Field Hockey 31st Jan 09

[Mark1616]

Hi all,

No, you are not seeing things, I actually shot some sports for the first time in over 6 months (well unless I've forgotten something it has been that long).

Went out to see what I can remember and it seems it wasn't a lot. I felt very lazy behind the camera and my eye wasn't really in but here are some of the ones that were good enough to share. I really struggled getting tackles or other action apart from players on the ball making runs so I must get out more to get back into this. I will put part of this down to the teams not being the highest level so the action was not mind blowing but it was till fun.

Canon 1D mkIII and Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 wide open.

As always and C&C welcome.

Mark

1



2



3



4



5

[JohnG]

Hey, great series Mark. Good to see you shooting sports again! Must be nice to be able to shoot field sports right now - I've got about 18 inches of snow in my yard :-)

Of note for other shooters - shots here really help illustrate how beneficial a nicely blurred background is. Take a look at shots 1 & 3 - you can tell there's a parking lot back there but it really doesn't distract from the photos.

2 & 4 are probably my favorites though.

Great job!

[swaagate]

Hi Mark

Some nice shots, always look forward to your hockey pictures, gives me the incentive to have a go myself again.

Steve

[spy]

However Mark, you may think the action wasn't mind blowing but comparatively speaking, these shots are very good. Non of us on this forum want to see you get rusty, as rust turns into dust which blows away and you have too much talent to do that to yourself so do us all a favour and get back at it MAN!

[Mark1616]

Thanks guys, it was good to be back out again in the field.

John, I would love to see 18" of snow, I'm sure the kids are loving it, have you managed to get any crazy shots of them?

Steve, do you mean shooting or playing? Either way get out there and have some fun. If it is shooting then show us the results.

Kevin, I don't think I will ever totally give up this silly game LOL. Getting out there today has reminded me what good fun it is trying to capture some good shots, but I'm not a fan of the cold weather (well not cold by your standards).

4 is my fave capture of the dayand I know that if I hadn't been so lazy and moved a few times I would have managed to get some more/different action. My theory is I did well to get out and shoot so next stage is to choose more positions. Also I remembered that to get better coverage using a 1.4x TC helps especially as at this level there isn't much or a running game so increasing range would have been good. Next time I will go back to the car and get it..... again I was too lazy and my theory was I was only shooting for fun and not for sales.

[FaithfulPastor]

I once posted that you are 10x the photographer that I am.

I see nothing in this set of photos to dissuade me of that position.

Great shots my friend!

Faithfully Yours,

FP

[TG]

Nice shots as usual Mark, like them all. Great to see you shooting sports again, it's a bit like riding a bike you never forget how.

Good excuse to get that 400mm f2.8 now since your back in the game :lol:

[Mark1616]

TG wrote:

Nice shots as usual Mark, like them all. Great to see you shooting sports again, it's a bit like riding a bike you never forget how.

Good excuse to get that 400mm f2.8 now since your back in the game :lol:

But if you do forget it hurts a whole lot less if you fall off LOL.

As for that 400mm, I think that is out of all possibility as I'm planning to move to Egypt for a while and will need some spare cash.

[bluesman graham]

Glad to see you posting again Fella!, I don't think you've lost too much timing!!,#'s 4&5 are my choice of images:-). Kind regards Graham.

[swaagate]

Hi Mark,

Certainly isn't playing! My son plays most weekends, and I will upload a couple on another post. I will keep watching and learning from your posts and pictures.

Steve