Little Tyke Soccer - D2H

I donated an “Action Package” to my Daughter’s School Auction and the winning bidder was the coach of a Boys Under 8 youth soccer team. They play 5-on-5 with goalies on a modified field. While a far cry from shooting World Cup or professional soccer, it turned out to be just as much fun if not more. These little tykes could really play and their enthusiasm and intensity was a hoot to watch. Enjoy.

Those are WAY cool. I can't wait until my kids get old enough to play.

George R Holland said:

I donated an “Action Package” to my Daughter’s School Auction and
the winning bidder was the coach of a Boys Under 8 youth soccer
team. They play 5-on-5 with goalies on a modified field. While a
far cry from shooting World Cup or professional soccer, it turned
out to be just as much fun if not more. These little tykes could
really play and their enthusiasm and intensity was a hoot to watch.
Enjoy.

Click to expand...

Great shots. Which AF mode on the D2H works best for action pics like these?

Cute shots. Nice timing. The shots do look a tad oversharpened though. You can see a halo around the players (especially around the black shorts).

Ken Mai said:

Cute shots. Nice timing. The shots do look a tad oversharpened
though. You can see a halo around the players (especially around
the black shorts).

Click to expand...

I sharpened for printing 5x7’s at 300, then resized at 72 and changed color space for proofs. The prints seem optimal whether the web view is or not. Feel free to explain where my thinking is flawed as I am not afraid to continue to learn.

Nice work. I tried to shoot some soccer the other night and found it very difficult to get the subject in focus before the ball moved. Would you mind sharing your focusing techinique?

George R Holland said:

I donated an “Action Package” to my Daughter’s School Auction and
the winning bidder was the coach of a Boys Under 8 youth soccer
team. They play 5-on-5 with goalies on a modified field. While a
far cry from shooting World Cup or professional soccer, it turned
out to be just as much fun if not more. These little tykes could
really play and their enthusiasm and intensity was a hoot to watch.
Enjoy.

Click to expand...

Nice shots George. I too have been out shooting both of my son's soccer games (U6 and U8). There's alot of action and compared to shooting baseball it's a bit tougher to anticipate where the ball is headed next. I'm enjoying it but also would like to hear what settings you are using as well as lens selection.

I've been shooting my 70-200VR at 3.5A with continuous group focus. Is there a better way? TIA.

Tom W.

--

• Just out shootin' images & having fun -

I think these images are just FINE....
The coach got a super package if this sample was any indication.
well done.

--
'My camera is for creating memories.... Not taking pictures'
All My Best
Doug Barber

straycat40 said:

Nice work. I tried to shoot some soccer the other night and found
it very difficult to get the subject in focus before the ball
moved. Would you mind sharing your focusing techinique?

Click to expand...

My focusing technique is evolving. First, it helps to understand the game in order to anticipate the action. That just takes time, practice and experience. I have traditionally held the shutter button half way down while following the action in Dynamic AF mode. Based on suggestions outlined on another forum I am beginning to use the AF-On button with lock-on enabled more and more. Still, though my intentions are to use the AF-On technique I find myself reverting back to the half press of the shutter button when the action gets intense and I am scrambling to get the shot. I have also been planning on testing Group Dynamic AF pattern with center area chosen in CSM a3 , now that I have the new firmware as the enhancements sound promising for soccer but I have yet to try it. I used a Nikon 80-200 AFS for this game which was perfect for such a small field.

Looking at the posted shots, there's a halo around the players. It's most noticeable around the black shorts of the players. This is typically caused by application of too much in-camera sharpening or post-processing USM which unnaturally overemphasizes the edges in the image.

Ken Mai said:

Looking at the posted shots, there's a halo around the players.
It's most noticeable around the black shorts of the players. This
is typically caused by application of too much in-camera sharpening
or post-processing USM which unnaturally overemphasizes the edges
in the image.

Click to expand...

I wonder if we are talking about the same thing. First, I understand the concept of over sharpening an image. My images are processed and saved in a high resolution format ready to print. I then simply run a batch of those images for proofs. An image optimized for final print output may show a higher level of sharpening to compensate for the softening effect of the output or printing process. Optimized sharpening for web viewing is not my goal as I can’t take the time to process hundreds of images differently for the purpose of low resolution proofs. My question was then, not what are the symptoms of over sharpening, but is my assumed difference between sharpening levels for final print vs. web viewing incorrect?

Very nice shots George.

Joe

george
Very nice stuff here they will be thrilled for sure
TY
-Mike
pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/mmcatee43

Apologies for misunderstanding your post. My experience has been that I should sharpen less for the web than for printing. This is probably highly dependent on what print device you use, but I think that in general it is the case that proper sharpening for printing ends up oversharpening for the web, since many print devices tend to add some softness.