Today's Soccer - Chester vs MK Dons

Thought I'd share a couple of the shots from today's League 2 match. Sadly Chester lost 3-0, however was a better game than some of the recent ones have been.

Light was a tad variable all the way through, stuck with manual and used my own judgement which was somewhat amusing!

Anyway, thank you for looking.....as always fire away with any C&C.

1. 1D, 300 2.8; ISO1600; Manual 1/500 @ f2.8

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#1 is superb! Really like that shot... faces, ball, action.

#2 is a wee bit soft and looks (from the grass) that the point of focus is slightly behind the action.

#3 is a great comedy shot

#4 and #5 both suffer from the dreaded 1/250s syndrome. The light must have been really bad (and don't we just love it). Have you tried shooting a few frames at 1/400s in RAW and seeing if you can pull the images up to gain a bit more on the shutter speed front? Of course, that assumes you're not wiring during the game.

#6 Tell me more! Not quite sure what's happening there.

---- Gavin

gmen wrote in post #2465392
#1 is superb! Really like that shot... faces, ball, action.

#2 is a wee bit soft and looks (from the grass) that the point of focus is slightly behind the action.

#3 is a great comedy shot

#4 and #5 both suffer from the dreaded 1/250s syndrome. The light must have been really bad (and don't we just love it). Have you tried shooting a few frames at 1/400s in RAW and seeing if you can pull the images up to gain a bit more on the shutter speed front? Of course, that assumes you're not wiring during the game.

#6 Tell me more! Not quite sure what's happening there.

---- Gavin

#2 looks a little better on the original - its quite heavily compressed on here as its almost the full file. However do take your point about the focus point from the grass.

#3 Did like this one - however please see me favourite "caption competition" photo below

#6 - I got all arty for this - no real point to the photo actually, but I quite liked it! (is that reason enough? I can come up with a more creative reason if you like!!!)

The 1/250th syndrome....recently with no time pressures I've been shooting RAW, so to answer your question then yes, I would probably have tried that approach.....BUT today I decided to impose deadlines upon myself to test out the workflow etc and whether I could, on my current form, submit images during/from a game. So it was a JPEG day today, meaning I didn't have the option to tweak the images too much in PP.

I might have a try at some point shooting in RAW and converting as part of the "submitting from a game" workflow. If I am only going to submit 10-15 photos I can't see it slowing things down too much.

The light is shocking at Chester (I do love it, honest!) and I need to find that balance between freezing the action and not underexposing too far and therefore accentuating the noise through underexposure! Ideas on a postcard please!!

Anyway, feel free to come up with captions for the photo below:

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The 1D RAW files convert pretty quickly and will let you correct an underexposed image (slightly) more successfully than from the jpeg file.

However, shooting sport in RAW is a bit of a luxury and a step that is well worth avoiding in the 'live' workflow. So it's certainly a very good idea to perfect your craft in jpeg mode. The exposures on the 1/250s images look pretty 'chunky' so you might have a bit of head room to go to 1/320s or 1/400s anyway.... dialling the speed down on the fly when the action enters the darker corners.

Hope your wiring practice goes well.

---- Gavin

I always do raw in night or bad light conditions and JPG in good light conditions... If using RAW I can choose the 10 images (average) I need to wire and they don't take too long to convert in Bibble... might depend on processor and memory you have.. not sure... I know you gmen mentioned in a tutorial your laptop wasn't as good as can be but as its not that often I need to wire then can put all on to convert while I have a cup of rosey lee


my game Accy v Mansfield was abandoned at half time. I am at wrexham on monday.


great shots BTW .. #1 stands out a mile!

KIPAX wrote in post #2465580
...but as its not that often I need to wire then can put all on to convert while I have a cup of rosey lee

Rosie Lee? Is she related to Ruby Murray?

The RAW conversion is often best avoided for fast-moving live work as it just adds another step to the workflow. Less is more... even with a very fast machine.

KIPAX wrote in post #2465580
my game Accy v Mansfield was abandoned at half time. I am at wrexham on monday.

I've been waiting for a pic of that waterlogged pitch

---- Gavin

gmen wrote in post #2465540
The 1D RAW files convert pretty quickly and will let you correct an underexposed image (slightly) more successfully than from the jpeg file.

However, shooting sport in RAW is a bit of a luxury and a step that is well worth avoiding in the 'live' workflow. So it's certainly a very good idea to perfect your craft in jpeg mode. The exposures on the 1/250s images look pretty 'chunky' so you might have a bit of head room to go to 1/320s or 1/400s anyway.... dialling the speed down on the fly when the action enters the darker corners.

Hope your wiring practice goes well.

---- Gavin

Wiring practice went well, surprised myself in fact as I didn't realise I could be that efficient!!

Might have a play with 1/320 or 400 and see what comes of it next time out (which hopefully will be the "controversial" FA Cup game against Ipswich).

