Football! (At 8.5 fps!)

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Hi,

As some of you will know, I was recently elected the school's official photographer. Today made my first shoot of the first major football match this year. The following few images are from a tackle that the opposition was trying on a friend of mine. These were done at 8.5 fps.

By the way, my school is in orange and the opposition was in blue!

Enjoy and please comment!

#1

#2

#3

#4

More coming up!

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Continued from before...

#5

#6

#7

#8

More coming up!

ivan109 · 30th September 2004

Nice shot! Is that a 1D mk2? If so, congrats on your camera! What lens?

nickmak · 30th September 2004

#9

#10

#11

#12

More coming up!

nickmak · 30th September 2004

#13

#14

#15

That's it for that tackling...

#16

Yearning for ball

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Originally Posted by ivan109

Nice shot! Is that a 1D mk2? If so, congrats on your camera! What lens?

Thanks for your kind comment. Yes, the shots were using a 1DMKII with a 70-200f4L and a 1.4x TC.

Cheers!

nightwolf75 · 30th September 2004

nice and sharp pics! eh? where's the shot with the ball in the net??

geee... and i was hoping for a 8MP animated gif...

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Here are more pictures!

#17

#18

#19

#20

Comments are more than welcome!

Cheers!

More will be coming up...

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Originally Posted by nightwolf75

nice and sharp pics! eh? where's the shot with the ball in the net??

geee... and i was hoping for a 8MP animated gif...

Thanks bro!

Haha, sorry no animated GIFs yet. But will promise to make at the very least 1 specially for you my friend!

Haha... speaking about the ball in the net, I have a few shots of the ball in the net, but with no one in the picture!

As this is my first experience, I am experimenting on different areas to shoot. Even went to watch EPL for a while to see where the white lenses are!

Cheers!

Comments are welcome!

mr_jason · 30th September 2004

AI-Servo? The focusing looks very good for the series of shots #1 - #12.

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Originally Posted by mr_jason

AI-Servo? The focusing looks very good for the series of shots #1 - #12.

Thanks for your kind comment!

Yup! Used the AI-Servo function to get the shots. I realised that I put the tracking on highest speed and it was a stupid thing to do!

sequitur · 30th September 2004

so what school is this ? holland sec ? holland JC ?

anyway,

1. post processing a little maybe to boost the colours a bit. they seem dull in some shots.

2. composition. i'm not a sports photographer so i can't really say much, but reading the ST sports section everyday and seeing my friends surf soccer websites and seeing all those AFP, getty images shots of soccer.. these pale in comparison. of course i can't expect you to emulate those, but since i don't know what i'm talking about, i suggest you take a look at those and try to work towards them. i can't pinpoint what's wrong with your shots, but they just lack some form of visual impact for me.

3. all the best.

mr_jason · 30th September 2004

Originally Posted by nickmak

Thanks for your kind comment!

Yup! Used the AI-Servo function to get the shots. I realised that I put the tracking on highest speed and it was a stupid thing to do!

I don't know anything abt ID MkII.... what are the different speeds you can AI-Servo track with?

nickmak · 30th September 2004

I guess here's the last of the lot...

#21

#22

#23

#24

Comments of course are more than welcome!

Cheers!

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Originally Posted by sequitur

so what school is this ? holland sec ? holland JC ?

anyway,

1. post processing a little maybe to boost the colours a bit. they seem dull in some shots.

2. composition. i'm not a sports photographer so i can't really say much, but reading the ST sports section everyday and seeing my friends surf soccer websites and seeing all those AFP, getty images shots of soccer.. these pale in comparison. of course i can't expect you to emulate those, but since i don't know what i'm talking about, i suggest you take a look at those and try to work towards them. i can't pinpoint what's wrong with your shots, but they just lack some form of visual impact for me.

3. all the best.

Thanks sequitur,

Well, as I had said on my first post in this thread. Its my first time shooting sports so please bear with me. I know myself that this will improve over the next few months. As they say, 'Practice makes perfect!' so I'm on my first step. Now to see where to improve. My main objective now is to find a good position to shoot from. I'm shooting from the sidelines now but I'm exploring other areas to shoot and the characterisitics or the area.

Of course, I cannot possibly emulate the professional sports photographers right now otherwise I'd be making bucks, not going to study!

As you have said, I'm looking at sports photographs and finding the elements that are captivating to me and will work towards it. The thing is, I'm shooting every sport that my school has competitions in, so I'm gonna have my hands tied!

