Goal!

[IlluminatingPhoto]

Hey all.

I took some pictures for my nephew this weekend at his soccer game. I know equipment is key and right now I don't have a 20mm lens with a 2x extender but I am working with what I have.

I wish that I didn't have the other child in white in the background but I hear that can be fixed in PP.

Do you like the goal post in the right of the picture giving some depth to the picture?
Is this picture a step above the average?
What would bring this picture to the next level?

Thanks so much.



Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 112 mm
ISO Speed: 320
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
PP: saturation, crop and color fix

[Jensers]

Let me first say - I am no pro:

Yeah - the child in the background, and just the background in general is distracting.
The shadows on the child are heavy.
You did put the child in the left 3rd which is good with the goal in the other 3rd is kind of interesting, but it may have been better tightened on just the player.
Blow out and darken up the background while also lightning up the player and softening up the shadows - going to make him stand out more.

That being said - it starts to become more of a portrait and not really a 'sports' image.

I guess it depends on what you were trying to say with the image.

But like I said - I know nothing so take if for what it is worth.

[Jensers]

BTW - in doing what I said - you can cause some other problems. Sports photos are difficult because to get the lighting correct it can be nearly impossible to control the background and it is always distracting.

I went and found this image from my library... the background is very busy and it was in perfect focus before I started messing with it...

So anyway - I tried to do what I said - darken up the background and blur it while also trying to lighten up the player a little. I didnt spend a lot of time on it, but part of the problem with doing this is you make the player look kind of glowing and angelic which takes a bit of the realism out of it so you have to spend time addressing the 'halo' of the player (I did not).



Also - after doing all this - for giggles I cropped the image to include just the player with the ball. It was ok, but by adding the additional player and a good amount of room it gives me a feeling of the movement and dynamic a little more.

Anyway - it is no portrait - I was just trying to capture a moment in a game... If it was a portrait I would bring it down on the player and do more work building distance from the background I think... I dont know - hard to say... Just typing out loud.

[Jensers]

I am resisting the temptation to have a full blown one-sided conversation here about soccer photography because this is my area of interest and I am trying to figure it all out. Let me know if you want to talk about this more and I will share some other images and problems I have been finding via trial and error.

[IlluminatingPhoto]

Originally Posted by Jensers

I am resisting the temptation to have a full blown one-sided conversation here about soccer photography because this is my area of interest and I am trying to figure it all out. Let me know if you want to talk about this more and I will share some other images and problems I have been finding via trial and error.

Those are some great tips. Thanks for all the information and time. It is very evident that you have got a real passion for soccer.

Next time I will shoot more for the crop and try to get in a different place around the goal.

Thanks again.

[Jensers]

No worries.