40D + 70-200mm f/4.0 USM IS @ the Aussie Rules

Hi all,

September in Australia [early spring] is footy finals month [Rugby League, Aussie Rules & Rugby Union]

Yesterday I decided to visit Newcastle's No. 1 Sportsground to watch the Cardiff Hawks play the Warners Bay Bulldogsfor a spot in next week's Black Diamond AFL Grand Final

Cardiff ended up beating Warners Bay 24.12 [156] to 12.10 [82]

As usual, EXIF data should be intact.

Any C&C would be a appreciated!

#1

very crisp...

Excellent focus very sharp pictures. With tighter cropping I think they would look much better as eyes then would be more focused on the players.

Thanks!

I usually put a fair bit of thought into cropping and and as a rule, I do try to eliminate dead space where I think I need to.

#1 - I wanted to keep the trees in the final image as they suggest great height; in this case, where the ball has come from.

#2 & #3 - Definitely wanted to have the grandstand as part of this one. An important visual with any type of spectator sport!

#4 - The player is jumping high into the air. Space above him I thought was a must.

#5 - I could probably go either way with this one in terms of a tighter crop. The grass could possibly go!

Thanks for your input.

cheers,
J&D

That's some pretty harsh light to deal with. I don't shoot field sports too often, but I think the old 'shoot tight, crop tighter' rule could apply. Cheers.