Steve'sDigicams

Trojansoc · Aug 20, 2007, 10:57 PM

Tonight, I finally got to shoot some football as we had a controlled scrimmage against a neighboring team. John, again I have taken your advice. I am going to shoot the road games this year to get some experience, and I talked my soccer photographer into shooting the home games when I have to be on the PA. Tonight, I wasn't needed in the box during the early part of the scrimmage, so I got to sneak down on the field and do some training, and some shooting myself. I had to make sure the hard-working linemen got their due.

Trojansoc · Aug 20, 2007, 10:59 PM

Shooting was no problem while the sun was out, as I expected.

Trojansoc · Aug 20, 2007, 11:01 PM

For Marcella, my soccer photographer, tonight was a night of firsts.....her first time to handle a DSLR....and believe it or not, the first American football game she had ever seen. With the shots in the sun, I honestly can't say which one of us took them because we were passing the camera back and forth.

Trojansoc · Aug 20, 2007, 11:03 PM

As light began to fade, I had to head for the pressbox and my microphone. Unfortunately, Marcella forgot to adjust the ISO and she wound up shooting at ISO 640 for the rest of her shots. Still, there were some very nice ones.

Trojansoc · Aug 20, 2007, 11:05 PM

The pass rush

Trojansoc · Aug 20, 2007, 11:10 PM

Pentax claims that SR will give you about two stops. Considering this one was at ISO 640 with a Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 with light fading, I believe it. I can't wait now to the chance to shoot my first game, a week from Friday night.

StevenC · Aug 21, 2007, 5:40 AM

You have exposed all the shots very well, especially due to the sun being strong and your timing seems pretty much spot on.

I'm only slightly disappointed about the softness of the images.

I'm guessing this is down to heavy cropping??? The aperture of the lens is more than adequate, and it doesn't look like camera shake. Any idea?

JohnG · Aug 21, 2007, 6:18 AM

StevenC wrote:

Quote:

I'm only slightly disappointed about the softness of the images.

I'm guessing this is down to heavy cropping??? The aperture of the lens is more than adequate, and it doesn't look like camera shake. Any idea?

I agree. Exposure was pretty good. And you caught some decent action. But you still appear to be cropping way to heavily - causing you to lose way too much detail. I think you and your assistant are getting some really good shots but relying on these heavy crops is really keeping them from being as good as they could be. At least that's the way it appears - because of the lack of detail. Or you're using a TC on a poor quality lens - one of the two. But I don't think it's camera shake.

Trojansoc · Aug 21, 2007, 6:50 AM

hmmmm.......on photos 1 & 2, cropping should not be the issue. On #1, the crop included about 90% of the original shot; only a little extraneous detail on the left side was cut. #2 is full-frame top-to-bottom with the ball-carrier centered in the frame, crop on the sides.

The heaviest crop is the closeup of the lineman's face. The last two shots included boosting of the levels because of the failure to readjust ISO, resulting in too low of a shutter speed.

Other questions raised included possibility of a TC (no) or just a poor quality lens (possibly, but I've gotten solid shots with this one before).

JohnG · Aug 21, 2007, 7:24 AM

OK, with the exception of the lineman shot that rules out cropping as the culprit.

Next questions:

1. What lens are you using?

2. Are you using single focus point or all focus points? Also, do you have an image editor that shows your focus points? If so and if you have your original photos take a look and see where the focus point is.

Aug 20, 2007, 11:01 PM	#3
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	For Marcella, my soccer photographer, tonight was a night of firsts.....her first time to handle a DSLR....and believe it or not, the first American football game she had ever seen. With the shots in the sun, I honestly can't say which one of us took them because we were passing the camera back and forth. Attached Images

Aug 20, 2007, 11:03 PM	#4
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	As light began to fade, I had to head for the pressbox and my microphone. Unfortunately, Marcella forgot to adjust the ISO and she wound up shooting at ISO 640 for the rest of her shots. Still, there were some very nice ones. Attached Images

Aug 20, 2007, 11:05 PM	#5
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	The pass rush Attached Images

Aug 20, 2007, 11:10 PM	#6
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	Pentax claims that SR will give you about two stops. Considering this one was at ISO 640 with a Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 with light fading, I believe it. I can't wait now to the chance to shoot my first game, a week from Friday night. Attached Images

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Aug 20, 2007, 10:57 PM	#1
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	Tonight, I finally got to shoot some football as we had a controlled scrimmage against a neighboring team. John, again I have taken your advice. I am going to shoot the road games this year to get some experience, and I talked my soccer photographer into shooting the home games when I have to be on the PA. Tonight, I wasn't needed in the box during the early part of the scrimmage, so I got to sneak down on the field and do some training, and some shooting myself. I had to make sure the hard-working linemen got their due. Attached Images

Aug 20, 2007, 10:59 PM	#2
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	Shooting was no problem while the sun was out, as I expected. Attached Images

Aug 21, 2007, 5:40 AM	#7
StevenC Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 218	You have exposed all the shots very well, especially due to the sun being strong and your timing seems pretty much spot on. I'm only slightly disappointed about the softness of the images. I'm guessing this is down to heavy cropping??? The aperture of the lens is more than adequate, and it doesn't look like camera shake. Any idea?

Aug 21, 2007, 6:50 AM	#9
Trojansoc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 3,724	hmmmm.......on photos 1 & 2, cropping should not be the issue. On #1, the crop included about 90% of the original shot; only a little extraneous detail on the left side was cut. #2 is full-frame top-to-bottom with the ball-carrier centered in the frame, crop on the sides. The heaviest crop is the closeup of the lineman's face. The last two shots included boosting of the levels because of the failure to readjust ISO, resulting in too low of a shutter speed. Other questions raised included possibility of a TC (no) or just a poor quality lens (possibly, but I've gotten solid shots with this one before).

Aug 21, 2007, 7:24 AM	#10
JohnG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 8,529	OK, with the exception of the lineman shot that rules out cropping as the culprit. Next questions: 1. What lens are you using? 2. Are you using single focus point or all focus points? Also, do you have an image editor that shows your focus points? If so and if you have your original photos take a look and see where the focus point is.