sports shooting

How do you guys shoot sports? Do you use selected focus points on the ground where the athletes are running, or on the body? How do you weigh in the importance of DoF, noise, and freezing the action?

I did some casual sports shooting and when the sun started to go down, so I slowed my shutter speed to a minimum of 1/500, and opened up my aperture. I had a 70-200/2.8, so my DoF got pretty shallow, and I was trying out the focus point on the ground in the same plane as the athletes, but as you know the focus points are a lot wider than the indicators would... indicate. With everything in the AF point being similar (unlike when on a body) I found that it focused on the closest part of the grass / bottom area of the AF point, a bit in front of the atheletes, leaving them not as sharp as I would like.

Of course I could practice having the center of the AF point slightly behind the plane of players, or have it on the body, but just wanted to know what you folks do.

I was borrowing the lens, so I did not calibrate it with my camera to see any back/front focus issues with my DSLR, which could've been it.

I have no troubles on continuous drive with af-c (continuous AF) tracking the subject as they are running. I can shoot at 5fps with a player running at me and 90% of the shots are in focus. At f2.8, your going to miss some. A night game with even a decent lit stadium and you are shooting wide open, the keeper ratio will go down. There are times when pre focusing is a good thing, but if you own a modern pro DSLR, and SSM lenses ( or whatever variant your brand calls the high speed focus motors) there are few reasons not to use those features. They are pretty reliable.

I almost always ue a EF70-200/2.8L or a EF100-400/4.5-5.6L IS lens. I come in tightly to the subject using AI-Servo. I have no DoF problems. I usually try to lock in focus on the subject's eyes.

For soccer, I track the subject and look for action. Then look for facial expressions that tell the story of the action at hand.

With experience, this will come naturally and you will find that this will become second nature.

I shoot a lot of sport.

All with AI Servo, centre point only focus, and spot metering. I shoot in short bursts (2-3 frames) where possible. Always try to capture the peak action - tackle, expression, shot, etc.

I would generally shoot wide open (f/2.8) to get a nice DOF. Other than that, I'll use as high an ISO as I need to get a good fast shutter speed. A sharp noisy image is easier to use than a soft image any day.

Where possible, try to focus on the player's face, or failing that his/her upper body.

--
Irish Freelance Sports Photographer
http://www.photography.paul-walsh.net/

NIkon with AF-C with the priority set to AF, if I know what I after I use whatever AF point I need but in real dim light and fast changing action where you are after an exact moment the center point seems to work best.

You may want to play around a bit after reading everyones help but then post a sports/AF question again in a gear forum as some of the best settings/techniques will vary brand to brand model to model.

Some cameras dont let you set the focus to continuos with priority, some the center point is much better than the others, some times a group of AF points can be better than a single one...... you will have to pick and choose what works best from your cameras particular options in your conditions.

johnnyz86 said:

How do you guys shoot sports? Do you use selected focus points on the ground where the athletes are running, or on the body? How do you weigh in the importance of DoF, noise, and freezing the action?

I did some casual sports shooting and when the sun started to go down, so I slowed my shutter speed to a minimum of 1/500, and opened up my aperture. I had a 70-200/2.8, so my DoF got pretty shallow, and I was trying out the focus point on the ground in the same plane as the athletes, but as you know the focus points are a lot wider than the indicators would... indicate. With everything in the AF point being similar (unlike when on a body) I found that it focused on the closest part of the grass / bottom area of the AF point, a bit in front of the atheletes, leaving them not as sharp as I would like.

Of course I could practice having the center of the AF point slightly behind the plane of players, or have it on the body, but just wanted to know what you folks do.

I was borrowing the lens, so I did not calibrate it with my camera to see any back/front focus issues with my DSLR, which could've been it.

Click to expand...

--
http://www.TheSBimage.com

Thanks for the input, seems like that advice on putting the focus point on the the grass below them was a bad idea. I think the idea was to get better framing (have some space where everyone is running towards or something), but center framing looks good most of the time anyway and if I don't optically crop them too much, there is room for digital cropping.

