Laxers Ball

My daughter was invited to play in a LAX tournament, so I got to shoot some fall LAX I normal only shoot LAX in the spring. Here is a couple that came out ok. Comments and critiques welcome. I don't know whats better in sports pics full body or try to get facial expressions?

1.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-17.jpg

2.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-15.jpg

3.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-16.jpg

4.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...Olaxball-7.jpg

5. focus is on ref I felt like he was looking at me.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-12.jpg

6. I was thinking of getting this one poster sized.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...Olaxball-6.jpg

7.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...Olaxball-3.jpg

8. I see a yellow card and maybe they should use helmets.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/.../laxball-7.jpg

9. Anyone know why LAX players use high numbers?
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/.../laxball-6.jpg

10.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-25.jpg

11.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-24.jpg

12.
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...laxball-27.jpg

I havent shot a ton of sports (especially recently) and never lacrosse... buuut here is my 2 cents...

The keys are get close (tight crops), get faces, and get the ball/action.. I think full bodies should be kept to a minimal. Some of your shots stand out like that. I liked number 7 and 2 the most I think. 12 is good as it has her and the ball and is rather tight. I like the artistic quality of 2 and 6 but not sure how actual sports photographers would feel about them.

Although for the most part it looks like your focus is off, because it seems (at least to me) that nearly all of them are very soft.
What were you shooting with?

Hope that helps!

That helps a ton thanks. I shoot with a 550D and I use a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L for all sports. I try and stand at the ends of the fields to get the players looking in my direction (running towards me). A lot of times they are moving very fast and I need to get better at getting the focus right and at the right time. Could I get a soft look if I'm cropping too much?

Looks like you don't have any EXIF data in the images so it is hard to say shooting-wise what is going on, however it looks like a cloudy day without much light which makes it that much tougher.

The soft is probably coming from either #1: slightly out of focus shots or #2: slightly slow shutter with fast movement of the players.

#1 is hard as it requires you to be spot on all the time. Having a lower f-stop helps f/8-f/10) but makes the exposure time longer which may cause #2. Also it means you may not blur out the background. This is something that only comes with practice and not camera settings like bobbing and weaving, following the players and predicting movements, setting a fixed focus and following them as you go.

Out of focus shots that cause blur on the players such as #8 where it is focused on the white sign.

#2 blur due to slow shutter speed, I would assume this is a problem in most of your photos as it looks like a dark day with players that move fast. Even at higher shutter speeds if they move quick it can blur. It is a balance act of exposure, f-stop, and ISO to get the sweet spot, sometimes you are limited by the conditions.

Otherwise a few of them did turn out really nice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vandeezy

#2 blur due to slow shutter speed, I would assume this is a problem in most of your photos as it looks like a dark day with players that move fast. Even at higher shutter speeds if they move quick it can blur. It is a balance act of exposure, f-stop, and ISO to get the sweet spot, sometimes you are limited by the conditions.

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I think you hit it I try and shoot at f/4.0 wide open for this lens and mess with ISO if I get a flashing 4000 in the view finder. I let the camera pick the shutter speed maybe I should go full manual. It was a grey day it was also sprinkling. Super helpful thank you.


How did I lose the EXIF data. I shoot RAW then edit in LR then export as jpeg.

That's strange, maybe you have a lightroom setting to clear metadata on import or export.

For the most part I like your compositions, but the missed focus really hurts. It's definitely a focus problem, not SS. Which focus tracking setting are you using? Whichever you choose, understand how it works, pick a single focus point (don't let it choose for you), and keep that point right on the target throughout the action.

That lens is plenty sharp at f/4, but your depth of field is going to be so narrow that it's going to be challenging to get everything in focus. For starters, I'd recommend stopping down to at least f/5.6 or so and maybe even drop the ISO a little bit. 1/1000 should be sufficient for most of this action. Again, tough to make more specific recommendations without EXIF.

As far as post processing, I'd recommend a warmer white balance and a bit more liberal usage of the noise reduction. The black and white also doesn't do much for me in a few of those shots, but I understand the lighting doesn't look so good.

Keep it up!

definitely looking a bit soft, that could be due to several factors mentioned above
extreme crops do lead to a soft image

this thread has some great info for beginner sports shooters
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1154357

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bfree

That's strange, maybe you have a lightroom setting to clear metadata on import or export.

For the most part I like your compositions, but the missed focus really hurts. It's definitely a focus problem, not SS. Which focus tracking setting are you using? Whichever you choose, understand how it works, pick a single focus point (don't let it choose for you), and keep that point right on the target throughout the action.

That lens is plenty sharp at f/4, but your depth of field is going to be so narrow that it's going to be challenging to get everything in focus. For starters, I'd recommend stopping down to at least f/5.6 or so and maybe even drop the ISO a little bit. 1/1000 should be sufficient for most of this action. Again, tough to make more specific recommendations without EXIF.

As far as post processing, I'd recommend a warmer white balance and a bit more liberal usage of the noise reduction. The black and white also doesn't do much for me in a few of those shots, but I understand the lighting doesn't look so good.

Keep it up!

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I agree with most of this, but i'd say shoot wide open, especially with less than optimal backgrounds. The DOF will be smaller, but that means better isolation of the subject, the focus will come with practice

I'll take it down if you prefer, but here's a quick example of how LR can help a fair amount:

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...laxball-24.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bfree

I'll take it down if you prefer, but here's a quick example of how LR can help a fair amount:

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No I appreciate it. Did you bump up the noise reduction? I almost always have to bump up the noise reduction (maybe 25%) but I may no be doing it enough. Any negative effects of going to 100% noise reduction? I shoot with auto WB and let it ride in LR, should I be using the WB selector instead?

I think (camera is @ home) I use one shot focus, maybe I should have used AI Servo?

Awesome pics

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tuckerman

No I appreciate it. Did you bump up the noise reduction? I almost always have to bump up the noise reduction (maybe 25%) but I may no be doing it enough. Any negative effects of going to 100% noise reduction? I shoot with auto WB and let it ride in LR, should I be using the WB selector instead?

I think (camera is @ home) I use one shot focus, maybe I should have used AI Servo?

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Noise reduction will soften the image eventually, but you can go pretty far without hurting much. After noise reduction, I like to pass the sharpness brush back over the main subject.

Auto WB is fine, especially in cloudy and variable light. Just don't trust that it will be accurate and make sure to fix it in post (the WB dropper/selector is your friend).

Yes AI servo is going to be better most of the time for sports in which you can't predict where the action is going to occur.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bfree

That's strange, maybe you have a lightroom setting to clear metadata on import or export.

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Some image hosts don't share your exif, some you have to specifically allow to and still there are some loopholes. For example, if you upload to flickr and allow exif, the only linked image that will display the exif is if you use the "original" size setting. Small, medium or larger resizing via flickr will strip your exif data.