Football Photography.

[JWJ]

I just got my first DSLR camera last thursday, so any tips on how I can improve, would be great! What do you think of the composition and would it be improved by cropping?


Camera: Nikon D60
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 130 mm
Focal Length: 130.7 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[lputman]

Hi JWJ, welcome to dPS. Please include your exif if you can; additionally, in the critique forum, please ask specifically what you would like critique on.

[JWJ]

Alright! I edited the post. Thanks!

[jdepould]

What lens were you using? I suspect you had more zoom than you used, which is always better than cropping. The moment itself is good, though I'd be interested to see the frames immediately after this one (you were shooting continuous drive, yes?).

If this is the full, uncropped image, I'd say you have plenty of resolution to play with. At the very least bring it in on the top and left.

[Jim Bryant]

When shooting sports, crop for effect. As JD mentioned it's better to use the zoom to crop tighter. The fans in the stands and sidelines are a distraction so use your lowest f-stop (aperture) to get the background event more out of focus. Other than that, it's a nice shot.

[JWJ]

Ok, thank you for the critique! I see what you mean about the sidelines/stands being distracting and I should have probably dropped the aperture even more. I think I was worried about the main subject becoming out of focus with the continuous shooting.

Believe it or not, this was actually zoomed in fully. The lens is a AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm. This was the full 200mm. Here are the following 3 shots: Flickr

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by JWJ

Believe it or not, this was actually zoomed in fully. The lens is a AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm.

EXIF don't lie: 130mm.

[JWJ]

Oh, dang! haha! I can't even read my own EXIF. I thought is was zoomed in fully. That's my mistake.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by JWJ

Oh, dang! haha! I can't even read my own EXIF. I thought is was zoomed in fully. That's my mistake.

It happens, exact focal length isn't exactly at the front of your mind when you're shooting action.

[AlphaDogPhoto]

Maybe just a little pp to make the image pop a bit more, and a better crop?