Gopher Football vs. Illinois

[folville]

A bit of an old set, but I'm just getting around to posting them now. C & C are very welcome.

It was a tough game to shoot because of the lighting, but I'm generally pleased with the shots I got. This was my third football, so I'm still learning a lot about where to get the best field position and how to follow the play, so keep that in mind.

Exif should be attached, but all images were shot with 30D + 300mm f/2.8L IS / 70-200mm f/2.8 L.

1.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2521/4123444611_0faf388a68_o.jpg

2.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4124213650_b0fcbc53e0_o.jpg

3.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/4124213820_9f632b5e0f_o.jpg

4.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/4124213570_f4652d2a00_o.jpg

5.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2681/4123444351_150676d846_o.jpg

6.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4123444003_bf1d820614_o.jpg

[honestwords]

none of them do anything for me sorry to say Timing seems to be off on them looks like you seen in the viewfinder what you thought you got. but we all know if uve seen it uve missed it images are not very sharp for the 300mil2.8 IS lens

[nicmo]

I like the action on #3. Your exposures for the most part seem fine, so I don't think you had any problems with lighting. All of images except for #4 need a better crop as most of them feel off balanced to me, remember the rule of thirds when cropping and don't be afraid to come in tighter. I do agree with the OP that the action images are a bit on the soft side.

Since this is only your third time shooting football, I wouldn't worry too much. Each sport has its own rhythm and timing to get down. Keep shooting you are almost there.

[folville]

That's very fair: I did have a bit of a tough time anticipating and tracking the action through the lens (Hell, I'd never used a 300mm before), and I have had no experience with football, per se.

When I get back to my work computer, I'll crop more aggressively and look through for some shots that show more peak action.

More opinions are welcome!

[canonnoob]

these do look a bit soft. but keep working. youll get there eventually

[STONEBLUE]

I shot local football with a 30D for the past 2 years. My experience with that camera is that at very small apertures, the camera is not quite accurate enough to nail the focus on a consistent basis. I mention this because I looked at the Exif for several of your shots and the aperture was F2.8. That might explain some of the soft shots. With my 30D, I usually shot at F5.6 and found that the focusing was more forgiving with a little wider depth of field. I just recently purchased a 1Dm3, and so far it seems to be much more accurate (and quicker) at focusing. So I might be shooting more at F2.8 in the future!
Jeff