action shots... football (well, soccer)

[picxie]

Hi guys (and girls of course),
im a total noob when it comes to photography, i scrapbook A LOT, so i got into the habit of just snapping away.. anyway, got my new fuji s6500fd the other day.. because my sons soccerbility asked me to take all the team shots when we are having matches. This request was based on the following 3 shots, done on my trusty little kodak 6490, at the moment i dont think ill ever achieve anything even a bit like those with the fujimonster ...
Anyway, the kind of feedback im looking for is:
is the overall composition of the shots ok?
is the zoom ok?
should i have taken different angles (i tried getting down on the grass as well as staying upright)...

The images have been chucked through photoshop, but nothing drastic, just a bit of cropping and some balancing, noise reductions.




http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...1/100_2403.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20.../100_2391c.jpg

P.S. I know those shots are nowhere near your standards, so please be very very gentle
PPS: will i ever get a clear shot with this fujimonster.. or should i just send it back??????
PPPS: oopppsss made a booboo.. read RULES BEFORE POSTING.. i know ... took the other 2 shots out and just left the links if you really want to look that is

[picxie]

oh crumbs.. are they THAT bad???

[Nicole]

No, it just usually takes more than 2 hours to get a response

I think that overall the pictures are ok. I think that the "best" of this series is the last one where you've got the goalie holding on to the ball. The reason why I like this one the best is because it shows more personality and emotion in the shot. The other ones are good overviews, but really getting close kind of makes the shot.

As far as asking if you should try different angles, etc... why not? Digital pictures are free.

[picxie]

ohh lol nicole.. no i wasnt worried cos of the timeframe.. but it says 11 views .. so paranoia hits...

reason for the last one being up close and personal is that the goalie is my son... the over all shots were submitted to the local paper and posted on the club's website.

i tend to come away with 100s of shots and then not being able to judge which ones are ok/which ones arent.

i suppose coming from different forums i have to get used to the way you guys view threads, and not commenting on everything you view is ok and doesnt mean anything

thank you for your feedback... the more the merrier i guess

[Saralonde]

Don't worry about the 11 views. We have a lot of guests that can look but are unable to post unless they join.

You're lighting looks good. For me the best shots are ones that are close up so you can see some facial expression. It can help with the "story" and give emotion to the image. I'm not too familar with either of your cameras to help with specifics, but I'm sure you'll be getting some more people commenting.

[Sime]

Hey there Picxie... Nothing like a good game of footy! i'd have to agree with a couple of the others, good lighting and enough action to keep people interested. I would personally like to see tight crops... the faces on the boys (the goalie, the young fella kicking the ball in the first shot) if your zoom / file size allows?.. You might also be interested in someone else's thoughts on the 6500 HERE Scroll down a little... there is a link. Interesting FD on that camera, seems to have worked in your pic ..."The Face Detection will find up to 10 faces in a frame and will focus and meter for them appropriately."

Sime.

[jiminyClickit]

picxie,

If you look at the exif information on your best Kodak shots, and apply those settings to your Fuji in similar situations, maybe the "monster" can be tamed (mine is like a pet).