Girl's HS Soccer.

[jacobovs]

I don't often shoot the girl's team but had the pleasure of doing so last night. They are fun to watch and shoot. i noticed that they are frequently much more expressive during the game. I need to work on that part of my shooting. I always forget to shoot the players after the goal or some celebration.

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Any CC is always welcome.

Shal

[fidgety]

Nice series of good, quality snaps. However, I'm jealous. We still have six inches of snow on the ground and soccer is a looooong way off.

[jacobovs]

Nice series of good, quality snaps. However, I'm jealous. We still have six inches of snow on the ground and soccer is a looooong way off.

Thanks , That really reams a lot. It will come faster than you think. You should try to find some rugby matches. They frequently play in the snow.

[preschool mom]

My 7 y/o just started playing soccer and I just started taking photos . . . I'm so excited that 1 out of 50 photos turned out pretty cool for a newbie mom.

[TheRiparian]

I shoot fast sports with my Canon 50D, as it is faster than my 5D and the 1.6 CF makes my 100-400mm zoom good for the whole field (aside from the five or so meters right front of me). I know the game pretty well, and I have the timing down to the point where I very rarely use rapid fire. However what I'm struggling with now is where to set the autofocus point. The lens is more than fast enough to focus, at least if I can anticipate important shots even a fraction of a second ahead of time, but especially with the long-distance shots the player frequently moves outside the center focus point and becomes blurred. If I set it on full auto focus so that it uses all autofocus points, then more often than not another player or spectator will creep in peripherally to the shot and blow the focus as well.

The last couple of games I have chosen the focus point to be the middle bottom point (my 50D has nine autofocus points), and I try to keep this focused at the subject's feet. This keeps his subject well placed in the frame. What I find is that if I'm little off it will focus on the pitch right near the player, and thus the player will still be in reasonable focus. This works quite well, especially if the lighting is bright and the aperture can be stopped down a bit. However it does take some practice to keep the autofocus point at the player's feet, while still composing the rest of the shot, as it is not in the center of the frame. I have noticed that sometimes in poor lighting, when the aperture is full open, a significant number of the shots have a softly blurred subject. Nevertheless my yield using this method is much better than using the center point as the autofocus point.

Any other ideas for how to focus more effectively? I have yet to try manually focusing. The game is fast enough (I am photographing girls soccer at the select teenage level, so they are very fast and very good), and I'm zooming in and out enough during the game, that I cannot imagine my yield would be anywhere as good as autofocus. Any suggestions for how to use manual focus, other than the obvious of turning the focus ring?

Here's a link to some recent soccer pix: http://sites.google.com/site/riparianphotography/sports

[TheRiparian]

BTW, jacobovs, those are great shots. What camera/lens did you use? I love the way the background clutter is so blurred as to be hardly noticeable. Makes me think that I need to shoot with a wide open aperture. It's hard to avoid clutter on most of the pitches I shoot at.

[dmourati]

Nice shots. I started playing soccer recently in Palo Alto.

Number 2 is what's known as dangerous play.

[jacobovs]

I shoot fast sports with my Canon 50D, as it is faster than my 5D and the 1.6 CF makes my 100-400mm zoom good for the whole field (aside from the five or so meters right front of me). I know the game pretty well, and I have the timing down to the point where I very rarely use rapid fire. However what I'm struggling with now is where to set the autofocus point. The lens is more than fast enough to focus, at least if I can anticipate important shots even a fraction of a second ahead of time, but especially with the long-distance shots the player frequently moves outside the center focus point and becomes blurred. If I set it on full auto focus so that it uses all autofocus points, then more often than not another player or spectator will creep in peripherally to the shot and blow the focus as well.

