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First attempt at a hurling match.
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There was a match on at the local grounds last night, so I went up for half an hour to see if I could get any shots, with a manual focus Tokina 100-300 f4
any thoughts or cc are welcome.
IMGP3182ed1 by dr.shutter, on FlickrIMGP3210ed1 by dr.shutter, on FlickrIMGP3269ed1 by dr.shutter, on FlickrIMGP3275ed1 by dr.shutter, on FlickrIMGP3339ed1 by dr.shutter, on FlickrIMGP3351ed1 by dr.shutter, on FlickrThese are great Derek considering you were using a manual focus lens, I’ve tried hurling a few time and always find it extremely difficult due to its speed. For sport shots, I always try and capture facial expressions, not always possible but it really adds to the shot. The couple of times I’ve tried, I let the action come to me and I came away with about five okay shots from a whole game, trying to follow the action is hopeless :lol: , for me anyway.
Dave.
Manual focus – well done in fairness !.
I take photos of my local soccer club (12 teams) and a few things which help me or I’ve observed which might be useful…
1) You’ll take alot of photos to get a dozen or more ‘good’ ones :)
2) I mostly shoot from one end of the pitch or other so that my local team are running towards me. It means that they are facing me when running towards goal or jumping for a header in mid-field. Of course to shoot defenders I need to move down the side towards them.
3) Its a real pain in full sunlight to shoot as its always too contrasty, so in those instances I shoot with the sun behind me or close to as possible
4) Get down lower and shoot (I always forget this)
5) It took me quite a long time to predict what was going to happen next in the game, i.e. where was the ball going to be next so I could focus on that player or area of the pitch.
6) Don’t be afraid to crop. I’d crop your 3rd and 5th photos tbh. With the 3rd photo you’ve captured him catching which is great but it’s lost as its a small part of the scene. Most of the photos I take end up online or in the odd occasion if we are getting a piece done in the papers it’ll be in print. The newspapers/local mags don’t need high-res.Anyhow, keep it up !. Great start.
Mark and Dave, thanks for the feedback, plenty of sound advice there. I know what ye mean about taking lots in order to get a couple of half decent ones. I was there for about half an hour and took about 150 shots for about 30 that were ok. I went as much to practice my technique as anything else, id say its a fairly steep learning curve to end up getting consistent good shots. I did keep the sun directly behind me and only shot in one direction to avoid flare. I might try to stay for the whole game the next time and see if i can put your advice into practice, and learn to anticipate where the ball is going.
Thanks again
DerekA couple of very quick thoughts. Your exif data on Flikr seems to indicate that you shot these photos at 1/1600, F8 and at 100mm. For sports photography you need to be looking more at 1/2500, F4 and as long as your lens will go – 300mm in your case. Its all about freezing the action, catching the emotion and cropping the shot so its all about the action. Let me know if you want to see some examples of what I’m talking about…
Hi Mauriceg, thanks for the advice, I’ll give it a go the next time. The lens was an old manual one and I don’t think the camera registered that it was a zoom. I’ll have a. Look at the contacts and see if it persists.
Thanks again
Derek.Derek, am always delighted to give advice. I appreciate just how much work you have to put into to be able to produce consistently good images. Give me a shout if you want more help on this area!
Wow that’s a cracker Maurice. I would need faster glass to be able to shoot at f4, although the lens I was using was a constant f4 shooting wide open would have been counter productive. I am on the look out for decent glass (to me) Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSMÂ at the minute I’m just trying to get a feel for it while I practice with this manual focus metal monster :D
The next chance I get to go to another match I’ll try out some of your advice and see how I fare, although I don’t expect it will be anything like what you can shoot.
I’m not jealous I’m just :mrgreen:Derek
Excellent photo Maurice !.
Actually what is your process, general settings around resizing/sharpening, if you wouldn’t mind sharing?
Thanks
Mark
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