I agree that the 1D RAW files are comparatively small, however would much rather be shooting in JPEG wherever possible. I tend to faff too much with RAW anyway, trying to get things just right before conversion!

KIPAX wrote in post #2465580
I always do raw in night or bad light conditions and JPG in good light conditions... If using RAW I can choose the 10 images (average) I need to wire and they don't take too long to convert in Bibble... might depend on processor and memory you have.. not sure... I know you gmen mentioned in a tutorial your laptop wasn't as good as can be but as its not that often I need to wire then can put all on to convert while I have a cup of rosey lee

my game Accy v Mansfield was abandoned at half time. I am at wrexham on monday.

great shots BTW .. #1 stands out a mile!

Thanks Tony - hope you managed to swim safely home after the game was abandoned!

Also, do Ruby Murray and Rosie Lee know Lady Godiva?

Nice work Paul

Darren

gmen wrote in post #2465611
I've been waiting for a pic of that waterlogged pitch

---- Gavin

hehe.. the paper phoned me and asked what i had got.. i told them injured players on crutches(we have loads at the mo) a bit of action, penalty.. no ref inspecting the pitch because he didn't.... but then I said I ahve a puddle in middle of pitch with a garden fork in it...... he couldnt wait to get it...hehe i could have took it in my garden... they are gonna use other pics as well and thats good cus I wouldnt feel right with the money he pays... just for a pic of a puddle

I also noticed... torrential rain.. only one other photographer there.. ha!

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KIPAX wrote in post #2465704
hehe i could have took it in my garden...

If that's the case then your water feature is leaking!

DarrenL wrote in post #2465700
Nice work Paul

Darren

Cheers Darren - were you shooting today?

Tall_Paul_2000 wrote in post #2465930
Cheers Darren - were you shooting today?

Funny story there Paul. My local footie team have been playing away for 5 games straight, the BB team split for xmas about 3 weeks ago, all the other local footie teams were away and there is no hockey or Rugby.

I decided mid week that I was going to go to a local Rugby game today to see if I could cover the sport.

I turned up, got my gear out, started taking a few readings and then noticed that the huge trees around the pitch at the local park blocked all the available light, then my heart dropped, I'd not even considered that local parks don't have floodlights!! What a donut. Even with 3200 I could not get 1/125 so I left without taking a single image, I do regret that now.

It did however prove to me that before I can approach any agencies, additional papers etc. for work I need to upgrade my kit. In the summer my 300mm F4 was perfect and got me some amazing images, but its impossible get through an entire game under my local teams non-league conditions in winter.

I was going to approach the Non-league paper and see if they need any teams covered down this way as there are 2 teams in the Conference and then there is the Nationwide Conference South as well, ho hum.

Next weekend I am at the NIA for the BB Cup Finals though, so I am looking forward to it.

Darren

DarrenL wrote in post #2465988
Funny story there Paul. My local footie team have been playing away for 5 games straight, the BB team split for xmas about 3 weeks ago, all the other local footie teams were away and there is no hockey or Rugby.

I decided mid week that I was going to go to a local Rugby game today to see if I could cover the sport.

I turned up, got my gear out, started taking a few readings and then noticed that the huge trees around the pitch at the local park blocked all the available light, then my heart dropped, I'd not even considered that local parks don't have floodlights!! What a donut. Even with 3200 I could not get 1/125 so I left without taking a single image, I do regret that now.

It did however prove to me that before I can approach any agencies, additional papers etc. for work I need to upgrade my kit. In the summer my 300mm F4 was perfect and got me some amazing images, but its impossible get through an entire game under my local teams non-league conditions in winter.

I was going to approach the Non-league paper and see if they need any teams covered down this way as there are 2 teams in the Conference and then there is the Nationwide Conference South as well, ho hum.

Next weekend I am at the NIA for the BB Cup Finals though, so I am looking forward to it.

Darren

Don't be disheartened Darren. These things take time... building up your kit is all part of the equation.

When it comes to the medium/longer focal lengths, f/2.8 lenses are de rigeur. There are only a handful of football grounds in the country where you could get away with anything less under floodlights... and that would be pushing it.

As for the NLP, the opportunities may well have decreased somewhat since the paper merged with the LP and the Friday edition was discontinued. However, togs come and go, so it may be worth having a chat with Dave Watters to see what's possible.

Have a good time in Birmingham. If you can carry on shooting hoops to a high standard then a lot of other sports are relatively straightforward in comparison.

I found that basketball photography tightened up my timing and anticipation... as well as learning how to deal with terrible indoor light and working in a 'restrictive' environment.

Keep plugging away. Work towards a couple of faster lenses... build your experience and things will fall into place.

---- Gavin

Paul - Excellent colors and composition and I love the halo effect you got in #1 shooting into the sun. I'm not a big fan of motion blur in sports images but what you got in #5 is perfect. Good stuff especially for the shooting conditions you endured -- man those skies look scary in #6!