The last couple of games I have chosen the focus point to be the middle bottom point (my 50D has nine autofocus points), and I try to keep this focused at the subject's feet. This keeps his subject well placed in the frame. What I find is that if I'm little off it will focus on the pitch right near the player, and thus the player will still be in reasonable focus. This works quite well, especially if the lighting is bright and the aperture can be stopped down a bit. However it does take some practice to keep the autofocus point at the player's feet, while still composing the rest of the shot, as it is not in the center of the frame. I have noticed that sometimes in poor lighting, when the aperture is full open, a significant number of the shots have a softly blurred subject. Nevertheless my yield using this method is much better than using the center point as the autofocus point.

Any other ideas for how to focus more effectively? I have yet to try manually focusing. The game is fast enough (I am photographing girls soccer at the select teenage level, so they are very fast and very good), and I'm zooming in and out enough during the game, that I cannot imagine my yield would be anywhere as good as autofocus. Any suggestions for how to use manual focus, other than the obvious of turning the focus ring?

Here's a link to some recent soccer pix: http://sites.google.com/site/riparianphotography/sports

I actually shoot wide open (f2.8) and in auto focus. I don't use the metrix ( 51pt) AF for the reasons you mentioned. I use a single point with a wider thn average capture radius. This can be set in camera for Nikon, I don't know how its done on Canon. Also, I shoot on continuous , which I think is called IV servo in Canon, That way the focus is on even when players are moving.

Hope this helps.

[jacobovs]

BTW, jacobovs, those are great shots. What camera/lens did you use? I love the way the background clutter is so blurred as to be hardly noticeable. Makes me think that I need to shoot with a wide open aperture. It's hard to avoid clutter on most of the pitches I shoot at.

Thanks, I used the 400mm f2.8 set at f2.8.

[belongus3]

Good capturing of the moment on the last photo with the girls. All the photo looks nice and sharp..good job.

[TheRiparian]

Thanks, Shal--very helpful! I tried that today, shooting in the mid-day sun, and using my 100-400 4/5.6 and it seemed to work fairly well. There was the occasional blown shot with the distant trees in perfect focus, a few more that look front-focused according to the grass (it was not a turf field), and the occasional motion artifact.

[TheRiparian]

Shal, I just can't get over how lovely those pictures are! it looks like you had the benefit of very nice lighting, which helps. Of course, good technique and good equipment make a huge difference as well. I had the good fortune of shooting a soccer match a couple of weeks ago in very hazy sunlight, so the subjects were very well lit, but diffusely so; sort of like a large atmospheric diffuser on the sun!

May I also ask what you did during the editing process? Obviously, the raw pictures were very good to begin with. But I am wondering what else you were able to do in the editing process to really pull out all of the detail on the faces, without looking harsh or artificial. I think this is the next step for me, to learn how to edit photos well. I like them to look natural, with just enough manipulation to pull out the special qualities of the subject. Any suggestions? thanks for all your help!

[jacobovs]

Shal, I just can't get over how lovely those pictures are! it looks like you had the benefit of very nice lighting, which helps. Of course, good technique and good equipment make a huge difference as well. I had the good fortune of shooting a soccer match a couple of weeks ago in very hazy sunlight, so the subjects were very well lit, but diffusely so; sort of like a large atmospheric diffuser on the sun!

May I also ask what you did during the editing process? Obviously, the raw pictures were very good to begin with. But I am wondering what else you were able to do in the editing process to really pull out all of the detail on the faces, without looking harsh or artificial. I think this is the next step for me, to learn how to edit photos well. I like them to look natural, with just enough manipulation to pull out the special qualities of the subject. Any suggestions? thanks for all your help!

The only thing I use is Aperture 3 to crop,WB correct, and enhance color if needed. I will on occasion use Noise Ninja if the noise is an issue.

[TheRiparian]

Shal--your subtle editorial hand really shows! Just wonderful!

Here are a few from recent weeks; sorry they are not higher res...

[TheRiparian]

sorry, I guess I should've posted those photographs sequentially rather than all at once. My apologies for the jumble...

[Steve Hillman]

Excellent set jacobovs, crisp, clear and colourful. You caught the action well , and the subjects are well isolated by the DOF. Top notch work :thumbsup: