soccer saturday. settings?

[medicdude]

its supposed too be sunny here saturday and im shooting my cousins soccer game. should i put it in sports mode and go with it? Av mode? auto? Will probably be using my 70-300 f/4-5.6

thanks

[Dan-o]

Av. Wide open (F4-F5.6). Set ISO as low as possible but still get good shutter speed. Watch your histogram and adjust exposure accordingly.

[medicdude]

pretty much what i was thinking. thanks dan!

[malone63]

pretty much what i was thinking. thanks dan!


medicdude,

pls post some pics, i'd very much like to see some examples from this lens.

has this got I.S?

thanks

malone63
:)

[medicdude]

no IS on this lens, but ill be sure to post pics. supposed to be a nice sunny 80 degree day.

[KIPAX]

its supposed too be sunny here saturday and im shooting my cousins soccer game. should i put it in sports mode and go with it? Av mode? auto? Will probably be using my 70-300 f/4-5.6

thanks

I wonder where "here" is ? :) Don't use sport mode.. Go iso 200, if your not up to manual yet then go AV mode and set to f4.5...take a stool/seat and shoot from as low down as you can :)

[khall]

Follow the tip from KIPAX, AV, f4.5 and low down.

[jcpoulin]

No one has mentioned shutter speed...this is key in action shots. Adjust your ISO and AV around your shutter speed. To stop action, you need 800 to 1000 shutter. Stopping a ball moving or a foot stike at impact needs this. 1250 even better. On a sunny day your lens should tolerate this. Next determine how tight you want DOF to be and adjust ISO accordingly. With that lens, I would strive for f8 as this is a good sharp point. I have never ( maybe rarely) shot at ISO 200 when I get my Shutter and DOF priorities done. ISO 400 - 800 it will most likely be on bright sunny day. Now...if you desire a little ball blur ( effect) then adjust down accordingly. IMO

[mhackney]

Av, widest aperture to blur the background (cars, buildings, spectators, etc), 1/1000s or faster shutter speed, adjust ISO to get the ss in that range. Even at 1/500s the ball will blur when kicked. Finally, use a monopod or your tripod with just 1 leg extended to act like a monopod - especially since you don't have an IS. Those big lens/camera combos get heavy and having everything supported by a monopod not only takes a lot of the camera blur out of the equation but saves your arms from heavy lifting!

EDIT: I just re-read the suggestion on shooting low from a stool. That is also a great idea, especially for youth soccer games. You can still use the monopod to stabilize the camera from a seated position. I like ot mix it up with some low down shots and standing shots. I usually try to stay back at one of the corners behind the goal and move up the sideline or towards the goal - depending on the action and not interfering with the play. When the action is at the other end stand up to get a better perspective.

cheers,
Michael

[KIPAX]

the OP already told us it will be sunny.. therefore iso 200 and AV set as open as you can then the shutter will automatically be fast enough... f8 for sports is a poor setting as you then have less chance of seperating subject from background.. f4.5 his best would also up the shutter.. :)


addyonbit.. sorry mhackney we posted at about the same time.. i wouldnt have had i seen your response:)

[tadrscin]

Also try and shoot with the sun to your back to keep the faces from being in the shadows.

[In2Photos]

Shoot Manual! If the lighting is predictable there is no reason to not shoot manual!

1. Take a white piece of paper with you.
2. Stand with the sun at your back if possible. Lay the piece of paper on the ground.
3. Set your camera to M, ISO 200, wide open (which is 5.6 for 300mm so use this as your setting for all focal lengths). Now start at 1/1600 (from Sunny 16 rule) for shutter speed.
4. Take a pic of the piece of paper (filling a good portion of the frame) and check the histogram. Any blinkies? IS the histogram pushed to the right edge but not clipping? If so you are set, if not adjust the shutter speed up or down (try to stay above 1/1000 or 1/1250 though) to get the histogram just before the right edge.
5. Set AF to AI Servo.
6. Shoot from a low vantage point and watch your backgrounds.

