Getting the shot

at soccer.
With the new season coming I was able to shoot a friendly match.
A training game for them and for me.
I want to know what can be improved in my shooting.
Roast me, be as harsh as you wish/want/dare.

7D 70-200 L USM 1/1000 f/2.8 ISO400

IMAGE LINK: http://s3.postimg.org/​aofpmxs6r/MG_6277.jpg

Nice action shot, and with the ball in the image. Print it big, frame it, hang it on a wall.

You seem to have missed focus by just a bit. Even with your fine lens the DOF at 2.8 is small.

AZGeorge wrote in post #17105632
You seem to have missed focus by just a bit. Even with your fine lens the DOF at 2.8 is small.

I was aiming at the guy in blue (obviously).
To get a high shutterspeed, to freeze the action, I choose a large aperture.
I never realised that my DoF could be too small.
A DoF calculator tells me I have a DoF of about 2 foot.
I'll try f/3.2 or f/3.5 the next time.
Thanks for the tip.

Shot isn't bad. Can't comment on the oof, too small on my phone. Couple of suggestions:

1) crop tighter.
2) you missed the peak action, do you have a frame before this?
3) the players are slightly underexposed. Boost the shadows and exposure a tad.

1) I'll keep that in mind. (Note to self: zoom more, fill the frame)
2) No. I am forcing myself to shoot less, be more aware of when i shoot and no "spray&pray".
3) I will.

Thanks Joe, George and Chang for the comments.

Nice shot.

Would be better posted in the sports section. Number 1, f2.8 is probably too wide in good daylight. F4 is probably a safer bet. Up your iso if necessary. Number 2, as often happens, other players get in the way and spoil what might have been a really good shot. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you luck out. Number 3, time is a bit off. Track player, start shooting before the peak action, shutter lag means you will miss the crucial frame otherwise. Number 4, next time sit down. Standing shots rarely work well.

I have a similar set up to you. I use manual - set iso to auto, F4 to F5.6 and shutter speed somewhere between 1,200 to 2,000. I let the ISO float for daytime and set the other two as I want to make sure I freeze the action. I used to shoot at 2.8 to 3/2 but the "2 feet" is not enough depth of field in fast action until you're reaction time is really good. Remember to shoot a gray card during the game so you can make easy adjustments as daylight changes. Make sure you set your camera to back focus and servo (plus high speed shutter - which is probably why you bought the 7d. I usually choose spot metering and an small area focus - not spot because the downside to spot focus is that you could end up focusing on the shirt instead of the face
Last remember to look where the sun is because thats whats going to drive your shutter speed and aperture. Sun at the back of the players - open it up. Dark jerseys - open it up or the face will be dark. You can see pix on my Flickr where I screwed that last piece of advice up. Last - crop in tighter for your shot...don't try and get everyone in the play - just the key player and one defender.