How do I take better soccer photos?
I am starting off in the world of sports photography and am looking at how to improve my technique? Any Ideas?
to get (im going to use the term) magazine quality images, you have to have a few items.
1) zoom lens with a big aperature; ie: F2.8, F1.8 and at least a 200mm if not 300mm or 400mm. tele-zoom combo lens are great. but its still hard to beat the image quality of a prime lens.
2) you must have a camera capable of AI Servo mode. which is the camara’s ability to hold focus of an object while it moves foward/backward/sideways/any which way while the object is in it focus screen.
3) you got to have a lot of film or a lot of memory cards. sports photography is very much a mash the button and hope scenerio. the better you get you will of course learn to recognize when to shoot and when not to. but that will take you down from maybe 600 images of an event to 250.
i said these 3 things you need because you are probably frustrated with your present efforts because the images are blurred and seriously OOF and or in focus but the DOF is so huge you are looking at a scene of everything with no COI.
now to technique.
1) shoot low as you can to the action. usually on your knee is best.
2) use whatever ISO you need to get to a speed of no slower than 1/250. any slower and you will have the beginnings of a blurred image.
3) focus on waist as the center of your focus screen. its easier to track movement looking at the waist.
4) learn the sport. if you dont know it then learn what the players are doing. that way you will know when something important is going to happen and be ready for it.
5) get as close to the action as you can. within reason of course. thats why you still have that big zoom lens strapped up.
6) shoot vertically and landscape.
7) look for the shoots that are happening away from the "action". everyone has a story out there dont miss it because you are stuck following a ball around.
thats the basics. good luck
use the fastest film or in a digital camera the sports mode. Then just take as many pictures as you can!
References :
Start by working the sidelines, the players waiting to go in, the coaches and the spectators. You can often get some interesting candids without worrying about catching the action.
The corners are a good spot to shoot offensive plays as they are coming into the zone. If you can quickly sneak by the back of the net and shoot a couple of frames, that’s also a dynamic perspective.
Look for extreme closeups, piles of equipment, ball bags, anything with interesting colors and shapes. Sport photography is not just about the players and the play. It’s the entire environment.
References :
30+ years professional photography experience and three daughters who played travel soccer
I like Joe D’s answers, but would add that you should use a zoom lens to be able to frame your shot to contain just the point of interest (plus a little room around the edges to allow you to crop to perfection later), then use a medium shutter speed for some shots while panning to follow the player. That way, the player will be focused, but his moving arms/legs/ball will be blurred giving a feeling of action to the shot. Experiment with different ISO sensitivities/shutter speeds if you have a digitial camera & see what gives you the best effect.
References :
Just me. If you’d like to see some photos for inspiration, try betterphoto.com or yessy.com
to get (im going to use the term) magazine quality images, you have to have a few items.
1) zoom lens with a big aperature; ie: F2.8, F1.8 and at least a 200mm if not 300mm or 400mm. tele-zoom combo lens are great. but its still hard to beat the image quality of a prime lens.
2) you must have a camera capable of AI Servo mode. which is the camara’s ability to hold focus of an object while it moves foward/backward/sideways/any which way while the object is in it focus screen.
3) you got to have a lot of film or a lot of memory cards. sports photography is very much a mash the button and hope scenerio. the better you get you will of course learn to recognize when to shoot and when not to. but that will take you down from maybe 600 images of an event to 250.
i said these 3 things you need because you are probably frustrated with your present efforts because the images are blurred and seriously OOF and or in focus but the DOF is so huge you are looking at a scene of everything with no COI.
now to technique.
1) shoot low as you can to the action. usually on your knee is best.
2) use whatever ISO you need to get to a speed of no slower than 1/250. any slower and you will have the beginnings of a blurred image.
3) focus on waist as the center of your focus screen. its easier to track movement looking at the waist.
4) learn the sport. if you dont know it then learn what the players are doing. that way you will know when something important is going to happen and be ready for it.
5) get as close to the action as you can. within reason of course. thats why you still have that big zoom lens strapped up.
6) shoot vertically and landscape.
7) look for the shoots that are happening away from the "action". everyone has a story out there dont miss it because you are stuck following a ball around.
thats the basics. good luck
References :