May I see your best soccer photo?

<p>Got this one of my son on the soccer field. I made a print when it came time to fundraise and put it up with a caption that said "We need help".</p>

<p>Here's the picture, couldn't get it to go for some reason. While most parents were yelling at their kids to get their heads in the game I was just giggling while taking pictures. Highlight of the season was when my son (who definitely didn't have his head in the game most of the time) scored a goal in the last game. Of course I didn't get that shot, I was too busy cheering.</p><div></div>

<p>I am new to photography, but love the Beautiful Game! There are some amazing shots here; I really enjoy looking at them! I have posted some soccer shots on my blog: http://sites.google.com/site/riparianphotography/sports<br>

These are from the past season, and get updated frequently.</p>

<p>A mid-air collision!</p><div></div>

<p>Here's a funny pic of a player getting nutmeged: I love the looks on the faces of the other players.</p><div></div>

<p>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 rapidfire. 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.</p>

<p>The last couple of games I have chosen the focus point to be the middle bottom point (my 50D has nine the 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.</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>John,<br />Just registered for Photo.net and jumped to the Sports area and searched soccer... went right to the last page and felt like I was reading a post I would have placed here as well. It seems I too am facing the same challenges as I photograph my daughter’s team.<br /><br />I have also switched to a single focal point, however, mine choice was the center. Found that I had to have the accuracy of a sniper or I would inadvertently focus on an object in the background. I really like you idea of using the bottom center focal point and aiming for the feet. I'll have to give this a try.<br>

<br />Poor lighting has also been a challenge for me as well. I typically shoot with my Canon 50D with the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens set to Aperture Priority and the lowest setting as I have been told this will offer the greatest chance of achieving the best Bokeh effect. Of course when I'm shooting the defensive players across the filed from opposite side, they do end up "soft" from time to time. I really don’t understand why they call it "soft"... heck, it's out of focus as far as I'm concerned... Of course if it's the best the lens can do and there is no other way to sharpen the image, then I suppose its a nicer term than saying you lens just can't focus at that distance with those settings... it's a "soft" image....<br /><br />I've been having fun trying to improve my sniper’s aim and I have placed the Auto Focus in the "AI Servo" mode. I use the center focal point aim, try nd track the target, and take my shot. I do end up with a few missed out of focus shots, so I'm looking forward to giving your lower focal point, aim at the feet, technique a try.<br /><br />Another issue I have is with lighting as well. I end up having to increase my ISO settings for early morning or overcast days and I end up with grainy shots I have to post process. Is there some kind of setting in the camera that helps with this? All my pictures are in RAW mode. I'm guessing that the noise reduction is only available for JPG, but I have not tried this yet.<br /><br />I’m having a blast taking pictures, been doing it now for many years as a parent and team photographer. Getting real good at timing the action shots and I’m no longer depending on burst mode. I’m trying to keep the post processing time down by keeping the photo count down. Typically go home with 500 to 600 shots for a game and end up with 250 to 300 worth keeping. Most rejects are too "soft" or some other player runs in front just as I'm shooting..... I use my EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens for all the games.<br />Anyway, thanks for your post, I too await anyone’s suggestions here.</p>

<p>I know this runs contrary to a sports photography forum, but for physical reasons I use the lightest lens possible. I am a quadriplegic with limited hand strength and function, and have a terrible time trying to pick up my camera with a telephoto lens attached. I've been forced to let the action come to me instead of going after it with a 300 mm lens, and have been able to get some decent shots at my niece's soccer games.</p>

<p>Something that I would like to suggest would be to let the photo breathe. What I mean by that is if you have the option, let the action on the field tell the story about what's going on, let the play develop in the frame. Zooming in tight isn't everything!</p>

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<p>What kind of metering mode do you guys use for shooting running players?</p>

<p>I mostly shoot basketball and often use a remote. When I got the chance to shoot a soccer game, I set up a remote behind the goal and got this shot:</p><div></div>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>This is not my best shot, but i like the searching look on his face.<br /> I had to seat about 30-40 meters away among spectators, not easy and convenient to keep on poking them with my 100-400 mm Canon :)</p><div></div>

<p>I've just started browsing this forum today, in an effort to get better shots at work, and this is my first post. I've just started shooting collegiate sports for my school, and I'm using my own gear. As of right now the best I have to use is a 70-300 f/4-5.6 on a D80 body. I've made due pretty well, but I'm looking into getting an 80-200 to improve my isolation, since I'm on quite the budget (being a college student.) These pictures were taken today, and are uploaded straight off of my SD, no processing whatsoever. I have experience with processing them afterwards digitally but for now I'm instructed to provide just the images in JPEG as soon as the games are over. I keep the pictures for my own portfolio.</p>

<p>http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcatpride</p>

<p>I'm just getting back into the swing of taking pictures regularly, having had a two year break since last doing serious work so my Rule of Thirds composition is pretty poor, but in part that had to do with trying new autofocus points and fiddling with aperture priority mode today, and me getting used to AF-C.</p>

<p>Any advice is appreciated!</p>

<p>Watch your backgrounds, unless you are shooting at a wide open (small) aperture, so you don't get junk in the backgrounds on wider shots............</p>

<p>This is one of my favorite pictures of my daughter. She is normally the keeper but that day she was playing defense and I caught her going up for a header. The opposing team photographer was a great guy and offered to let me try out his 100-400mm lens which was a great experience for me, but also why the pic is not super sharp because it was 1. my first time using it and 2. REALLY heavy and my arms were tired my this point (it was handheld). I use a Canon Rebel Xsi, this was shutter priority, 1/640, f/11, ISO 400.</p><div></div>

<p><img src="http://homepage.mac.com/zombiekiller/webphoto/soccer/2004soccer.jpg" alt="" width="352" height="707" /></p>

<p>This is an old photo as I haven't done any sports photography in recent years. This is one of my favorite soccer shots. Shoot wide open, see the athletes' faces & crop out the dead space around the action on the final image.</p>

<p>I like this one but I wouldn't give it a "best" title<br>

<img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6133/5968269619_a053213dfb_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="429" /></p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have several seasons of soccer photos on my facebook page. If you friend me John Garza, Washington DC you can check out my soccer photos.<img src="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1687933293271.74802.1685874390&l=6749bd76ea&type=1" alt="" /></p>

<p>http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1687960893961&set=a.1687933293271.74802.1685874390&type=3&theater</p>

<p>After the winner goal.<br>

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1687948333647&set=a.1687933293271.74802.1685874390&type=3&theater</p>

<p>Scoring the winning goal with a knee.<br>

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1238901267751&set=a.1238900467731.30062.1685874390&type=3&theater</p>

<p>Left footed kick in kids vs parents game.</p>

<p>http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1386978689594&set=a.1386971649418.51369.1685874390&type=3&theater</p>

Some great shots here in this forum. This is not the best, but I love the intensity in the faces!

 

This one is not a great action shot, like a bicycle kick or a goal save. Still, I do love the joy in these faces!

Why is it that I can see pages 1 and 3 just fine, but NOTHING on page 2 ?