backgrounds. If you're in a large-ish stadium you might have the opportunity to get the stands in the background which are often better than the passing railway line or whatever else is there!

Obviously, continuous AF, I don't like dropping the shutter below 1/1000th

Shooting from behind the goal lines, lenses were typically a 70-200mm for action in the goal mouth, with something like a 400mm for action further away (full frame body assumed).

I'm a RAW shooter, but for what you're doing I'd switch to jpeg.

As for framing, what do the people you're shooting want? That will determine the tight / creative conundrum. Don't be afraid to look for shots of managers, interesting people in the crowd if you get the playing stuff covered

Hope that helps for starters

Mike
 
This is really helpful, thanks. I was told 1/1600 but I’m unsure which camera I’ll use, and if I go with my Micro Four Thirds setup, I’ll struggle at those speeds… good to hear I can go near to 1/1000th hopefully
 
The first port of call for any task like this would be to check out what others have delivered.

It’s peak action mostly.

The problem is (as with most sports photography) it really helps to understand the game so that you can follow the action. The better you read the game, the better the images.

I have a gig twice a year shooting amateur sports and I do ok. But I’d never take on a high profile job cos I don’t have the knowledge and experience. I’d happily take on a commission to shoot rallying cos it’s ‘what I know’
 
100% agree about game knowledge. I’ve always been in to sports with engines, so as soon as you start talking about off-side rules etc, you might as well be Oppenheimer trying to teach me at Uni. I haven’t a clue lol.

Saying that though, I’ve shot various things in the past that I’ve been new to, and the clients have been happy, so this will be an interesting opportunity. I won’t get some of the action for sure, but I will hopefully capture enough of it that makes it worthwhile.

I’ll look at some football photos over the coming days and try to find some known photographers in the industry for ideas. Thanks
 
Have a look at Mark Kerton on YouTube - in his latest videos he looks at the shots and explains the reasons he took them throwing in some tips along the way
 
'Football'...do you mean soccer, or American football, or Canadian football or Australian football?
Would you be at the level of the pitch/field, or up in the stands?
daytime, or night time?

Quite different recommendations, depending upon which situation, from veterans appropriate to that situation!
 
W44NNE said:
100% agree about game knowledge. I’ve always been in to sports with engines, so as soon as you start talking about off-side rules etc, you might as well be Oppenheimer trying to teach me at Uni. I haven’t a clue lol.

Saying that though, I’ve shot various things in the past that I’ve been new to, and the clients have been happy, so this will be an interesting opportunity. I won’t get some of the action for sure, but I will hopefully capture enough of it that makes it worthwhile.

I’ll look at some football photos over the coming days and try to find some known photographers in the industry for ideas. Thanks
Click to expand...

If you don’t know the rules then shoot to the whistle. Don’t put the camera down because someone got fouled, keep shooting until the whistle goes. I assume they are looking for goal mouth action, the moment a header for a goal or celebration of a goal being the No.1 kind of shots, then other things like a tackle, foul, or even injuries.

There are of course other things like managers shouting and pointing, the goalie making a diving save, the moment the ref showing a Red card to a player.

Oh, bring a monopod.
 
wiltw said:
'Football'...do you mean soccer, or American football, or Canadian football or Australian football?
Would you be at the level of the pitch/field, or up in the stands?
daytime, or night time?

Quite different recommendations, depending upon which situation, from veterans appropriate to that situation!
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for the reply. "Soccer" I guess but as this is a UK site, I assumed football would be the best term.

I'm at pitch-level and my first match is a daytime one. The stadium appears to have reasonable light going on, but there are plenty of digital advertising boards so I don't know how that'll affect white balance and so on.
 
Raymond Lin said:
If you don’t know the rules then shoot to the whistle. Don’t put the camera down because someone got fouled, keep shooting until the whistle goes. I assume they are looking for goal mouth action, the moment a header for a goal or celebration of a goal being the No.1 kind of shots, then other things like a tackle, foul, or even injuries.

There are of course other things like managers shouting and pointing, the goalie making a diving save, the moment the ref showing a Red card to a player.

Oh, bring a monopod.
Click to expand...
Thanks, really great advice from all of you.

I was considering my monopod but they always feel so limiting. I don't believe I can stand up and my equipment isn't crazy-heavy so I think for my first match I'll just hand-hold and see how I get on. I could live to regret this lol.
 
