[DSims]

It's with some ambivalence that I announce my retirement from sports photography. My daughter's senior season has come to an end with her team's loss in the championship semi-finals. It's been fun. Here she is in the quarter-final game.

Nice parting shot! Too bad it's over.

[dadipentak]

Nice parting shot! Too bad it's over.

Thanks! The thing is, It was pretty labor intensive: I'd post them for the girls and their parents so I tried include all the girls who played. I'd take about 250 shots each game and end up posting about 25, averaging 2 games a week for three seasons (field hockey, basketball and lacrosse) for the past seven years. It was intensely rewarding but there were also times when all that pp felt like drudgery--punctuated by "Oh, yes!" moments of intense satisfaction.

Interesting thing, btw: often, in my first pass through the game shots, I'd come away thinking, "What crap--I'm hopeless!" but then--when I really got down to pp--I'd find a fair number of decent (and a few pretty darn good) shots every time.

In case anyone's interested, the complete collection from this lacrosse season is here.

It was a great run and I know there were girls and parents who enjoyed the photos and shared them through various media. I have to admit I'm looking forward to the free time (although I suspect I'll fill it up with something similarly demanding and rewarding ;~) Fundamentally, though, it was great to be able to share a meaningful aspect of my daughter's school years. Here's one final shot--coming off the field after that last win--not great technically but I think it captures something essential.


.

[DSims]

nteresting thing, btw: often, in my first pass through my shots look at game shots, I'd come away thinking, "What crap--I'm hopeless!" but then--when I really got down to pp--I'd find a fair number of decent (and a few pretty darn good) shots every time.

I know the feeling - you don't see good ones until you really get down to looking at them.

With 1000+ shots at most events I rarely PP them. I leave the RAW photos and PP for my other types of photography. Since I'm aware many sports pros shoot JPEG only, I decided that would be better for me as well (otherwise I spend too much time on them). Culling the photos is enough work for me as it is. But obviously you got better results with the PP - I can only imagine how much work it was!

Were most of the shots with your Sigma 100-300/4?

[dadipentak]

Were most of the shots with your Sigma 100-300/4?

All of them, I think. I brought the 70-200/2.8 with me on a few occasions when I was worried about low light conditions but never actually used it--you know, once you've got the rig in a rain sleeve, you really don't want to go back to the car to swap lenses ;~) I used the 50-150 for basketball, though.

[florinlib]

The last event I shoot, women handball, k5II with DA*200, more on flickr...

[DSims]

The last event I shoot, women handball, k5II with DA*200, more on flickr...

Congrats - not only on the interesting shots, but also in making the DA*200 to work for you in a sports setting!

I had a DA*200 for less than 2 weeks. It took nice photos, but AF was a disaster when trying to focus on oncoming runners. I could have listened to others who told me about the slow AF, but I wanted to try it for myself. But I didn't have a problem with the IQ - you got some nice results!


Could you please provide a link to the Flickr photo stream for this event - I'd like to see some more!

[florinlib]

I agree that sometimes DA*200 is not fast for some kind of action, but I try to manage this.
Here https://www.flickr.com/photos/florin-foto/sets/72157640183565396 (the most photos were taken with DA* , also with 135/3.5 M and Sigma 105/2.8) and my album DA*200
https://www.flickr.com/photos/florin-foto/sets/72157634188689465/

[DSims]

I agree that sometimes DA*200 is not fast for some kind of action, but I try to manage this.
Here https://www.flickr.com/photos/florin-foto/sets/72157640183565396 (the most photos were taken with DA* , also with 135/3.5 M and Sigma 105/2.8) and my album DA*200
https://www.flickr.com/photos/florin-foto/sets/72157634188689465/

Thanks for sharing these - you get good results with that lens!

I think I often hand my lenses a "worst case scenario" for their AF performance, and only some of them can keep up.

[GvilleRick]

We had our spring football game this week. It's a chance to shoot from different angles since I can shoot from the field and not just the sideline.











---------- Post added 05-17-14 at 05:51 PM ----------

A few more:

[dadipentak]

spring football

Nice photos though.

[volley]

A few from an international meeting today. All shot with the original k5 and the DA 4/60-250

Here is Louis Castro from Puerto Rico who achieved a new national record with 2.26 m.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

... and this is Martyn Bernhardt from Great Britain

[IMG][/IMG]

[jake14mw]

Wow, great high jump shots!

[bass3587]

Those are some awesome colors from that K5 60-250 combo. The colors are so rich. You did an awesome job volley'

[volley]

Wow, great high jump shots!

Thank you, appreciate your comment. It is a very nice event to shoot, they are just focussing on long jump and high jump, with some first class athlets participating, but very "photographer firendly".

Those are some awesome colors from that K5 60-250 combo. The colors are so rich. You did an awesome job volley'

Thanks much! For the 2nd and 3rd I was using a preset in DxO Filmpack 4 which emulate the wonderful colors of Fuji Velvia slide film. Colors may not exactly bee "natural" but I like this look a lot (did it already long time ago before going "digital").
Take care.

[jppp]

Finnish U19 football again. This time in rain. K-5 + Tamron 70-200mm f2.8.










Despite the guy tearing the shirt, #15 scored a goal.

I was completely not prepared to shoot in the rain and it just got heavier and heavier. The Tamron seemed to have survived, I wasn't worried about the camera.