Kev, thanks for the compliment and crit (and additional comments). The images missing toes would have been so unless I were on a ladder and I point that out not to defend the shot but as just another thing to think about. Some pitches/fields have a very convex shape to them, and this was one. When shooting the opposite side, it is very likely that you'll get images like you see above and there's almost no way to prevent that. If you have toe amputations, make sure you concentrate on getting the players as they move across the center of the pitch.
Kev, talk to me a little more about how you adjust settings when clipping your reds. Those do tend to be brightest (just do a b/w channel mix and its obvious how the reds behave). Anyway, I'd be curious if you just dial down the ISO a touch until all is well again or what. Never really thought about looking at the color histo, just the lum. Thanks for the tip!
Good point about the crown of the field. Honestly, I shoot virtually all football and soccer standing up because the reach with the 400 is so long that the elevation change gives the illusion of shooting from a lower angle anyway. However, there is one field I shoot at that the grade is so steep I wonder how the kids don't roll downhill or feel like I need radio communication with the opposite sidelines to know what is happing past the center of the field so can totally understand how sometimes toes will be lost regardless of what you do.
I usually adjust with either aperture or shutter speed first because most of the time a 1/3 stop change will take care of it and I do all I can to not change ISO unless it is a full stop adjustment. If at all possible I try to stay on the natural ISO settings (100, 200, 400, etc). The lum histo is still the primary one I use but have started getting in the habit of looking at the color as well as a secondary check especially when I am trying to push things to the limit.
It seems to be most helpful indoors. Since I am a shutter speed freak, I have found that checking the color histo is what generally determines my final shutter speed selection. A lot of the time I think I can go up an additional 1/3 stop based on the lum but when I check the color it is better in the reds without the additional 1/3.
As an added comment, I also will use the blinkies to determine what is blown which in a lot of cases is things I don't care about anyway like lights in the background or highlights around the edges from backlight etc.
Hope that makes sense. If not let me know.
