Lacrosse game pictures

I have been asked to shoot some pictures of the local lacrosse team games in the near future. I think that my 200L is too short, and should rent a 300, or 400, or zoom, to take the pics. This will be my first 'sports' type shots, and would like your opinion. on what to rent. I know that I will need a fast lens. thank you. NickS.

I use my 70 - 200 L 4 and get great shots. Will you be on the sideline when you shoot? I stand on the sideline opposit the players and it works well. You may even find the 200 to be to much lens when the action gets close to you.

If you're renting, go for either the 300 or 400 L, don't bother with zoom. Yes, there will be instances when the action gets too close ... but lacrosse game action doesn't tend to stay in one place for very long and most of the field is going to be far away from you just about anywhere you setup. I've shot lacrosse with the 100-400 IS L and the 300 and 400 L lenses and have to say the photos from the 300 and 400 are hands down far better quality than from the zoom. The fast lenses, of course, make it much easier to keep your shutter speed at 1000th or faster, which is ideal for lacrosse, but the sharpness of the lens and shallow depth of field are something you can't duplicate with a zoom lens, even at high ISO values.

Just as a head's up though, the focusing speed on the 5D is pretty slow and can make it difficult to keep up with the speed of lacrosse action. I'm sure you'll get plenty of good shots, but it might be challenging to get good focus if you shoot from the end lines, since the players would be running at or away from you most of the time. Setting up on the sidelines will provide more opportunities for you where the action isn't moving at or away from you so you're focus has a bit more time to keep up.

Hope this helps.
Have fun.

looking forward to seeing some of your pictures

All lax I've shot the 400 is perfect, anything less and you have loose photos which are not usually wanted/needed. 300 would work as well...hopefully paying good so renting a lens is worth it.

I shot with my 70-200 on a 7D and it was way too short. On the 5D I would think you'll want a 400, or else you will be cropping a lot.

I've shot LAX with a 200/2.8L prime... works great when the action is the exact distance away, but 20% of the time the action will get too close and 60% of the time it'll be too far and you'll wish you had more telephoto reach, especially on FF.

If it's a daylight game, the 100-400L will also be good. You won't get the background blur that a 300/2.8 or a 400/2.8 will give you, but you'll get a lot of flexibility with the zoom range.

Plus, you can switch lenses with your 200/2.8 during a time out or at halftime. This will mixup the look of your shots... get some nice narrow 2.8 DoF shots.

Also consider renting or borrowing a second body... the 5D will be great for sideline sportraits, but with full-frame it won't have the reach, plus the AF speed and FPS rate is slower. Using a 1.3x 1D Mk II or Mk III or a 1.6x 7D will be like having a TC connected for extra zoom but without having the loss of a stop.

Nicksan3 wrote in post #9834285
I have been asked to shoot some pictures of the local lacrosse team games in the near future.

What's nice about being asked, is you can say no.

Hi All. Thank you for your input. The games are daytime, and I will be shooting from the sidelines. For the first game, I will rent the 300L, and place it on my 5DMII, and my 200L on my 5D. Depending on how the pics look, I will try the 400. BTW, I do like the primes, and the fast lens. I will post some of the pics in the near future. Thanks again. NickS.

Nicksan3, the best part is after you shoot your 1st, you will have a pretty good idea of what you need and how you shoot it. FAST PRIMES and FPS work for me. GL and post some pics

Nicksan3 wrote in post #9839644
I will rent the 300L, and place it on my 5DMII, and my 200L on my 5D.

If you plan on doing this (or any Sports) more than once and want to try a faster body for sports, I have a 1D Mark II as a backup and I've been wanting to try a full-frame 5D just for something different to pair-up with my 1D Mk III. So I'd be interested in trading a 5D for my 1D2.

any c c on these
http://www.flickr.com …in/set-72157623800997725/

12Rock wrote in post #10071616
any c c on these

http://www.flickr.com …in/set-72157623800997725/

You'll get more comments if you pick 2 or 3 images instead of a link to 46.

For example, I picked one from your gallery... I always look for faces/eyes. And ball.

Plus the other usual feedback... try getting a little lower. Sit or kneel on the sideline.

Level your horizon... look for plumb vertical lines in the background to use as a reference (fence posts, telephone poles, building edges, etc). Looks like these were shot with a 70-200/2.8 - try opening the aperture wide open instead of f/4 to blur out the distracting backgrounds.

Plus a lot of your shots are too wide... with a 70-200, I'd try to focus on the play and shooot tighter... try using all 200mm a lot more. Save 70-199mm for when the action comes really close to you. Even then, I'd recommend using that opportunity to stay tight and get some really close up faces. Don't worry about trying to document/capture the entire play... get the ball carrier and his defender.

On this one, crop out the dead space behing the subject. From EXIF, it looks like you were using spot mode exposure. Expose a little more for the faces.

Clarence , thanks for the C+C . this is my first link to some pics. I could not figure how to put one or two pics up here as some do. My attempt was to have the pics (1 Or 2) show up right here on the page as opposed to following a link. Then when I could not do that , I thought that that link led to one picture not the set sorry about that.
Thank you for the C+C Have only been shooting about 1 year and just stepped up the last few months with better equipt and going to Av , TV, and M modes to get better. Spent alot of time on these boards reading.. Thanks again