Shooting manual mode here lets you focus on (no pun intended) the action and when to press the shutter. Occasionally check your settings to make sure you didn't accidentally change them. This will yield consistent results without the metering being thrown off in Av from white uniforms or dark backgrounds.

[jcpoulin]

KIPAX, I somewhat disagree....at 300, his lens will only stop down to 5.6 so going lower is not an option. His 4.5 is at the short end which he will not be using. As reviews have it, at 5.6 it can be soft so adding some f/stop may help eliminate this. Also, with targets moving towards/away from focus, extra f/stop coverage may increase his keeper rate. I agree, with a 2.8 lens I would not shoot at f8. My response was based on what the OP had for eqiupment.

[medicdude]

yes a 2.8 would solve alot of my problems lol. but i think its going to be sunny enough that i should be okay, in2photo, thanks so much. ill try Av and ill try your method as well. it totally makes sense. i appreciate everyones advice, this forum has been great so far!

[localplayer]

ok, different view. don't shoot av if the field is lit even. meter off the grass and set your speed accordingly. leave the lens wide open. so you are now in manual mode and hopefully not going to be jerked around by color's of jersey's. if you have a monopod, use it. yes, shoot low to the ground--video guys actually put their camera's ON the ground. so lower is better but see below on backgrounds.

most important: think before you start shooting. 1) where are the good backgrounds for my shots? not ones with parked cars, but ones that are either dark (distant shade) or without other things to muck up the shot. your pictures are made on a canvas of a background. 2) position to make sure those backgrounds are in the shots. if not, can I go up in the stands and use the field as the background? 3) have a shot plan--how many of each player, how many of the coach, how many of the parents re-acting to play, group team shot before game?, jub shot at end. follow the plan and you will end up with a good shoot.

i pretty much did this for the last 4 years of shooting the NFL. we had to deliver over 150 shots per game that were magazine quality. it works

[medicdude]

thanks local. must be a treat shooting for the NFL.

[VladDracule]

out of curiousity, what do you look for in the histogram to adjust your exposure?

[In2Photos]

out of curiousity, what do you look for in the histogram to adjust your exposure?
That depends on what is in the image. For instance, if the scene should look dark (night scene) then the histogram should show that most of the data is at the left end of the histogram. But if the should look light (snow covered landscape) then most of the data should be at the right end of the histogram.

The same rule applies for sports shots. If you have a dark background with dark colored jerseys you might have most of your data toward the left end of the histogram. If you have a bright background and white jerseys you will likely have most of the data at the right end of the histogram.

What I try to do is make sure that I have no blown highlights when shooting daytime sports. This is why I use the white piece of paper I mentioned in my ealier post. It allows me to set my exposure for the highlights (which is a good thing in digital). So make sure you don't have any "blinkies" (blown highlights) and you are good.

[medicdude]

yeah thats one thing i like about my xti, the blinkies. lol.
it may look ok on the lcd but in full size it looks blown. blinkies help with that.

[localplayer]

"blinkies" aren't all bad--in some situations it is better to have some rather than set the exposure too low. for instance, in direct light a white jersey may blink at certain points, but you might need the light to get a good face exposure. so yes, try to minimize, but don't assume you are going for zero or your shots may come out on the dark side. on the light histogram (vs rgb) try to put it in the middle for a grey (18%) surface. grass is pretty close to this, but a grey card will nail it (or an incident meter).

[Dan-o]

Reading the histo just takes time to learn. As In2photos explained you have to read the scene first. If your background is full of dark trees like in the photo then your hist will be more towards the right like the one in the upper right. If the background was bright sky then part of the hist would have shifted to the right. It just takes practice. Have fun Sat. Oh by the way I don't think anyone mentioned AL Servo focus.

http://www.stantoneagles.com/me/ex1.jpg