Vegasluvr said:

I almost always ue a EF70-200/2.8L or a EF100-400/4.5-5.6L IS lens. I come in tightly to the subject using AI-Servo. I have no DoF problems. I usually try to lock in focus on the subject's eyes.

Click to expand...

Lock focus on the eyes while shooting sports. That's very skillful.

Vegasluvr said:

For soccer, I track the subject and look for action. Then look for facial expressions that tell the story of the action at hand.

Click to expand...

With fast-changing facial expressions and fast-changing action, you're really good to see and capture both at the same time!

Vegasluvr said:

With experience, this will come naturally and you will find that this will become second nature.

Click to expand...

Swimming, track, basketball, volleyball I focus where the swimmer will be then shoot when they get there, water polo, crew, surfing I focus as I go along for the most part.

Thanks for all your suggestions, here are some results!

http://www . pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/77498-sports-some-field-hockey-shots-12-pics.html

C&C welcome

Believe me you will learn it quick because I had plenty of parents tell me when I first started in the business that they wanted to see their kids eyes and facial expressions.

Thank professional sports for teaching me this skill. These fast action professional games you have to be on the top of your toes of you sell no images.

post your samples and people might tell you your weaknesses and strengths

johnnyz86 said:

How do you guys shoot sports? Do you use selected focus points on the ground where the athletes are running, or on the body? How do you weigh in the importance of DoF, noise, and freezing the action?

I did some casual sports shooting and when the sun started to go down, so I slowed my shutter speed to a minimum of 1/500, and opened up my aperture. I had a 70-200/2.8, so my DoF got pretty shallow, and I was trying out the focus point on the ground in the same plane as the athletes, but as you know the focus points are a lot wider than the indicators would... indicate. With everything in the AF point being similar (unlike when on a body) I found that it focused on the closest part of the grass / bottom area of the AF point, a bit in front of the atheletes, leaving them not as sharp as I would like.

Of course I could practice having the center of the AF point slightly behind the plane of players, or have it on the body, but just wanted to know what you folks do.

I was borrowing the lens, so I did not calibrate it with my camera to see any back/front focus issues with my DSLR, which could've been it.

Click to expand...

--
These is my gear:
Minolta Lenses:
50mm f1.4
100-200
28-135
kit lens
Beercan
Sigma Lenses:
135-400
24-60 f2.8
28-200
G glass:
Sony G 70-300

Some good picts there.

However, a good number of your shots only show the back of the players. This seldom works. You really need to capture their face, or front on.

Some of your images are also not level. You need to straighten your horizon.

Image #4 is probably the best from your whole set there.

It's just a matter of practice, practice, practice.

--
Irish Freelance Sports Photographer
http://www.photography.paul-walsh.net/

One thing not mentioned is knowing the sport and the tendencies of teams, individuals, etc. I shoot high school and DI/DII college sports for local newspaper usually shooting anywhere from 3 - 5 events a week. Understanding the game is a start, for example, in baseball with a runner on 1st and 1 out you know if there is a hit there is strong chance that there will be a play at second base. Therefore you can prefocus on 2nd base and be ready for the player sliding into the base or the tag... in football for example, a lot of teams will will run screen plays on 3rd and long, so you have to just try to anticipate that the action will somewhere in the area of the line of scrimmage. I shot a girls basketball team all the way to the state tournament and I knew that one player liked to drive the basket from the top of the key and had a tendency to spin to her left to get by the defense. Again, knowing these tendencies increases your ability to get the shot, and odds are it will be in focus if you are tracking the player.

Knowing how teams or individuals react in game time situations cuts down on the area of the field you have to "cover". Yes, I miss shots sometimes because I anticipated wrong, but I get more shots than I miss because I watch for tendencies. I almost always shoot at f2.8 for outdoor sports because my editors like the blurred out backgrounds and oftentimes when shooting basketball I will shoot from the baseline just outside the lane with a 50mm set at 1.8 for different perspective.

This post may not be totally about focus but the techniques I use to result in more in focus shots. Hope this helps.

I take soccer pictures and interested in seeing your shots. Please post link to your gallery or pictures.

