Girls HS Soccer

I don't shoot much of this because of my limited reach and the home soccer field lighting sucks worse than the football field, but I had a request from a parent to cover a player so here's my best shot at it. Shots were around 6:30pm Eastern time at ISO 400-800 (no flash) with 30d and 70-200 2.8 IS.

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I've been shooting my daughters soccer games for a little while now. I too only have a 70-200 lens, the f4 L version. So I have just resigned myself to waiting for the action to come to me most of the time and then cropping like mad. It's a funny sport. The moment you think a play is going no where, that's when the bast action shots are or a great header or something else important that you should have had the camera up to your eye and on the play, but you just needed a break so you missed the shot. I hate that. It's a none stop action packed game. Unlike football, you know you can take the camera away from your eye in between plays and be fairly safe.

I like the leg extention of the girl in the first image. I bet she drilled that ball. Soccer makes for some wierd leg angles and body motions. Cool set you got there!

I'll offer a small tip, especially shooting with shorter glass....position yourself behind the goal line just outside the box (if allowed). You'll get more action if the plays are developing in that end and reach won't be as important. You'll also get cleaner b/g since the players will be so close to you relative to the b/g (that whole DOF thing again....lol) You can also catch more faces there imo. Just a thought but I NEVER shoot a mach without spending some time in that position and prefer it to the sidelines in most cases.

namasste wrote in post #8741828
I'll offer a small tip, especially shooting with shorter glass....position yourself behind the goal line just outside the box (if allowed). You'll get more action if the plays are developing in that end and reach won't be as important. You'll also get cleaner b/g since the players will be so close to you relative to the b/g (that whole DOF thing again....lol) You can also catch more faces there imo. Just a thought but I NEVER shoot a mach without spending some time in that position and prefer it to the sidelines in most cases.

I agree with Scott's suggestion. It is by far my favorite position to shoot from. Unfortunately all the fields around here run north/south so unless it is a cloudy day the cross light from that big fireball in the sky just kills the photos and pushes me back to the sidelines.

namasste wrote in post #8741828
I'll offer a small tip, especially shooting with shorter glass....position yourself behind the goal line just outside the box (if allowed). You'll get more action if the plays are developing in that end and reach won't be as important. You'll also get cleaner b/g since the players will be so close to you relative to the b/g (that whole DOF thing again....lol) You can also catch more faces there imo. Just a thought but I NEVER shoot a mach without spending some time in that position and prefer it to the sidelines in most cases.

100% agree, unless your own kid happens to play defense and most of the time her back will be to the camera. And, if she is good, she won't be running back towards the goal on a blown play, so you'll have a chance at capturing her face. All my kids play defense and are kind of good at it. I have so many good shots of their back

Sibil wrote in post #8747129
100% agree, unless your own kid happens to play defense and most of the time her back will be to the camera. And, if she is good, she won't be running back towards the goal on a blown play, so you'll have a chance at capturing her face. All my kids play defense and are kind of good at it. I have so many good shots of their back

bummer man! I'm lucky that my son is a forward so I often just park it right down there and hope that the team is moving the ball well. Problem there is I can get so caught up in the play that I forget the photography!

namasste wrote in post #8747218
Problem there is I can get so caught up in the play that I forget the photography!

LoL. Be careful. It's easy to get caught up and say something inadvertently. The trick to being allowed to stay behind the goal line is to stay quiet, not make too much movement, and basically look like a fixed fixture there. I made the mistake of yelling out to my kid once (being caught in the moment), while shooting from the goal line, and the ref immediately stopped the game and had a talk with me. I haven't made that mistake again.

10megapixel;
You have some very nice shots here. Good job.

Sibil wrote in post #8747765
LoL. Be careful. It's easy to get caught up and say something inadvertently. The trick to being allowed to stay behind the goal line is to stay quiet, not make too much movement, and basically look like a fixed fixture there. I made the mistake of yelling out to my kid once (being caught in the moment), while shooting from the goal line, and the ref immediately stopped the game and had a talk with me. I haven't made that mistake again.

10megapixel;
You have some very nice shots here. Good job.

believe it or not, I have had the exact same thing happen (and was asked to move in a not so friendly way). lesson learned once!

Sibil wrote in post #8747765
LoL. Be careful. It's easy to get caught up and say something inadvertently. The trick to being allowed to stay behind the goal line is to stay quiet, not make too much movement, and basically look like a fixed fixture there. I made the mistake of yelling out to my kid once (being caught in the moment), while shooting from the goal line, and the ref immediately stopped the game and had a talk with me. I haven't made that mistake again.

10megapixel;
You have some very nice shots here. Good job.

My son plays varsity football and I have to refrain from screaming every week at him from the sidelines...it's tough. It's especially awkward when your on the opposing teams sideline and you start cheering after a touchdown run or big first down from your son's team, then you realize it's dead quiet around you and if looks could kill....:o been there, done that