What’s Your Preference?

GTAltman · #1 (**permalink**) 01-06-2011, 05:40 AM

Okay, the question I have here is not what can I do to improve the photo...that I know...either shoot in daylight or buy better glass. Since I don't do the scheduling and finances aren't exactly where I'd like them I'm relagated to asking which would be the best way to crop this photo....

I've included the original photo so you could see what I'm working with, Throw in 1
Throw in 2 is cropped with the player and the ball.
Throw in 3 has a few players in and it's more of a rectangular cropping.

Throw In1.jpg

Throw In2.jpg

Throw In3.jpg

Now, I'll share what I've read here, in that cropping to just the action is the way to go. I get that, but for some reason while Throw in 3 doesn't give the whole story I thought it spruces up Throw in 2.

So, since quality isn't all that great, I might as well work on PP. :-)

Thanks in advance.

Gary

neil916 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-06-2011, 08:51 PM

I think that #2 is the best you can do with this image. #3 would work better if you could see who the player was throwing the ball to, and catch some interesting looks on the other players' faces, but since they were already cut off in the original, I don't think that seeing the other players idly standing there really adds much, since they're obviously not the recipients of the throw.

GTAltman · #3 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neil916

I think that #2 is the best you can do with this image. #3 would work better if you could see who the player was throwing the ball to, and catch some interesting looks on the other players' faces, but since they were already cut off in the original, I don't think that seeing the other players idly standing there really adds much, since they're obviously not the recipients of the throw.

Thanks for the comments and thoughts Neil.
I'm just starting out and looking to take as many photos as possible in manual, and then crop where I think it should be....then delete them (cause most are trash!).

But that's the way to learn, right?

But this photo was a crossroads for me. I thought it could go either way...or 60-40 to just a throw in. :-)

Gary

mcdeegan · #4 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 05:58 PM

Practice, practice, practice is the key I have been told to taking good sports action photos. Cropping to the action also is the right thing to do. I just read an article where a photographer for Hail, the Washington Redskins online magazine, said crop to the action and then crop even tighter. Another DPS sports photographer has told me to try and capture faces and expressions as part of the action.

With the photos you have posted, I think it would make for a more fascinating photo if you took the photo of the thrower from the other direction so you could see her face, or if you had snapped at the moment of ball impact on the receiving player. Right now it is just a ball in the air, with potential of something exciting happening. Here are a couple examples to illustrate from a high school game I shot this past fall.

Maggie Deegan Photography | St. Mary's v John Carroll (10-20-10)

Maggie Deegan Photography | St. Mary's v John Carroll (10-20-10)

GTAltman · #5 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcdeegan

Practice, practice, practice is the key I have been told to taking good sports action photos. Cropping to the action also is the right thing to do. I just read an article where a photographer for Hail, the Washington Redskins online magazine, said crop to the action and then crop even tighter. Another DPS sports photographer has told me to try and capture faces and expressions as part of the action.

With the photos you have posted, I think it would make for a more fascinating photo if you took the photo of the thrower from the other direction so you could see her face, or if you had snapped at the moment of ball impact on the receiving player. Right now it is just a ball in the air, with potential of something exciting happening. Here are a couple examples to illustrate from a high school game I shot this past fall.

Maggie, I think that's what I read here already (re: cropping) hence the question on it.
Also, this whole thread is in the wrong section. There is another section for photo comparisons, but I missed that one.

I was shooting from the stands, top row, 45 yard line, give or take. The view was good. The site lines were good and thats great as a spectator. I was using a 75-300 5.6 telephoto zoom and it was at night. Shots were in the 1/50 1/60 range and there is a lot of bluriness going on. You're absolutely right about location and if I was on the sidelines of the field I would have done a WHOLE lot better...I think.

I'm going to be moving around a bit from here on and getting some end zone shots and such.

Thank you so much for the insight AND the link to your shots. Some are outstanding (your girls throw-in - facial expression) and then later on you have one girl doing a somersault over the goaltender landing on her neck. Since I didn't see any ambulance shots I'm thinking she made out quite alright...even if they didn't win the game!

Gary

michelleando · #6 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 08:26 PM

Maggie
I will be shooting my sons club team this weekend. I have a 70-300 nikkor lens with a nikon d90, what do you reccomend me shooting. I am really trying to use my manual modes but am very new to it and not yet succesful.

mcdeegan · #7 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 08:31 PM

Thanks for the kind words Gary and for looking at my photos

I do not have a fast lens either so night and low light situations are very difficult for me. I was able to be on the sideline for most of the high school games (6th year for that high school so the refs and AD know me) so I could be closer to the action. I tend to stay at one end of the field so I capture both offensive and defensive action for both teams. I have not been able to get down on the sideline for the college games so I stay at one end right on the railing and use my 200-500 Tameron.

Here is a game I shot from the stands;

Maggie Deegan Photography | Mount St. Mary's v Monmouth (9-28-10)

mcdeegan · #8 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michelleando

Maggie
I will be shooting my sons club team this weekend. I have a 70-300 nikkor lens with a nikon d90, what do you reccomend me shooting. I am really trying to use my manual modes but am very new to it and not yet succesful.

Thanks for asking -- I am no expert and I am sure others like Jim Bryant may have better advice, but I tend to set my sony A350 in aperature mode, 400 ISO, f6.3 (lowest my 200-500 lens goes). I use the continuous autofocus mode and spot focus. I try to position myself so I am not shooting directly into the sun and I stand either on the half without the sideline ref or behind the goal. Some club refs will not let you stand behind the goal or inside the 18 sideline so you will have to check out the situation when you get to the field. I try to anticipate the action and follow the ball, although I do take after a goal celebratory or disappointed shots; captain handshakes; team huddles; coaches talking to players; bench players; scoreboards. I also try to keep the players in front of me so I have eyes and expressions in my photos. In addition, I try to take a couple photos of every player of the main team I am shooting that steps on the field so I keep an eye on the substituting.

Hope that helps

Good luck!

P.S. You can check out my website for some examples.

GTAltman · #9 (**permalink**) 01-07-2011, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michelleando

Maggie
I will be shooting my sons club team this weekend. I have a 70-300 nikkor lens with a nikon d90, what do you reccomend me shooting. I am really trying to use my manual modes but am very new to it and not yet succesful.

I'm by no means an expert, shoot, I might be even have to work my way up to "Amatuer Photographer", but I've been trying to shoot in Manual mode exclusively, figuring to learn by jumping directly into the fire.

With that being said, I was shooting the majority in f5.6, ISO 1600 and shutter speed at or about 1/50 to 1/60 of a sec.

I have another set I'll be posting that are a bit clearer later this evening.

Thanks everyone for your comments!!!

Gary

kmontano · #10 (**permalink**) 01-16-2011, 04:54 AM

Hi Gary,

I shot alot of night soccer games this year so hear are my words of advice:

Do whatever you have to to get yourself a sport on the sidelines. If you are shooting high school level soccer than you shouldn't have much trouble getting on the field. Talk to the coach before the game and ask if it is alright if you shoot from the sidelines. I have yet to meet a coach who has had a problem with a photographer being on the sidelines. It's those referees you have to worry about.....
For night games shoot with a shutter speed of 1/125 and the widest aperture possible. For ISO use 1600. I shot with the same lens you are using for most of the season and I was able to achieve pretty good results with these settings.
Some great advice I was given on this forum was to always try to get both the ball and the face of the person kicking/hitting/throwing the ball in the frame as much as possible. I follow this rule as law in my sports photography.
Also, when shooting any sport try to also include shots of the pre-game events, the crowd and the post-game handshakes. I feel these photos help to really tell the full story of a game.