Agreed, not nearly enough sports work on this site (wedding samples and questions ..oh yes we have that covered )

nhkhan22 said:

I take soccer pictures and interested in seeing your shots. Please post link to your gallery or pictures.

Click to expand...

--
http://www.TheSBimage.com

Vegasluvr said:

Believe me you will learn it quick because I had plenty of parents tell me when I first started in the business that they wanted to see their kids eyes and facial expressions.

Thank professional sports for teaching me this skill. These fast action professional games you have to be on the top of your toes of you sell no images.

Click to expand...

eyes and facial expressions seems of utmost importance.

PaulWa said:

Some good picts there.

However, a good number of your shots only show the back of the players. This seldom works. You really need to capture their face, or front on.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I can really see that looking back on them

Vegasluvr said:

Some of your images are also not level. You need to straighten your horizon.

Click to expand...

I straightened all of them except 2, where I liked the feel of the tilt (I may have corrected them slightly)

Vegasluvr said:

Image #4 is probably the best from your whole set there.

It's just a matter of practice, practice, practice.

--
Irish Freelance Sports Photographer
http://www.photography.paul-walsh.net/

Click to expand...

Raymond Bradlau said:

Agreed, not nearly enough sports work on this site (wedding samples and questions ..oh yes we have that covered )

nhkhan22 said:

I take soccer pictures and interested in seeing your shots. Please post link to your gallery or pictures.

Click to expand...

--
http://www.TheSBimage.com

Click to expand...

a team I just shot all of their age brackets, for you to check out:















These were made from the individual images taken at T&I shoot. While not action shots, its still sports shots that sell well.

The individuals can be seen here. http://jasonjones.zenfolio.com/f258433612

I wouldn't worry too much about noise, DOF or freezing the action. You'll figure that out with actual shooting and as you develop your own style, not from a message board.

I would worry about understanding the sport and players. And what they do and when they do it. And what constitutes an interesting shot. And what doesn't. And how the light is falling on the action. And what is going on around the action. Off the field/court. With the crowd. And really anything that involves bringing someone that isn't there closer to what it was like and why they should care to look at your photo for more than a nanosecond. And none of it is, in my view, too impacted by the technical stuff (i.e., what f/stop did you use blah blah blah) which you will pick up soon enough anyway.

Do study the work of other photographers that shoot your sport.

Things like making sure your equipment is good to go, carrying your equipment and accessories, jostling for shooting space, stamina and concentration and the ability to withstand hunger (can't get the shot if your off having a bite). These are some of the things that I think actually matter.

And if you have a passion for the sport that wouldn't hurt either.
-----------------------
http://www.proTennisPhotos.com

Vegasluvr said:

Believe me you will learn it quick because I had plenty of parents tell me when I first started in the business that they wanted to see their kids eyes and facial expressions.

Click to expand...

I wasn't serious, just challenging. Of course expressions are important to capture. But nobody has the skill to deliberately capture the expressions of more than 1 player. You simply cannot see several details (such as eyes) that are moving so fast during the moment you press the shutter. What you get is the feeling you captured a good scene and surprises later on.

PaulWa wrote:
Always try to capture the peak action - tackle, expression, shot, etc.

PaulWa said:

Where possible, try to focus on the player's face, or failing that his/her upper body.

Click to expand...

All very good points Paul.

Just remember that faces sell. To know what makes a great photo is to look at Sports Illistrated or you local paper. Figure out what makes the shot. Most of the time there is a shallow DOF. This makes the player the subject of the shot.

One other thing is to try and have the ball in the photo also. The ball leaving the quarterback's hand. The receiver catching the ball. The ball leaving the bat of the batter. The basketball leaving the shooters hand. You get the idea. These are the shots that sell. With practice you will get them.

Someone said the know the game and the players. This is very true. If it's 3'rd down and long. Expact a pass. So focus on the receivers to get the shot of them catching the ball.

I shoot football with a 70 - 200mm 2.8 for daytime shots. I bump up my ISO to 3200 for night games. This is tricky as the lighting at most stadiums is not that great. So it's hit and miss.

Just keep practicing and you'll get better.