Another Sports Photography Thread

[tameboy]

I've been using a DSLR (Canon 550D / Rebel T2i / Kiss X4) for 6 months. My son has recently started playing under 7s soccer and this weekend his team is the half time entertainment at one of the city's professional games. Because I took my camera along to their first match and got some half decent shots (mainly with my Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 - shooting in shutter speed priority at 1/250) I now have the privilege of being considered the team's official photographer.

I've been reading all the DPS articles, tutorials and forum posts I can find. There is of course a lot of conflicting information, however, I have managed to collect some useful information and tips. I am a little uncertain as to which lens to use however. I have recently bought a Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS USM, but I was planning to use my Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L. And of course there is always my trusty Tamron 70-300 which did a pretty good job last time around.

I am going with these tips:

switch off IS
use single point autofocus
use shutter speed priority at 1/500 or faster (I will be shooting outside at 2pm so the light should be reasonably okay,)
I was thinking of using either 200 or 400 ISO
Use continuous burst mode (but anticipate the action and use short bursts rather than spray and hope)
Shoot in RAW (not my usual practice)
Get a big memory card (32 GB)

I only have ten minutes worth of action to photograph, and I know all the parents will want shots of their kids. For that reason I will probably go for relatively safe shots. This is part of the reason I think I will opt for shutter speed priority rather than aperture. Getting cool shots with a limited DoF might be possible when you have an hour or more of game time to shoot in - but I figure I am better sticking with a fixed shutter speed that will probably result in an aperture of approximately 7-8 and therefore get lots of in focus action.

I would really appreciate some opinion on which lens would be better in this situation and any advice on how best to approach such a time pressured assignment!

[ElCapitan]

I'm no expert at sports photography, but I think I can help a little.

You are going to want the fastest shutter speed possible. Because of this, use the highest ISO you possibly can without getting too much noise. As it is going to be around 2pm, and if it isn't on the verge of pouring down rain, this shouldn't bee too much of a problem. Like you said, you would like to use a narrower aperture, so use what you can, but if the light ends up not being enough and you can't use too high of an ISO, then you may have to accept using the widest aperture to get the shutter speed you need. Now to sound cliche, but it is all about the exposure triangle and maybe sacrificing to get what you need. In sports, it is all about the shutter speed, and sometimes that means using a higher ISO and wider aperture than you would normally. As far as IS goes, if you have a fast enough shutter speed, there is no reason to have it on.

What size card do you have now? 32gb might be a bit extreme. I shoot the 5D MkII with a couple of 16gb cards with RAW and had no problem using just one card for an entire high school football game. As long as you anticipate the action, you shouldn't end up with an excessive amount of photos.

RAW has it's benefits as well as downsides. While you may not be able to take as many photos in a single burst and it does take up more space, you have a little space when it comes to the post. First off, you have complete control of the white balance, which is a must if you do not custom WB at the event. Second, thanks to Exposure and Fill Light, you can make up just a tad for slightly underexposing to get that faster shutter speed.

As far as which lens to use, its really up to you. I think the 17-55 is going to be way too wide, so it is between the 70-300 and 100-400. the 100-400 ads a bit more zoom, but the 70-300 lets you shoot at a wider aperture with the wider angle. At the same time, I try to shoot at same exposure the entire event to make editing photos as close as possible, so I personally wouldn't shoot below 5.6 with either of them. Try both lenses out right before they go on and see which one works better, especially if you do not need an aperture of 4.

As far as focusing goes, center point is a must, and don't forget to turn on that AI Servo focusing. And you may wanna try back button focusing. It can come really in handy when there may be other subjects coming in between you and your target subject.

Hope that helps a bit, but like you said, there are so many different takes on how to do it. This is just what works for me in my experience and from what i have researched.

[tameboy]

Many thanks ElCapitan, many helpful points

Originally Posted by ElCapitan

What size card do you have now? 32gb might be a bit extreme. I shoot the 5D MkII with a couple of 16gb cards with RAW and had no problem using just one card for an entire high school football game. As long as you anticipate the action, you shouldn't end up with an excessive amount of photos.

I have 2x8 Gb cards and lots of 2Gb cards. I think perhaps I will go buy a 16 Gb and from what you and others have said this should be more than enough for 10 mins of soccer. Time is so limited I don't to miss some action, so I was hoping to avoid the need to change cards.

Originally Posted by ElCapitan

As far as which lens to use, its really up to you. I think the 17-55 is going to be way too wide, so it is between the 70-300 and 100-400.

Thanks, I appreciate your advice regarding the 17-55 being too wide.
I think the quality difference between the Tamron 70-300 and the Canon L 100-400 is such that I will take the Canon. I might miss out on some slightly wider angle shots but the trade off in terms of quality of glass is probably worth it.

Originally Posted by ElCapitan

As far as focusing goes, center point is a must, and don't forget to turn on that AI Servo focusing. And you may wanna try back button focusing. It can come really in handy when there may be other subjects coming in between you and your target subject..

what is back button focusing?

Originally Posted by ElCapitan

Hope that helps a bit, but like you said, there are so many different takes on how to do it. This is just what works for me in my experience and from what i have researched.

Very helpful, thank you.

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by tameboy

what is back button focusing?.

Try this article from Canon ...

Canon Digital Learning Center - Back-Button Auto Focus Explained

[tameboy]

Thanks karen, back button focusing sounds like it might be useful.

In the end 16 Gb of memory was more than enough.

The game didn't start until 4pm gone, so I did struggle with the light a little - had to use quite high ISOs in order to keep the shutter speed up, so the images are not quite as good as I would have liked. Would the on board flash have been any good?? I didn't use it but I wonder if I should have done.

I think the 100-400 isn't quite wide enough for when the action gets closer to you. I think the 70-300 is an ideal focal length range - I may go back to shooting with my Tamron lens again!

I did find that shooting RAW slowed the rate I could take images at, and I wonder if I might have missed a few good shots because it was taking too long to move the shots onto the memory card (I bought a good, fast SD card). I also found using RAW slowed down my post processing significantly. I couldn't help wondering whether I would have preferred to have shot JPEG. I usually manage to get white balance and exposure right, and could save myself a lot of time at the processing stage.

I guess you learn as time goes on which methods suit you best!