Advice-settings for football and lacrosse

I used my Amex points for a Canon EOS 60D b/c I'd like to shoot sons' football and lax games. A bit of a monster compared to my little point and shoot. My friend does all the picture taking so I rely on her for photos. Would like to do myself. I plan on purchasing a Canon 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 IS USM lens b/c it's what I can afford and reviews seem great. I can't afford a 2.8, but it seems that's what all sports photos use. Can u give me a starting point for the settings for daytime football game? Most likely 2-4pm summer eastern time. Suggestions I've read "use AV, TV, high ISO, Al Servo, monopod, hood." I also read no TV as jerseys will fool the camera. Keep exposure a little to the right, on faces. It will take practice, practice, practice I know, but would like a starting point. Sorry for my ignorance.

green3tle wrote in post #14051519
Can u give me a starting point for the settings for daytime football game? Most likely 2-4pm summer eastern time.

Football from a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens.

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Awsome pics. Great reply. Cant wait for my new lens and give these settings a whirl. Thanks!!

maybe a faster ss to stop all action
in the bright sun you should be able to shoot maybe 1/2000 f 8 or better

this is the first piece of advice I have ever given on here
the only reason I did is that I do shoot a lot of football

the above has been my experience
but I am in no way a pro guy
they know better than me

nice shots

keep shooting
it make you better

In my case maybe not lol

anyone with any real knowledge please comment on mine also
it helps me be better

thanks

I like AV for sports- especially since that lens has a variable maximum aperture. Set it wide open, it will adjust to 4.0-5.6 depending on your focal length. Regardless- you want as narrow a DOF as possible to set your subject off from the background. In addition, that will let as much light in as possible- allowing for faster shutter speeds.

Set your iso so that your shutter speeds are at least 1/500 or faster, preferable 1/1000. Depending on how you meter (spot, center weighted, evaluative) your camera may be fooled by a white jersey or a dark background- but that should be the exception. If it happens consistently, you can dial in some exposure compensation, or switch to M. M is going to require a max aperture of 5.6 though, so you will lose a stop of light compared to the 4.0 you could have at the short end of your focal range.

Experiment- see what works for you!

What I didn't see posted here yet.. and it may not be great advise, as I am still learning things.

I set my focus point to the center only. I then set my focus mode from "one shot" to AI Servo. I did this at my son's last baseball game. (also had the camera in Av for most of the shooting trying to keep an eye on the shutter speed keeping that as high as possible via increasing the iso).

I also put the camera into burst mode, and let 3 or so shots click off when trying to capture "in-action" shots.

In the past I would shoot Tv with center focus and "one shot" focus mode (soccer and t-ball). Noticed some/alot of my pictures were a touch on the soft side. In the results of the last game, I noticed a HUGE difference in the amount of "keepers".. and ultimately had a hard time deciding which pose was the best of a "burst set"

sfinkernagel wrote in post #14074422
I like AV for sports- especially since that lens has a variable maximum aperture. Set it wide open, it will adjust to 4.0-5.6 depending on your focal length. Regardless- you want as narrow a DOF as possible to set your subject off from the background. In addition, that will let as much light in as possible- allowing for faster shutter speeds.

Set your iso so that your shutter speeds are at least 1/500 or faster, preferable 1/1000. Depending on how you meter (spot, center weighted, evaluative) your camera may be fooled by a white jersey or a dark background- but that should be the exception. If it happens consistently, you can dial in some exposure compensation, or switch to M. M is going to require a max aperture of 5.6 though, so you will lose a stop of light compared to the 4.0 you could have at the short end of your focal range.

Experiment- see what works for you!

This.

I'll add one more step. You'll want to make sure your shutter never goes slower then 1/640. As you'll see in DC Fan second image his shutter was at 1/500 and motion blur is evident. 1/640 will still get some motion blur (typically in the hands and feet), but it should be the slowest you ever go. So long as your lighting is consistent (No shaded areas on the field, no clouds (or always a cloud cover) you want to set the body to AV, set the aperture wide open then zoom all the way in on a subject. This will give you your smallest aperture. Check your shutter speed then adjust your ISO so it is at least 1/640. If you can keep it at 1/800 that is more then fast enough to freeze all action.

And one more step is what Noitca said, set the AF to one point (I'll shoot mostly in only the portrait position, so I'll use one or two points up from center), set to AI Servo. After you somewhat master this you'll want to look into using one of the back buttons for your auto focus. It took me pretty much a full season to master the AF. And when I say master I mean 95% of my shots are in focus. And as Burnet stated...it takes practice. So don't get discouraged, instead keep practicing.