W44NNE said:
Thanks, really great advice from all of you.

I was considering my monopod but they always feel so limiting. I don't believe I can stand up and my equipment isn't crazy-heavy so I think for my first match I'll just hand-hold and see how I get on. I could live to regret this lol.
Click to expand...
And this would be the first place the ‘knowledge’ kicks in.
I’ve never shot pro football, but I watch a lot of it.
And all the pitch side photographers sit on portable stools and use a monopod on their longer lens and a 70-200 hand held for closer action hand held.
 
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wiltw said:
'Football'...do you mean soccer, or American football, or Canadian football or Australian football?
Would you be at the level of the pitch/field, or up in the stands?
daytime, or night time?

Quite different recommendations, depending upon which situation, from veterans appropriate to that situation!
Click to expand...
Seriously don’t ;)
If you say ‘football’ in every country in the world (except one) everyone knows what you mean.
What you call ‘football’ would be described worldwide (except in one country) as American Football.
Rugby, Aussie Rules, Gaelic football etc are always called by their specific name.

Also there’s enough detail in the original post to realise he’s shooting pitch side.

And please only read this bit if you have a sense of humour - it’s played with a ball and feet. It’s not an egg that’s played with the hands. ;) foot-ball not hand-egg
 
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Phil V said:
Seriously don’t ;)
If you say ‘football’ in every country in the world (except one) everyone knows what you mean.
What you call ‘football’ would be described worldwide (except in one country) as American Football. https://www.google.com/a/prometheus...m/a/cpanel/prometheusmedical.ca/Dashboardossi
Rugby, Aussie Rules, Gaelic football etc are always called by their specific name.

Also there’s enough detail in the original post to realise he’s shooting pitch side.

And please only read this bit if you have a sense of humour - it’s played with a ball and feet. It’s not an egg that’s played with the hands. ;) foot-ball not hand-egg
Click to expand...
Unless this forum only wants UK participants and states that clearly to others, we should not assume provincial terms, but the possibility from other English-speaking participants from around the world, shouldn't we?
 
wiltw said:
Unless this forum only wants UK participants and states that clearly to others, we should not assume provincial terms, but the possibility from other English-speaking participants from around the world, shouldn't we?
Click to expand...
Well of course. But if Americans wish to interact with the whole of the English speaking world, they should realise that it's them that have the 'provincial' use of 'football' ;)
In every other country in the world 'football' is football as per my original post.

And if you were genuinely curious, rather than just wanting to make a point, you could have looked at the location of the thread starter. Hey ho :)

edit to add. You have posted some really interesting content, and your continued engagement is welcome. A disagreement about the meaning of 'football' would be a strange hill to die on
 
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Phil V said:
And this would be the first place the ‘knowledge’ kicks in.
I’ve never shot pro football, but I watch a lot of it.
And all the pitch side photographers sit on portable stools and use a monopod on their longer lens and a 70-200 hand held for closer action hand held.
Click to expand...
Very true, but also a lot of them have a 400 f2.8 on their monopods whereas (sadly) I don’t have anything like that lol. I’ll see how I go. Sometimes, the less equipment I have, the better I shoot.
 
W44NNE said:
Very true, but also a lot of them have a 400 f2.8 on their monopods whereas (sadly) I don’t have anything like that lol. I’ll see how I go. Sometimes, the less equipment I have, the better I shoot.
Click to expand...
Can I ask what your ‘long’ lens plan is?

Cos whilst I’m all for not encouraging ‘too much gear’ you ought to be looking at a 2 camera setup with a 70-200 and something longer.
 
As others have said above and I'd add depending on the level of clubyou'll need a camera thats decent ay high iso if it's an evening game. Some clubs I've shot at have great lighting others terrible, even with good lighting it's often a stop or two lower for a corner.
If your using a stool or hard case to sit on check your monopod goes low enough, some dont if your stitting low with a gripped camera.
I dont know what lens you have but I hope you have something shorter than a 400mm, as others have said you'll need something in the 70-300ish range.
 
Thanks for all the help, it came in handy today. I shot the images and the client is happy.

I felt like a beginner again, even with all my years of experience in other areas of photography lol, and also I was certainly the underdog as I was using Micro Four Thirds. However it all went to plan. The images off a 400m f2.8 would be far sharper, but in my other photography, I'm seeing less emphasis on quality from what's required by clients, and more "just get the shot".

