Soccer Games under Lights

[greg_koni]

Trying to capture action pictures at a High School Soccer Game under

stadium lighting. Using a 10D with a 70-200 2.8L on a monopod.

Images are underexposed or blurry. I have tried shutter priority,

wide open, increasing ISO, and exposure comp without any luck. I

have a 550 EX but left it at home because I thought it would be too

distracting to the players. Any suggestions?? Love the setup in

the daytime but it is still new and I am still playing around with

different settings.

[yakim_peled1]

I'm just guessing here. If all got underexposed then it was probably just TOO dim. Increasing ISO and shooting wide open are the correct measures but if they failed, you probably shot under difficult light.

 

The blur issue: Is everything blurry ? If so, the monopod was not enough and you probably should have used a tripod instead. If not, the players were probably moving too fast. Some pictures are rather nice that way IMHO.

 

Happy shooting ,

Yakim.

[derek_simpson]

2.8 and fast setting is all there is. I'd too often find myself at 3200 and underexposed by up to a stop on the dial. You're aiming for a bottom line of 1/500th sec - any less and you're more than likely to get blur - yes it's attractive but the feeling wears off and editors don't like it.

[primoz]

I don't know how stadium lightning is there, but on stadiums here around it's usually no problem to shoot. I use ISO 400 or ISO 800 films with 2.8 lenses and I can easily get 1/500 or less. In halls it's usually different thing. If they have TV lights it's really easy. ISO 400, 2.8 lens and you are under 1/500. If they don't have TV lights it's pain in ass if flash is not allowed. First for me since I'm still on film and there's not really great photos because of tungsten light and second because I need to use ISO 800 film to get some decent speed.<br>

Anyway with pretty much any light you should get decent time with 2.8 lens and ISO 800. And one more suggestion. Never shoot sport with anything else then manual settings. Measure first to something close to grey read setting and set same settings manualy. It's only chance to do it right, since otherwise camera will decide by itself. And if you point it to light background your subject will be way underexposed or opposite if you will point it to dark background. I do it exactly like that even when shooting outdoor sport. I just check and set a bit more often while light conditions change. In halls or stadiums you have constant light so there's no need to worry.

[spencer_hahn]

High school soccer at night is by far the hardest sport to shoot, IMO. You need fast, long glass, high ISO and a fast flash sync speed to get anything good. I'd say definitely use the flash.