[Recovered Thread: 122190]

[JohnG]

DRGSin wrote:

Thanks for the clarification! In fact, Ive been more conscious of that same thing myself now that I worry about how the final pic will be sized. Getting real close and watching all the extraneous peripherals. One more question and I'll end this highjack! How large of a print do you feel comfortablewith using a 6MP photo?

Here's the thing with framing and cropping. The primary decision to make, IMO,when you're shooting is what orientation to take the photo in - portrait or landscape. It's a stylistic choice. For a sport like football or soccer I prefer to shoot 95% portrait orientation because I want the action in tight - and if someone isn't in the portrait orientation frame they usually are extraneous. I don't shoot field hockey but in looking at Mark's photos it isn't that clear cut what orientation to use. And occasionally you're going to get burned like photo 8. It just plane happens. You deal with it and move on. If you're getting burned like that constantly you need to plan better. Again, change your mode of thinking from reactionary (i.e. trying to capture what happens) to a planned shoot - i.e. what type of shot am I trying to capture? Once you figure out what type of shot you're trying to capture you set your orientation accordingly and wait for your shot. Yes you may try to capture other things as they happen but I consider those as a bonus.

Mark is right on the money - man, you want to frame as tight as possible in-camera. And your framing should reflect your final product. I sell more 5x7 and 4x6 than 8x10. So I shoot with 2x3 in mind. More often then not I still need to do some cropping and when I do, I do that with 8x10 in mind - so I try to leave enough space for a tight 8x10 crop. If I sold more 8x10s I'd leave more space in the photos.

So, I guess I'm saying: Plan your shoot by deciding the types of shots you want and where you need to position yourself to get them. And, what orientation the camera needs to be in for you to get the shot you want. In general, if you have enough space in your image to change the orientation in post processing and still keep your entire subject in the photo then you didn't frame tight enough in-camera. This is not to say you might not decide to take a portrait shot of the full subject and crop out a landscape view of the torso. But if you have enough image to take a landscape crop of the entire player then you need tighter framing in-camera.

By the way Mark - good stuff. I like the chaos in shot # 1

[Mark1616]

Thanks John..... oh shot one was exciting time but they managed to keep it out which was good, mainly that their own player was in the way LOL.

You are right about spending time to plan shots and get the angle you want, as you eluded in another thread the sort of shooting done when not shooting for papers/magazines (as with these) then my goal is to get good action of as many players as possible so I can make sales. The downside of this is you have to use shots that would normally hit the 'cutting room floor' for other uses.

[Trojansoc]

Mark,

I have never seen a field hockey match, nor do I know anything at all about it, but I'm assuming from what I see that it is extremely high speed. With that play speed in mind, do you focus on an area of the field and wait for play to develop in it, or do you try to pan to the area of action? Shooting in Aperture priority mode? What kind of shutter speed? (I couldn't read EXIT data.)

I can only admire the quality of your technique and always enjoy your shots. Thanks for sharing.

[Mark1616]

Trojansoc wrote:

Mark,

I have never seen a field hockey match, nor do I know anything at all about it, but I'm assuming from what I see that it is extremely high speed. With that play speed in mind, do you focus on an area of the field and wait for play to develop in it, or do you try to pan to the area of action? Shooting in Aperture priority mode? What kind of shutter speed? (I couldn't read EXIT data.)

I can only admire the quality of your technique and always enjoy your shots. Thanks for sharing.

It sure is a fast sport so a lot of it comes down to understanding likely plays to get the shot right. I switch between one and two eyes open so I can get a feel for what is going on around the field and chose where I want to go.Also when the play is out of range then it is easier to see likely moves. When the ball is getting close to the goal I will usually switch to the keeper to get them in action, however I still struggle to get good shots of them. Some shots are simple to get; number 5 for example (just notice there is no number 6 oops) show the sweeper who is the major play maker so I know the ball is often going to be played into him and he is going to be playing the ball hard across or up the field. As this is the case I know he is going to be in a low extended position so can set up for this with time to spare. It is similar with other defensive players who also pass round a lot. I have more difficulty getting midfield and forwards as they are often only on the ball for a second or so then is is passed on. These are easier to shoot when they make a run rather than passing the ball. Basically it comes down to learning the flow of the game, who does what and where best to be to get the action.... there is also a reactive side to the shooting I do as I want to get a lot of coverage.

As for settings (sorry these were taken straight from my website to the exif is stripped) every shot was between 1/2000s and 1/4000s so things are very sharp thanks to the lovely light.

Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHeHHis224Ywhich gives some idea of the game (not in English but the action speaks for itself).