I need to work on the focus setting software my E-M1X as I missed a few due to soft focus, but I'm hopeful it's just a C-AF sensitivity setting.
 
wiltw said:
'Football'...do you mean soccer, or American football, or Canadian football or Australian football?
Would you be at the level of the pitch/field, or up in the stands?
daytime, or night time?
Click to expand...


He means FOOTBALL. The internationally recognised name for the sport in every country apart from the USA.

And since this is a UK based forum, the person that asked the question is from the UK and so are 99% of the responders... stet.
 
W44NNE said:
... but in my other photography, I'm seeing less emphasis on quality from what's required by clients, and more "just get the shot".
Click to expand...


In professional photography that should never be an excuse/reason for producing substandard work.

If we don't maintain the standards, then how can we expect other people to place a decent value on the output?

Having said that, if the results from the match were decent, all is well.
 
DemiLion said:
He means FOOTBALL. The internationally recognised name for the sport in every country apart from the USA.

And since this is a UK based forum, the person that asked the question is from the UK and so are 99% of the responders... stet.
Click to expand...
Fine, your rather provincial xenophobic thinking, also seen in others, is driving away productive knowledgeable participation from those seeking a new 'home' after their photo forum is deactivated, including many European continent participants!
 
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DemiLion said:
In professional photography that should never be an excuse/reason for producing substandard work.

If we don't maintain the standards, then how can we expect other people to place a decent value on the output?

Having said that, if the results from the match were decent, all is well.
Click to expand...
This is true, but I see a shift with my types of work. Clients are starting to ask for “things to be more in focus”. What they mean is a larger depth of field like a phone.

As much as I’ve tried to push against this, there’s too much competition for me to simply enforce how I want to shoot, so I’ll just mix both scenarios.

The world and how it reacts to photography is changing whether we like it or not.
 
wiltw said:
Fine, your rather provincial xenophobic thinking, also seen in others, is driving away productive knowledgeable participation from those seeking a new 'home' after their photo forum is deactivated, including many European continent participants!
Click to expand...


Provincial? The whole world apart from your country calls the sport the same thing and yet we are the ones with the small town attitude?

Rather a typical US attitude I'm afraid.

Do you often walk in to your neighbour's house and force him to repaper his walls? Or change his TV channel? Or eat at your own fast food retailer?
 
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DemiLion said:
Provincial? The whole world apart from your country calls the sport the same thing and yet we are the ones with the small town attitude?

Rather a typical US attitude I'm afraid.

Do you often walk in to your neighbour's house and force him to repaper his walls? Or change his TV channel? Or eat at your own fast food retailer?
Click to expand...
I apologize for using the wrong word. 'Unwelcoming' seems to fit better.
 
wiltw said:
Fine, your rather provincial xenophobic thinking, also seen in others, is driving away productive knowledgeable participation from those seeking a new 'home' after their photo forum is deactivated, including many European continent participants!
Click to expand...
I’ll repeat.
Football is football in over 200 countries by 250 million people, only one country has a different name for it.

So bluntly; the only person with a ‘provincial’ view of the word football is unfortunately you.

And again, I think you’ve added a good deal to some technical debates and you clearly have some great technical knowledge of photography.

It’d be a real shame if you cling to this rock that is so obviously wrong.
And as for ‘unwelcoming’, no one else brought this up. You decided to admonish the OP for using an internationally recognised term that doesn’t work in only your country. We’re just pointing out it’s not him that’s wrong.

It’s as bats as complaining we’re measuring in millimetres.
 
wiltw said:
Fine, your rather provincial xenophobic thinking, also seen in others, is driving away productive knowledgeable participation from those seeking a new 'home' after their photo forum is deactivated, including many European continent participants!
Click to expand...
Really @wiltw, TP, narrow minded - I’m referring to your post on POTN.

When I was on POTN I joined in several discussions and the response that I received from some of the American members was “you’re British, we are talking about American…blah, blah, blah.” So you are in actual fact accusing some of the TP members of doing exactly the same thing that some of the American members did on POTN. Pot-kettle-black springs to mind.

Oh, and I love the way that you have cherry picked all the negative comments out of those 20 reviews about TP. Yet 7 of those reviews are 4 & 5 star rated, but you seemed to ignore these as they don’t support your prejudiced opinion of TP.

On a positive note you do seem to have made the effort to engage with TP, which is more than most of the others did.
 
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