HS Football.

a few shots from this past season. I hope to do more games this year.

1 and 4 are the best shots but could use a little tighter crop. The backgrounds in almost all of the images are very destracting. What aperture did you shoot?

#4 is my Fav. I cropped most of them but wasn't sure how close to take them in.

I shot them with my Canon 18-200mm 3.5/5.6

The backgrounds are extremely distracting but you did a great job at processing. They all seem to have an HDR feel.

Thanks.. Things are very crowded and crammed where I live. Always something making its way into the pic.

This year, it's time to move these pictures up a notch or two. Here's how:

1. Instead of Action Program mode, move to Aperture Priority (and later, possibly manual) for your 50D. Av will allow you to set your lens on the largest aperture available.

2. A large aperture lens, preferably f/2.8, will allow you to blur those very distracting backgrounds. Those lenses can be expensive but shooting at f/5.6 with your backgrounds really diminishes your images.

3. You've captured a nice moment in picture #1 but the camera should be in portrait orientation which would allow you to zoom in much tighter than 160mm. Shoot tight, crop tighter. Move out of your comfort zone on this.

4. #1 is underexposed. You may need a bit of exposure compensation (+1/3 or even 2/3) to get the faces properly exposed in the helmets.

5. Servo focus, center focus point.

6. When the team is close and you have the opportunity to shoot from behind the end zone, do it. Players eventually head toward the end zone and that allows you to shoot faces and to have open space behind the players which results in cleaner backgrounds. That's a double win.

7. Strive for peak action as told by the face(s) of the athletes. Each image should have a center of interest. Group shots without faces are rarely compelling.

Good luck.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=735799

Thanks a lot for that info.. I look forward to using it.

Definitely has a "grunge" or "HDR" look to it wich it kind of neat. For action, I prefer the isolated backgrounds provided by a larger aperature lens.

Joemt.

Couple of comments: 1. Looks like you have field access. Sometimes the action isn't where the background lends to isolating the play. Try to anticipate what will happen and move to an angle where you can get mostly players/action and not so much bldgs and school busses. It may sound difficult, but definitely can be done.

2. When you don't have a shot of something moderately interesting or the action is too far away for your gear, put the camera down. This is beneficial on two levels: a) fewer shots to review and ditch; b) more keepers!

3. Shoot from a very low angle on MOST shots. The QB shot has a good angle, but most appear to be taken from a standing position.

Good luck on the upcoming season. I'm looking forward to it as well.

dave

Again.. Thanks a lot. I will put these to good use.