first real football experience

i have only really shot from the stands and my lenses are not that great so the shots were always pretty bad, but yesterday i had the chance to do some on field shooting at a local freshmen football game let me. please let me know what i should work on. the gear and settings i used for the shoot were:
1d markII
canon 75-300 f/4-5.6 non IS

f/16
iso 800
exposure 1/800

please if you have any suggestions on what settings might be better let me know and if you can critique my photos.

thank you

2 and 5 need portrait-oriented crops...

nice captures....I too would crop 2 and 5.....

how is this?

Don't shoot at f16. Try the largest f-stop you think will still be sharp on your lens (somewhere around 5.6ish). That will keep the background as out of focus as possible. It will also allow you to shoot with higher shutter speeds.

i tried that but it seems like the players would end up out of focus too like thier legs or maybe a player next to them

Most sports shooters shoot at 2.8. Surrounding players can be out of focus as long as your main subject(ball carrier) is in focus. Always crop tight!

The 75-300 isn't exactly known for it's AF speed.. The out of focus players were either due to the lens or user error.

Drozz119 wrote in post #13047382
Most sports shooters shoot at 2.8. Surrounding players can be out of focus as long as your main subject(ball carrier) is in focus. Always crop tight!

The 75-300 isn't exactly known for it's AF speed.. The out of focus players were either due to the lens or user error.

thats good to know about the other players.

I wouldnt doubt it being me. im still learning but it could be the lens as well it is one of the cheapest lenses you can buy

dont stop down. as mentioned most shooters shoot at 2.8, that helps get you higher shutter speeds to freeze the action and it also give a nice shallow DOF to separate the players from the background

More crop....... The Subject is the player, not the aluminum empty bleachers.

Blur background? Read up on depth of field...

I would have to agree with what everyone has said so far. Vertical crops, shot tight/crop tighter, and open up the aperture as much as possible are all good advice everyone has given you.

I started out shooting with that same lens, and it's not all that great for sports. It is slow in the AF department, but can work. I saved up for the 70-200 f/2.8L non-IS and it is night and day! It was totally worth it for me. I am just an avid hobbyist who loves shooting sports!

Another thing would be to make sure you get the faces. Shots without the faces, but especially of just their backs, like in #3, are worth keeping. #1 comes close, since there are no faces, but it was good timing capturing the tackle/fumble.

thanks i do plan on picking up either the 100-400l or the 70-200l along with a 5d mark II for some wedding photography the sports is more of a hobby for me but if i could ever make the switch and get paid for it, i would take it up in a heart beat