Sports Photography – Shooting Soccer
Written by Mike Cheliak on March 31, 2009 – 6:22 am -It’s that season again in North America. Spring brings soccer back to life in my part of the hemisphere. Soccer to some can be tiresome to watch but to the studied eye, it is like one huge chess game when played at a high level. The ball movement, positioning, strategies and of course some of the most highly conditioned athletes around.
Every sport has its own unique style and the way you shoot these sports requires a different skill set. As you become familiar with shooting a particular sport, you will find that many of the shots (although unique for that game) are similar or familiar to other shots you may have taken. There is a finite amount of ways in which you can shoot a sport (angle, position, lighting matrix…) so it is up to you to make the most of your shooting and to “create” new ways to look at it.
Photographing soccer is not particularly difficult to shoot you will have to have some better equipment to get consistently good results. Knowing when to shoot and having a camera with adequate response time is important but you really do need a long lens to shoot. I use a 400mm f/2.8 lens for soccer and I have a second camera set up with a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens as well for when action is closer. That combination puts you in the area of $20,000 so unless you have loads of money or make a living at it…don’t go and buy that kind of equipment! Having some flexibility in zoom is needed and as long as you are shooting in the daytime, you can easily get great results with a less expensive lens. A DSLR with 3 frames per second is a good start and most of the mid-entry level Canon and Nikon cameras provide that type of performance and have reasonable shutter lag.
For most soccer, you will be shooting from the sidelines although you can get some really great shots from the corners and endzone areas. You will want to make sure of a couple things. First, when you are shooting from the sidelines, make sure you are aware of the line official. He/she will be running from the end to centre on one side of the field (their partner will be on the opposite side of the field and end). They are paying attention to the game so you must NEVER interfere with them. The second is when you are in the endzone. Never distract the play and WATCH OUT for flying soccer balls. They DO hurt (I know from experience).
Now that the ettiquette is out of the way, you are going to want to shoot at the level of your players. If you are shooting little kiddies playing, drop down to your knee for shooting. Stay at eye level with any subject and maintain that angle for most of your shooting. Some “up shots” can look interesting at the right angle, but shooting into a bright lit sky is not good photography.
Follow the play, be ready to shoot and get a feel for the player(s) who are commanding the most time on the ball. They are likely the best on the team and will lead most of the good action and attention from the other team. Shoot lots of “conflict”. Soccer looks better with more people in the photo. Focus on your subject, keep your f/stop wide open to make your depth of field as shallow as possible and try to catch scenes with the ball.
Some good shots to look for are dribbling sequences, challenges, throw ins, trpas, corner kicks and goalie saves. A soccer header will be your most challenging but with practice and a quick camera; you can get really great shots with some of the best facial expresions you will ever see in sports! Nothing says BONK, like a hard soccer ball on the head.
Have fun and remember to catch the action; don’t be a part of it!
Health and Happiness as always,
Mike C.
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