Father's Day Soccer Action

[Big Hands]

My U16B team had their last tournament this past weekend and I took the opportunity to shoot between and even during some of our matches. C&C always welcome.
All images shot with a 20D and 70-200 f/2.8L
1) This shot was actually taken by my daughter and is my favorite of the day. We tied for first in our pool and had to have a PK shootout at 7:45 am to determine which semi-final we would play in. The keeper is my son and he stopped this shot with his leg.
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20001a.jpg

2)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20008a.jpg

3) Nice header goal off a set corner piece.
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20010a.jpg

4)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20012a.jpg

5)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/nv%20015A.jpg

6)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/nv%20016A.jpg

7)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20018a.jpg

8)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20021a.jpg

9)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20022a.jpg

10)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20031a.jpg
Thanks for looking.
Regards,
Jeff

[dpurslow]

really nice shots, great timing on the action and when you hit the shutter - your daughter looks like a natural snapper !

[ajbalazic]

Fantastic shots! As David said, timing is excellent. Great job keeping focus on the players- I find it difficult sometimes when wide open because of the narrow dof. Well done.

[superdiver]

Great shots....

[DwightMcCann]

All round stunningly good shots!

[Big Hands]

David, Alan, SD and Dwight, thank you for your comments.

Alan, Id be lying if I said I get every frame in focus. Not by a longshot. If I got 50 soccer shots out of 250 that I really felt were worthy of posting, I would consider it a pretty good day. If half are just focused correctly, that isn't bad for me, so I don't know how critical you're being of yourself. There's just so much that can go wrong.

[fast_action_enthusiast]

These pictures are really great! What settings did you use and where were you standing on the field to get such a great close up that is clear! I tend to shoot in shutter priorty mode, and use the 70-200 f/2.8L lense, but my pics don't come out as close or as clear. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!


http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20001a.jpg

2)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20008a.jpg

3) Nice header goal off a set corner piece.
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20010a.jpg

4)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20012a.jpg

5)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/nv%20015A.jpg

6)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/nv%20016A.jpg

7)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20018a.jpg

8)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20021a.jpg

9)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20022a.jpg

10)
http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/soccer/northvalleyclassic2006/NV%20031a.jpg
Thanks for looking.
Regards,
Jeff[/quote]

[Big Hands]

# 1, # 2 and # 10 were shot from the touchline and the rest were shot from behind the goal line. I almost always shoot in Av Mode (aperture priority) with the aperture wide open (f/2.8 ). I shoot in AI Servo using center point focus and use the ISO setting to keep the shutter speed ideally between 640 and 2000. I normally sit in a chair using a monopod and shoot single frames, sometimes on after another, but only occasionally using a burst from a single press of the shutter. I have a battery grip and shoot mostly in portrait orientation while shooting soccer. I think the 70-200 f/2.8L is an excellent soccer lens if you use it to it's best advantage so my preferred position is seated behind the goal line just to one side of the goal that puts the sun at my back and just let the action come to me.

All of the in-camera parameters are set to "0" except for the sharpness that is set to one. I usually only crop to suit and do a simple sharpen action in post processing.

These were mostly middle of the day matches which can be tricky to get light on the faces in harsh sunlight. My favorite time to shoot matches is early morning or late afternoon.

I hope that helps and thanks for the comments.

Regards,
Jeff