Galaxy Training Session- Just playing around

[ohheycheckmeout]

Went to the galaxy practice yesterday and snapped a few pics. Nothing special, and light was extremely harsh.

First taken with newly acquired Sigma 10-20, the rest with 70-200L

(just cleaned sensor, so i know its there in the first pic)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1065/839384492_2da1dd865c_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/839384546_37063f15ea_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1286/839384564_386812da99_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1088/839384584_1bf28e4fbe_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1369/839384626_65d9a4405b_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1425/839384680_f7b2003b54_o.jpg

[nzdigital]

Who's that No.23 dude...? Looks familiar ;)

But seriously, great to see a bit of USA Soccer history unfolding.

Thanks for posting.

[sando]

USA soccer history as in a club paying the most money ever for at best an average but way overhyped player??!!
Thank god he`s over there and not here in the Premiership.
well ok, maybe he could look good for a team like Derby??
Want a really good player?
Should`ve gone for Thierry Henry. Oh, thats right, he`s actually a player with skill who can command a place in a real team!!!
I`m sure the USA will soon have teams to compete with the worlds best, but lets face it, Becks is there to sell shirts. (and his wife wants to be a star in tinsle town) He plays for England cos we have a bunch of average lazy players and an idiot of a manager.
Enjoy!To55er.


Great pics. I actually like the shot of Becks on his own, that's the sort of pic that'd be used in a newspaper.

[ohheycheckmeout]

Thanks guys. Glad you enjoy the pics.

Aside from the photography, I do think Becks is overpaid, but hes not only in America to play soccer, hes here to change the way the sport is viewed. Now whether or not he can live up to that, well thats another story. Being an Arsenal fan, I would have loved to see Henry come over, but lets face it, in America, hes nobody, and at the moment, essentially spoiled goods with the problems hes had all past season. With that being said, Becks is still playing national play, which says more about his skill and game right now than anything else really, and the friendly against Brazil he was hands down the best on the pitch. Do I think hes over paid, he's more media hype than anything? Yes. But he is attracting an "American" audience, which doesn't know a thing about the sport and think hes the new pointguard or quarterback whos going to single handidly win a superbowl. Hopefully he brings enough attention to get other European players to come and actually get a strong footing in the league. Ill stop ranting.

[nzdigital]

Love him or hate him, Beckham has a place in Soccer history - American or otherwise.

Nobody said history was perfect - and the same is true for the Beckham's.

I never said I thought he 'should' be worth that much money, but Galaxy (and American Soccer in general) must think that he is. And for their sake, and for the sake of the game in general, I hope that they are right. I'd love to see a really strong league coming from America, and if Beckham's what it takes to 'start' making that happen, then all power to him.

As we say here in NZ - *Soccer* was the winner on the day! *insert your own sport here*

[nzdigital]

BTW - I also agree with Sando - last pic of Beckham on his own is the best one. Kind of a 'man alone against the world - what will the future bring' kind of theme to it. Nice capture.

And on a 'slightly' different note - what version of the 70-200mm do you use? I'm tossing up at the moment between the f4 IS version and the f2.8 non-IS version. Any thoughts on this for sports/portraiture?

[TheChemist]

I'm pretty sure hes getting about 5 million from Galaxy. Almost all of his contract money is comprised of endorsements.

[ohheycheckmeout]

Regarding the lens, its actually just the 70-200mm L f/4 USM, no IS. If theres light out, its more than quick enough. I love it.

Regarding Beckham, hes being paid 6.5 million a year US. His salary cap in the league is at $400,000, or the Beckham rule as they call it in MLS. He owns a percentage in the jersey sales along with numerous other things.

Heres another of Becks with trainer...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1423/854319269_763ae3a89a_o.jpg

[Luke_1983uk]

great photos!
loved seeing them
cheers for posting them up


would love to see that david beckham photo cropped alot more

[ohheycheckmeout]

All pics were straight out of the camera, just resized for Flickr. Ill probally add to this once I do a little PP.

thanks for the kind words

[Big Hands]

Beckham seems to be a polarizing figure. People usually have strong opinions about him one way or another and that's OK. It's definitely a 'big picture' type of arrangement. Definitely a better move than bringing Gaz into the league like they were looking to do only a few short years ago. That could have backfired in a much worse way. It brings attention (good attention in this case I think), puts hinies in the seats and recognition to the league. It's a gamble, but it just may work and he seems truly committed and happy to be here.

As far as Galaxy is concerned, I think it's a brilliant acquisition. Batman (Landon Donovan) desparately needs a Robin and Beckham can more than fulfill that role. With Chris Albright behind him on the right side things should improve drastically. If #23 can deliver a dangerous ball to Landon's feet like I know he can, I look for good things to happen. And even if he's not Thierry Henry in the run of play, his set play skills are top shelf. I got the feeling a few years ago that he had quite a fascination with building up the sport in America and Los Angeles in particular so it was not a complete surprise to me that this whole deal went down, it just happenned a couple years sooner than I thought it might.

As for the photos, I too like the solo shot and feel that it could be used to 'say something.'Good, bad, accurate, inaccurate or otherwise, it seems to tell a story. Thanks for sharing.