connie_wagner

<p>Everyone thank you so much. ALL of your suggestions are very helpful and appreciated. I have tried shooting AV & TV (for night football games) but am still trying to get the right combination. This softball tournament involved 24 teams and it kept me running between 4 fields so I guess I "cheated" with going with the sports mode instead of experimenting with other settings. I have my own web site (www.cmwactionphotography.net) and have been shooting alot of high school and youth sports the past 3 years but the more I'm getting into it the more I'm not happy with what my results are so I'm constantly reading and trying to learn better techniques. Thanks for all the comments and I will try all of them at next competition. Thank you!</p>

<p>I'm shooting sports action shots (softball, football, etc.) and they just don't seem to be coming out crip and clear. I use both a Canon 50D and 40D. I shoot using sports mode for daylight games and shoot shutter priority for night games. The lens I use is Canon EF 70-200 2.8L lens on continuous shoot and evaluative metering and Al servo mode. My friend shot with a Nikon (not sure model) with me this weekend and some of her shots are much sharper. Should I turn off my stabilization for shooting sports? I also use all 9 points for focusing - should I change to 1 point? This past tournament I shot with the monopod, but i still don't see much different with or without the monopod. Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks -- signed "Frustrated sports photographer"<br>

sample photo attached</p><div></div>

<p>I've used Corel Paint Shop Pro and there's a one click button for skin smoothing that I just love. </p>

<p>Tony, that's an excellent idea. I actually know a guy who does up the vinyl banners for my husband's softball tournament and can have him do one up for me. This should work out great. Thanks for your help.</p>

<p>Daryl, good idea with the shutterfly book. I've put together alot of these books through shutterfly but never thought to do it for the tournaments. It won't be large enough to draw attention but it's certainly something nice to look at once I can get them in that area. Thanks for the suggestion. </p>

<p>I'm scheduled to shoot softball tournaments again this summer and want to display some of my work. Last year when I did this I took some of my photos and pasted on colored posterboard. The tournaments were windy and had a bit of rain and to say the least, my posterboard kept falling or blowing away and the photographs got wet from the drizzling rain. Any suggestions on an inexpensive display for outdoors at softball tournaments? Thank you!</p>

<p>I'm scheduled to shoot softball tournaments again this summer and want to display some of my work. Last year when I di

d this I took some of my photos and just pasted on colored posterboard. The tournaments were windy and had a bit of ra

in at one of them and to say the least, my posterboard kept fall

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. I do notice that the center of focus seemed to go on the wrong player and perhaps I should change the point of focus to more than one on the camera. Thanks Joey for your comment as I do wish that shot was in focus as I think it would have been great. I will definitely leave the Sigma home this Friday night and stick with Canon 200 f2.8. I will also play with different settings, Manual & Av & will try flash. I can always tweak the shots in Photo Shop but can't do anything with it if it's not in focus. I appreciate all the tips.

PS: Do you recommend shooting sports during the day (softball/baseball, football, soccer) in Manual Mode, Sports mode or other? Thanks all!

I shot my first high school football game at night and did not do well. I have a Canon 40D and used both

my lenses, Canon IS 70-200 f2.8 & Sigma 170-500 f5-6.3. I tried shooting using the sport setting, tried Av

& Tv but still wasn't able to get the right settings to capture the action under the lights. Most action shots

are blury. No problem shooting when they're standing still though. I have no problem shooting durng the

day but under the lights is challenging. Should I use my 430EX speedlite? I want to try again this

weekend. Any suggestions on what settings will work best for night games to catch the action.<div></div>

It's ASA & Pony League Fastpitch softball for girls teams. And it's usually the tournament director who has asked me. I did two tournaments and several other compeetitons but want to make sure it's worth my time. I did read somewhere in this forum a while ago that you actually pay the tournament a percentage for the exclusive rights to shoot all teams. I just want to be competitive with what others are doing. Thanks!

I was asked to photograph softball tournaments. Is it customary for the photographer to charge a fee? I've

also heard where the photographer actually pays the event coordinator a percentage of their earnings in

exchange for being the sole event photographer. Any advise would be appreciated. Thank you!

Last photo is too big. Let's try again....

I shot a softball tournament for 12under girls.<div></div>

I'm nowhere near being a professional but started out shooting my daughter's cheerleading, football and softball games. I got great responses from my photos that I started doing much more. I upgraded to a Canon 40D camera with 400 zoom lens and I post all my photos on SmugMug. I then e-mail the web site to the parents of my daughter's teammates and they order their photos directly from SmugMug. This is working out fairly well right now and I'm loving capturing the "moment" in sports and then editing it in PhotoShop and posting it on my web site...SmugMug does the rest. Good luck!

Mark, I am also beginning on photographing school and competitive team sports. Would it be possible for you to also e-mail me some of the marketing pdf's that you use? I have a new Canon 40D to replace my Rebel and enjoy shooting outdoors (softball, football) and am learning how to get the right shot indoors (particularly cheerleading) with fast shutter & the best lighting. I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have on selling my photos. Right now I post all my photos on Smugmug.

Thank you!

Cheer Competition<div></div>

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. I shot with my zoom from the stands on Sunday and got pretty good "OOF" (I just love that term OOF)! I was concerned about the lighting and using my speedlight from that distance. Attached is one of the shots I got (if I can figure out how to attach a photo to this forum). I would appreciate any suggestions and/or critique.

Thanks again.

Thank you all. These are all great suggestions and I'll try sitting further back and shoot long for hopefully a better OOF. I think the flash will still be sufficient at a longer distance. I'll let you know how it works out after this weekend's competition. Should I use the Tv setting on my Canon 40D for cheerleading?

Thank you Bob. Yes, I'm trying to blur the background so that my subject stands out more. My photos have both my subject and the fans in the background all in focus.

I have a new Canon 40D w/28-135 f/3.5 IS lens and 430EX Speedlight. I am

shooting cheerleading inside a gym with poor lighting. I just started using the

speedlight as it seems to help with the lighting and I shoot from right in

front of the girls and not from the stands. What I'm having trouble with is

blurring the background. Any suggestions?