shooting soccer-need some tips

I have been shooting photos of my son's hockey team for the past 8 years. The shots were always ok, but not great. Last year I learned a lot on these forums and purchased a used Sigma F2.8 lens & learned to make all the adjustments in manual. So last season were some of my best hockey shots. This year my son decided to try out for the high school soccer team. Never played in his life and made the team. So needless to say I am new to this sport but just like hockey, you learn to follow and anticipate the action. What I need are some tips for shooting during the day and for at night under the lights. Any advice on ISO, shutter speed and aperture combinations for sunny, cloudy and night games would be appreciated. I will be using my T4i with a non-is Sigma F2.8 70-200.

hikermk wrote in post #16317603
I have been shooting photos of my son's hockey team for the past 8 years. The shots were always ok, but not great. Last year I learned a lot on these forums and purchased a used Sigma F2.8 lens & learned to make all the adjustments in manual. So last season were some of my best hockey shots. This year my son decided to try out for the high school soccer team. Never played in his life and made the team. So needless to say I am new to this sport but just like hockey, you learn to follow and anticipate the action. What I need are some tips for shooting during the day and for at night under the lights. Any advice on ISO, shutter speed and aperture combinations for sunny, cloudy and night games would be appreciated. I will be using my T4i with a non-is Sigma F2.8 70-200.

Association football images from a non-stabilized Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.

Thanks for all the information DC Fan. From looking at your settings I know I definitely have room to lower my shutter speed slightly for night games. From there I can make the other accommodating adjustments. Is 1/400 the lowest you will go for night games?

i would say 1/800 is probably the lowest shutter speed that works. for night games, you can go even slower but the keeper rate would also go down.

I would echo the comment about the tight framing. I'd say it's even more important than finding the 'optimum' shutter speed/ISO balance. The biggest issue I see with people who are struggling with poor ISO performance (especially on todays sensors which are great) is that they shoot way too loose. I shoot with a 5d3, but even a tightly framed shot at ISO 12800 looks a hell of a lot better than an ISO 1600 loosely framed shot that I'm trying to aggresively crop. High ISO are all about signal to noise ratios, so the bigger your signal (larger the subject in the viewfinder), the less you are going to notice the noise.

As far as settings go, every situation is different, and there is no hard and fast rule for the perfect shutter speed/ISO (I'd say pretty much always leave your aperture @ 2.8, day or night, unless a specific shot calls for a wider DOF or if you are really struggling with focus). Faster sports require faster shutter speeds. I generally err on the side of bump up the ISO to get a higher shutter speed. My rule of thumb (YMMV) is generally up to ISO 3200 to get me to at least 1/1000, ISO 6400 to get me to at least 1/800, and ISO 12800 to get me to 1/500. Beyond that, and I'll usually supplement lighting with a flash.

Strouty wrote in post #16319277
I would echo the comment about the tight framing. I'd say it's even more important than finding the 'optimum' shutter speed/ISO balance. The biggest issue I see with people who are struggling with poor ISO performance (especially on todays sensors which are great) is that they shoot way too loose. I shoot with a 5d3, but even a tightly framed shot at ISO 12800 looks a hell of a lot better than an ISO 1600 loosely framed shot that I'm trying to aggresively crop. High ISO are all about signal to noise ratios, so the bigger your signal (larger the subject in the viewfinder), the less you are going to notice the noise.

Very very true. So the camera-to-subject distance and the lens focal length become important.

DC Fan wrote in post #16318047
Association football images from a non-stabilized Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.

Everything else depends on quickly tracking and closely framing the action, then pushing the shutter button at the correct time.

Kevin, glad to see your new job has not stopped you from visiting this board.

As far as shutter speed goes...if the action is coming straight at you, you can get away with 1/500...but if the action is going by you from left to right (or right to left) 1/800 will still give you some blur...I don't mind if the ball and feet have some blur...but the rest of the body I want sharp.

I try to keep over 1000 ss sometimes down to 800, I am lucky most of my night games are under really good flood lights. Haven't done one since last May though, my profile picture was me pitch side at a pro rugby game taken by another press photographer.

Some good advice and examples from DC.

Unsure what your lights might be like. I shoot non-league in the UK and daylight matches are fine. You don't need IS for shooting soccer anyway. Under lights, I have to push the iso as high as it will go - 6400 on my body, and set the lens to f/2.8 and hope I get a reasonable shutter speed, often 1/400 which really isn't great. If you have to go that low, get a position where you can shoot the players coming towards you, that minimises blur.

For daytime, and floodlight, use AIServo or whatever the Nikon variety is, centre spot focus.

My picture galleries http://photodiva.zenfo​lio.com/

Strouty wrote in post #16319277
I would echo the comment about the tight framing. I'd say it's even more important than finding the 'optimum' shutter speed/ISO balance. The biggest issue I see with people who are struggling with poor ISO performance (especially on todays sensors which are great) is that they shoot way too loose. I shoot with a 5d3, but even a tightly framed shot at ISO 12800 looks a hell of a lot better than an ISO 1600 loosely framed shot that I'm trying to aggresively crop. High ISO are all about signal to noise ratios, so the bigger your signal (larger the subject in the viewfinder), the less you are going to notice the noise.

As far as settings go, every situation is different, and there is no hard and fast rule for the perfect shutter speed/ISO (I'd say pretty much always leave your aperture @ 2.8, day or night, unless a specific shot calls for a wider DOF or if you are really struggling with focus). Faster sports require faster shutter speeds. I generally err on the side of bump up the ISO to get a higher shutter speed. My rule of thumb (YMMV) is generally up to ISO 3200 to get me to at least 1/1000, ISO 6400 to get me to at least 1/800, and ISO 12800 to get me to 1/500. Beyond that, and I'll usually supplement lighting with a flash.

+1 on all but use of flash. Shooters never use flash in the UK.

There's a lot of things that can affect shooting high school soccer.

1. Getting later in the year, you'll have fields that are half bright and half dark. Make sure to set your settings to accommodate both. This can be tough.

2. Most high school field lights suck. No other way to put that. While I have not seen a specific rule on this, when I asked refs this year, it was about 50/50 that did not want flashes going off during games. I understand this. That will require you to have a camera with high ISO capability or one that can adequately shoot 1/800th and a good noise reduction program. What I have found is that shooting from the sidelines during night games under the lights will provide you more light than shooting from behind the goal line.

Here is one that is unedited other than a bit of cropping.

Av: f/3.2
Tv: 1/800
ISO: 3200

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1. Sit on the butt when shooting. If not at least kneel. The biggest difference in your shots.

bobbyz wrote in post #16386308
1. Sit on the butt when shooting. If not at least kneel. The biggest difference in your shots.

Or, if your knees creak, get a little stool, e.g. camping or fishing.

Hannya wrote in post #16387230
Or, if your knees creak, get a little stool, e.g. camping or fishing.

I use Walkstool when my back can't tolerate shooting from sitting down position. I find it too high too shoot soccer. So I usually take Advil before heading out.

I found shooting soccer with a 200mm lens is like fishing...there is a lot of waiting.