[Kevwaly]

Different take on West Texas Friday Night Lights

Ahhhh! A fellow Pentaxian from West Texas perhaps? (Kevin From Midland) Football =Friday Night Lights mustangsphoto.com

[Kevwaly]

This was a high school football game in Arkansas Razorback Stadium in September. K5iis and Sigma 70-200. More images at mustangsphoto.com

[dadipentak]

Determination

Terrific shot and wonderful pp. My only quibble is that it took me a while to figure out where the ball was (maybe that's why the college scouts passed me by ;~)

[Stavri]

Great shot, I like how the spectators are captured to give a feel for the event. Excellent!

The photo with the big Canon lens is missing the action, probably found a cute girl in the stands

The stadiums policy wouldn't allow any lens over 6" so I took the -F 135mm f2.8. I was located on the opposing side of the field, behind the goal, was plesantely surprised at the cropped IQ of the K5iis + 135mm f2.8.

this one was shot a few seconds later in celebration of the goal

[MadMathMind]

I've been getting motion blur issues in soccer & athletics with a shutter speed of 1/1000s.

Are you using high burst mode? I was able to get great shots at 1/400 or 1/500 at a hockey game; I'm pretty sure hockey players skate a lot faster than soccer players run.

[dosdan]

Are you using high burst mode? I was able to get great shots at 1/400 or 1/500 at a hockey game; I'm pretty sure hockey players skate a lot faster than soccer players run.

Yes, I use high burst mode. I use TAv. The shutter speed could be faster than 1/1000s but since I use a fairly small aperture to get enough DOF to handle multiple participants and the ball, and I don't want to push the ISO too high, the shutter speed becomes a bit of a compromise.

At the shutter speed you mention using, I suspect the puck, once hit, will not be that sharp and I think the tip of the stick in a hit, particularly side on, will be blurred? I've not found 1/500s or slower suitable for soccer. While I can pan-follow the player, the movement of the leg when kicking, and the kicked ball itself, in side-on shots, is blurred.

Panning itself also become problematic in some common scenarios. Say you are shooting a sequence at 250mm FL, starting with a corner kick, following the ball in the air and what happens when the kicked ball arrives in front of the goal area:

1. Horiz. panning to follow the kicker as they run up to kick the ball.
2. Both horiz. + vert. panning as you follow the ball as it leaves the foot, travels in an arc and starts to descend.
3. Upward movement, sometimes on a angle, as one or more players attempt to head the descending ball into or away from the goal. Since they usually have desperate expressions on their faces, and sometimes expressions of pain as their heads or bodies collide, getting clear shots of them is rewarding.
4. Differently directed movement from the rest of the players in front of the goal who are not directly involved in heading, but who are trying to jostle each other or move to different locations to support further actions if the ball says close to the goal area after the initial contact. Often it's worthwhile including these players as well as the direct responders, in the shot.

I fast-pan trying to follow first the kicker, then the ball. But even at 1/1000s, and more so at 1/800s, I have to apply blur-correction using FocusMagic, multiple layers (2-3) and masking to the just-kicked ball, and often both the leaping inceptor and the rest of the different players (different directions and amounts of blur) since my panning doesn't suit them. The needed blur correction can be 6-10px at 1/1000s, depending on the relative difference in speed between the panning and an object. So even if I was to shot at 1/2000s, the blur would still be 3-5px. Since these shots are usually hard-cropped, the uncorrected blur is visible.

I'm trying to document the action if it's dramatic so, out of the burst, I may end up keeping 3 or more of the shots:

1-2 shots from the close to the ball run-up/contact with the ball/just after being kicked.
1 shot mid-air, including the players watching the ball from the goal area.
1 descent/leap-up
1 result of the leap-up
More if the ball stays close to the goal.

Dan.

[dosdan]

MadMathMind, here's an example of motion blur at 1/1000s in soccer.
K3 + DA* 60-250/F4 @ 220mmFL, 1/1000s, f/7.1, ISO250.
The ball had some motion blur in the original shot so I've worked on it a bit.
I've also applied some mild Gaussian blur to the background in 2 zones of increasing blur radius: bottom of fence up; bottom of tree up.



Dan.

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Last edited by dosdan; 12-05-2014 at 11:11 PM.

[Kevwaly]

Terrific shot and wonderful pp. My only quibble is that it took me a while to figure out where the ball was (maybe that's why the college scouts passed me by ;~)

Thank you!

[MadMathMind]

At the shutter speed you mention using, I suspect the puck, once hit, will not be that sharp and I think the tip of the stick in a hit, particularly side on, will be blurred? I've not found 1/500s or slower suitable for soccer. While I can pan-follow the player, the movement of the leg when kicking, and the kicked ball itself, in side-on shots, is blurred.

I never quite managed to get the puck in there. Combination of a lot of reasons for that (bad luck, suboptimal vantage point, didn't prefocus on a spot and just wait, etc.)

[florinlib]

K5II with Pentax-M 135/3/5

[crewl1]

High school dance competition.
K-5iis using Tamron 28-75 ISO1600 f3.5 1/400


K-3 using Sigma 70-200OS ISO6400 f3.2 1/500

[Macario]

Sport also consists of waiting, sometimes very long for some

[osv]

k10d and tamron sp 60-300mm adaptall-2

[cxdoo]

K5II & Tamron 70-200. These kids are fast.

[Kerrowdown]

this one was shot a few seconds later in celebration of the goal

Anybody else notice all the different directions cameras and phones are pointed?