First Soccer Tournament Advice...

[alanb]

I'm shooting my first soccer tournamnet Sat. and would appreciate any advice.

Is fill-flash usually prohibited because of the distraction?
Would kneepads be a good idea?

Thanks.

Alan B.

[VladDracule]

depends on the venue but i prefere to not use a fill flash...shoot short bursts when players are moving into a tackle taking a shot etc. What equipment are you planning on taking?

Kneepads arent a bad idea but depending on the age group if its u12 or under its prefered to sit on your rear while shooting

[KIPAX]

you should never use flash at football... take a stool as shooting upwards is best if its adults and being same level if children. how bigs the tournament.. multiple pitches maybe?

[namasste]

you'll shoot thousands of images at a tourney. I'm not even sure a quatum would keep up. I'd agree with the others and suggest sticking with ambient lighting. besides, soccer players don't wear helmets or caps so you won't have as bad a problem with shadowing as you do with many other sports. if needed, you can always lift shadows a bit in pp if you think its really necessary.

[andrewdorian]

I shot soccer last month for one of the local schools - got some good pics too. What I learned was to shoot with both eyes open so you can see the plays develop. Ususally there are only a couple players that will be where the ball is most of the time and when you locate them stick with them it will pay off.

[bigjon0107]

Yep, scratch the fill flash idea. I am assuming that your camera can only sync at 1/250, which is two slow in this case for something that you are not going to be able to overpower the ambient on with the flash.


I'm shooting my first soccer tournamnet Sat. and would appreciate any advice.

Is fill-flash usually prohibited because of the distraction?
Would kneepads be a good idea?

Thanks.

Alan B.

[Familiaphoto]

Best advice is above. Get low enough for a good angle. Depending on the age of the kids you'll want to be sitting on a stool hight chair, same as kneeling for me and much more confortable, or sitting on the ground. Looking down on the kinds just makes for bad shots.

[alanb]

Thanks to those who responded with the pragmatic advice.
It just rained earlier and so the grass/ground may still be wet at 8 am Sat. Guess I'll sit on my cooler for a while.
I'm hoping I can get close enough to use the new 5D, if not, I will use the 20d w/1.4 TC. Should be good enough on the 70-200.
White Balance : Auto or ExpoDisc ?

[VladDracule]

i use auto because i dont have an expo disk...useless outdoors using only natural light your WB wont be far off

[bigjon0107]

Use auto, if you go from shooting in the sun to shooting in the shade, your WB is going to be off if it is set on one temp.