Youth Soccer - Backlit v Facing Sun

Matt (eigga);
How far up from the ground do you shoot from? It appears (to me) that your lens is not more than 2+ feet from the ground.

I was sitting on the ground so just a little above 2 ft...maybe closer to 3 ft. For the younger ones I usually sit ... the older kids I stay on my knees.

The link above from Gavin is interesting... I think the comment about exposing to the right is a very good one. I have the highlight notification turned on for my camera and I expose to slightly clip the highlights.... I dont have as much overexposure or "haze" as his examples though.

Bottom line is faces sell ! I think parents will buy a perfectly exposed face with slight clipping in the baqckgroud over perfect exposure into the sun with harsh shadows around the eyes. Clear picture of eyes almost always sell from my experience.

Faces sell! Probably one of the most profound statements in youth sports. Sometimes (rarely) parents will buy a shot of their kid's back w/ name and number, but rarely do. Depending on what time the games were, I would have both spectra of sun in my shots. I prefer, especially with football, to shoot w/ the sun at MY back and into the faces. That makes all the difference when shooting under football helmets. Also, the kids wearing all black uniforms can play w/ the exposure. I would have to set EC +1/3 - +2/3 to accommodate. Personally, I prefer the sun to light the subject. I know that backlighting can add some personality to the image and there are times that I use it, as well.

Faces do sell.. but I had a mother that wanted *THIS* picture

Yes I understand other things "can" sell... I have had some crazy orders including $2500 for one child at a play. She bought multiple prints of every image her child was in...even one of just her hand in the image.

But faces sell at a better rate for sure

It's all green and goes in the bank account so I guess it's hard to complain when someone wants something strange.

eigga wrote in post #8912731
Yes I understand other things "can" sell... I have had some crazy orders including $2500 for one child at a play. She bought multiple prints of every image her child was in...even one of just her hand in the image.

But faces sell at a better rate for sure

I've had several people purchase prints of images w/ the kids helmet in it. Go figure.

DHMN wrote in post #8912908
It's all green and goes in the bank account so I guess it's hard to complain when someone wants something strange.

It all spends the same.

I tried Matt's backlit technique this past weekend. It felt the AF on my 40D struggled more than the usual. It could've been just my immagination. Here is one of the better examples.

Matt, did you see any difference with AF accuracy shooting backlit soccer?

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Yes, focus can be harder to achieve... but it has not been a significant problem. Maybe 2-5% more OOF.... But I will say the 40D I had didnt focus very well at all...so that might compound the problem. JMO. I use the Mark III

Also the more you get the sun directly behind the better the image IMO... side light is what I try to avoid the most!