DoF in sports photography

[bispham_tangerine]

i've been meaning to ask this question for ages, but saw a set of pictures today that really made me think "wow!"
http://www.parsportu.lv/articles/0/10822/
(scroll down and click for bigger pictures)

i enjoy most forms of photography (animals, plants/macro, buildings, fireworks etc) but what i enjoy most is sports photography.
i take quite a few photo's of my 2 local football (soccer) teams over the season but i always end up with the everything in focus (ball, players, background, foreground) and have never been able to get the DoF right, even when i change the aperture size.
i presume its bc of the cameras im using (a cannon a710is and a fuji s5800), and just wanted someone to confirm either way or point me in the right direction as to what i should or shouldn't be doing.

i havnt got any examples of my pictures here right now (as im at work ) but i'll get some up on here tonight when i get home.

thanks for looking

[jiminyClickit]

bispham_tangerine,

Is this a reasonable example of what you want to achieve:

[bispham_tangerine]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

bispham_tangerine,

Is this a reasonable example of what you want to achieve:

yeah that's pretty much it, as well as something like the next pic in that sequence (looking straight on at the players, with the other players/fans etc behind them, out of focus)

[bispham_tangerine]

yes tats the kind of thing jiminy. thanks for putting the pics up for me.

[wulf]

Are your cameras more to the point and shoot end of thing than being DSLRs? I'm not enough of a gearhead to be sure but suspect that is the case. Such cameras can produce excellent results but, principally due to the smaller sensors they use, tend to provide a much wider depth of field than a DSLR would.

In many cases that is a good thing - if you just want snapshots of your family, for instance, it makes it much more likely that you will get a usable result. However, you have to work harder to get narrow DoF effects.

I would suggest learning what you can do with the cameras away from the sports pitch. It will be things like setting the aperture as wide open as possible, zooming in on the subject and finding an angle where the subject is a good distance away from the background. Master this in a static setting and you will have a better idea of if it is possible to get the sports pictures you want (allowing for the fact that the players won't be stopping to pose!).

Wulf

[SJH Foto]

Wulf is 100% correct-and I know the Canon A series is a point & shoot. Perhaps you can probably an SLR from a friend, and play with it. As long as he has a lens with f/2.8 or wider, it will be yield you the results you wish.

[jiminyClickit]

bispham_tangerine,

Flickr has a Camera finder: you'll also find dozens of photos taken by members with your Fuji S5800. This one suggests you certainly can get the DoF you're looking for:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/utnapis...11460/sizes/o/

You might start by using what this person did:

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S5800 S800
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 63.3 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: 0/100 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Let us know how it works.

[bispham_tangerine]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

bispham_tangerine,

Flickr has a Camera finder: you'll also find dozens of photos taken by members with your Fuji S5800. This one suggests you certainly can get the DoF you're looking for:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/utnapis...11460/sizes/o/

You might start by using what this person did:

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S5800 S800
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 63.3 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: 0/100 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Let us know how it works.

i've got this pic here, now i know its not a good pic (the batsman cant be seen) however this pic illustrates very well how everything is in focus (see the larger version to see better)

the umpire is nearest to me, then the batsman, then the fielder and then the advertising and crowd. the biggest aperture is 3.4 on this cam, so surely the umpire would have been in focus and then everyone else out of?



the settings dont look too diff.

[Loose_Canon]

Your goal is to focus on the main subject and use the widest opening possible. If your P&S won't do that, you need to upgrade.

[jdepould]

The problem with the small sensor really boils down to optics. You need a lot of distance between your subject and the background to get decent bokeh. It also helps if you're relatively close to your subject. Zooming in can help, but it's still tough, especially in a sporting venue when you can only get so close to the action.