Thanks though for commenting...

PS: I'm not studying in S'pore. I'm studying in an international school in Bangkok.

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Originally Posted by mr_jason

I don't know anything abt ID MkII.... what are the different speeds you can AI-Servo track with?

AI-SERVO on 1DMKII has I think 5 speeds of servo function. There's slow, moderately slow, normal (factory preset), moderately fast and fast. I tried fast and all I can say is its too fast! But when I go birding I know what to do with it now!

nickmak · 30th September 2004

Any sports shooters have pointers for me so that I can progress faster?

Cheers!
Nick

Tzuen · 30th September 2004

I like that spray of dirt in #12 but what is he reaching for in #15 LOL Great sequence.

nickmak · 1st October 2004

Originally Posted by Tzuen

I like that spray of dirt in #12 but what is he reaching for in #15 LOL Great sequence.

Hey Tzeun...

Thanks for your comment on #12. As for #15, I'm gonna show the pic to my friend and ask him what's he reaching for.

r32 · 1st October 2004

If this was an exercise in displaying the prowess of a 1D Mark II's frame rate and 45 point AI Servo focusing accuracy then yes you have accomplished your goal.

You have to crop down to the players and not include the full frame if you were shooting for a newspaper. You have to choose one picture that is visually the most interesting/action-packed/sharpest/whatever, granted that some photographers just need to submit their CF cards to a central photo editor who does the rest, you don't have that so you have to do it yourself.

Newspapers use a sequence of photos occasionally, but 20+ frames begin to look like a comic strip.

30th September 2004	#1
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	Football! (At 8.5 fps!) Hi, As some of you will know, I was recently elected the school's official photographer. Today made my first shoot of the first major football match this year. The following few images are from a tackle that the opposition was trying on a friend of mine. These were done at 8.5 fps. By the way, my school is in orange and the opposition was in blue! Enjoy and please comment! #1 #2 #3 #4 More coming up! __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

30th September 2004	#2
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	More pictures! Continued from before... #5 #6 #7 #8 More coming up! __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

30th September 2004	#3
ivan109 Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 396	Nice shot! Is that a 1D mk2? If so, congrats on your camera! What lens?

30th September 2004	#4
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	More! #9 #10 #11 #12 More coming up! __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

30th September 2004	#5
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	Even more! #13 #14 #15 That's it for that tackling... #16 Yearning for ball __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

30th September 2004	#7
nightwolf75 Moderator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: in bet MORE diaper changes... Posts: 14,575	nice and sharp pics! eh? where's the shot with the ball in the net?? geee... and i was hoping for a 8MP animated gif... __________________ When did ignorance become a point of view? - Dilbert budget AD/ROM shooter, anyone?

30th September 2004	#8
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	More pictures! Here are more pictures! #17 #18 #19 #20 Comments are more than welcome! Cheers! More will be coming up... __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

30th September 2004	#10
mr_jason Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,076	AI-Servo? The focusing looks very good for the series of shots #1 - #12.

30th September 2004	#12
sequitur Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 2,825	so what school is this ? holland sec ? holland JC ? anyway, 1. post processing a little maybe to boost the colours a bit. they seem dull in some shots. 2. composition. i'm not a sports photographer so i can't really say much, but reading the ST sports section everyday and seeing my friends surf soccer websites and seeing all those AFP, getty images shots of soccer.. these pale in comparison. of course i can't expect you to emulate those, but since i don't know what i'm talking about, i suggest you take a look at those and try to work towards them. i can't pinpoint what's wrong with your shots, but they just lack some form of visual impact for me. 3. all the best.

30th September 2004	#14
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	More pictures! I guess here's the last of the lot... #21 #22 #23 #24 Comments of course are more than welcome! Cheers! __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

30th September 2004	#18
Tzuen Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 462	I like that spray of dirt in #12 but what is he reaching for in #15 LOL Great sequence.

1st October 2004	#20
r32 Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 976	If this was an exercise in displaying the prowess of a 1D Mark II's frame rate and 45 point AI Servo focusing accuracy then yes you have accomplished your goal. You have to crop down to the players and not include the full frame if you were shooting for a newspaper. You have to choose one picture that is visually the most interesting/action-packed/sharpest/whatever, granted that some photographers just need to submit their CF cards to a central photo editor who does the rest, you don't have that so you have to do it yourself. Newspapers use a sequence of photos occasionally, but 20+ frames begin to look like a comic strip.