U16 Soccer Tournament

The EPIC Hotspur U16 season started this past weekend with a two day tournament here in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. I shot 6 games. Some great soccer was played throughout the weekend. Unfortunately my son suffered a hip injury in the first game and had to sit out the rest of the weekend. Here are some shots from the games. All shot with the Sigma 70-200.

1.

you captured the intensity of the game perfectly

Great timing and composition- they are nice and sharp as well!

I am seeing some white balance issues- skin tones look red in some, and perhaps a little bit on the cool side.

Other than that- awesome work!

Is that a Barcelona shield on an Adidas top?

rick_reno wrote in post #14123783
you captured the intensity of the game perfectly

Thank you! All of the games were exciting to watch.

sfinkernagel wrote in post #14125955
Great timing and composition- they are nice and sharp as well!

I am seeing some white balance issues- skin tones look red in some, and perhaps a little bit on the cool side.

Other than that- awesome work!

Thanks! I'll go back and check the WB on the pictures.

ajaffe wrote in post #14129182
Is that a Barcelona shield on an Adidas top?

Not sure. They're known as the CFC Fury and come from a different part of the State.

I would crop the first one more on the top and bottom. 6 & 7 I think can also be cropped on the left and right sides as well. Shoot tight and crop tighter.

The WB issues may be a result of shooting different games at different times. I would still look into them thought. Maybe some levels adjustments will get them to pop more as well.

Good shots.

canons900 wrote in post #14131836
I would crop the first one more on the top and bottom. 6 & 7 I think can also be cropped on the left and right sides as well. Shoot tight and crop tighter.

The WB issues may be a result of shooting different games at different times. I would still look into them thought. Maybe some levels adjustments will get them to pop more as well.

Good shots.

Hey, thanks canons900. You bring up a question about cropping. I try and crop at the standard 4x6 ratio and leave a little extra room so a parent can crop if they want a 5x7 or 8x10 instead. Just wondering if I'm thinking about this correctly or should I crop at a non-uniform ratio?

Nice, sharp, good action!

mrwilt wrote in post #14141121
Hey, thanks canons900. You bring up a question about cropping. I try and crop at the standard 4x6 ratio and leave a little extra room so a parent can crop if they want a 5x7 or 8x10 instead. Just wondering if I'm thinking about this correctly or should I crop at a non-uniform ratio?

Depends on the client so you've got it right.

Most stuff I leave a bit loose or use ratios because I have to depending on who I am shooting for. Other times I can crop as tight as I want and not worry about ratios.

Here's my 2 cents on the crop issue- If you were to overlay the ratios, the 5x7 is "between" the 4x6 and 8x10- Not just in size, but more importantly, in shape. If you crop to 5x7, then a customer who crops to 4x6 will get a slightly narrower photo, and an 8x10 will get a slightly shorter photo- assuming portrait orientation.

If you take that one step further..... This is from MaxPreps' requirements.....

The actual "midpoint" is a ratio of 4000 x 5415. They request all of their photos to a pixel dimension of that ratio. LR doesn't accept numbers that large, but I do have a preset saved of 400 x 541.5. I crop everything to that ratio, (which is pretty close to 5x7), maybe a little loose if possible, and have pretty good results.

If you're cropping them for a customer, crop them for that, but canned crop ratios rarely present well here for an entire set. Especially when we have no idea they were cropped that way for a reason.

I would definitely crop quite a bit off the sides of 6 & 7.

The timing on 1, 2 & 6 is really good.

You do have some blown highlights. You might try a custom parameter with the contrast set to -1 nd see if your histogram doesn't tighten up (and eliminate most of the blown highlights).

Regards,
Jeff

habenero wrote in post #14141283
Nice, sharp, good action!

Thanks habenero!

ajaffe wrote in post #14141920
Depends on the client so you've got it right.

Most stuff I leave a bit loose or use ratios because I have to depending on who I am shooting for. Other times I can crop as tight as I want and not worry about ratios.

Thank you. I'm shooting for the local high school, so parents are the ones mainly purchasing. All of my sales so far have been the 4x6 variety.

sfinkernagel wrote in post #14144252
Here's my 2 cents on the crop issue- If you were to overlay the ratios, the 5x7 is "between" the 4x6 and 8x10- Not just in size, but more importantly, in shape. If you crop to 5x7, then a customer who crops to 4x6 will get a slightly narrower photo, and an 8x10 will get a slightly shorter photo- assuming portrait orientation.

If you take that one step further..... This is from MaxPreps' requirements.....

The actual "midpoint" is a ratio of 4000 x 5415. They request all of their photos to a pixel dimension of that ratio. LR doesn't accept numbers that large, but I do have a preset saved of 400 x 541.5. I crop everything to that ratio, (which is pretty close to 5x7), maybe a little loose if possible, and have pretty good results.

Hey, thanks. I use to crop to 5x7, but switched when most of my sales were 4x6. I might try your 400x541.5 ratio.

Big Hands wrote in post #14172498
If you're cropping them for a customer, crop them for that, but canned crop ratios rarely present well here for an entire set. Especially when we have no idea they were cropped that way for a reason.

I would definitely crop quite a bit off the sides of 6 & 7.

The timing on 1, 2 & 6 is really good.

You do have some blown highlights. You might try a custom parameter with the contrast set to -1 nd see if your histogram doesn't tighten up (and eliminate most of the blown highlights).

Regards,
Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. I'll give that contrast adjustment a try and will keep the canned crop ratios in mind when posting.