I must be crazy, was photographing hockey from 10.10am until about 3.45pm..... and trust me it wasn't really warm!!

It was the first real weekend back playing so managed to get 4 teams in one outing, 3 ladies and one mens. The team I cover (Plymouth Marjon) play in red and for some reason every visiting was wearing green today (strange!!).

As ever let me know what you think.

Canon 30D with Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 and for some was using the Sigma 1.4x telecon. The Exif should be there if you want more info on the shots.

Mark

1 (Ladies 3rd Team)



2 (Ladies 2nd Team)



3



4



5 Is it just me or should that leg be breaking???



6 (Ladies 1st Team)

7



8



9 (Mens 2nd Team)



10



11

Mark,

Those are some great shots! How do you get such vivid colors that seem to jump out of the monitor? Since I'm PP stupid I would love to know. I have been playing with my software today, but it is really just a "Wonder what this does" exercise.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I was fortunate with the weather today as there was a good amount of light which really helps with the 'pop' so most of them didn't need much/anything doing to them. I did boost the saturation on a couple as they were a bit dull and also slightly increased the brightness and contrast. One thing that you always need to do as a final step is apply unsharp mask as that really makes the different in the final result.

The one I had to do the most work on was number 10 as it was not quite perfect focus and was also under exposed. I'm not totally happy with the result and will play around with it more before including it on my site but wanted to include it here as I liked the action of the keeper going for the save (which he makes).

Another factor that helps is to have a narrow dof (depth of field) by having a lens with a wide aperture. This will mean the background is as out of focus as possible making that less distracting. As mentioned I only have the 70-200mm f2.8 which is not as long as I would like so have to either use it with a 1.4x telecon (which reduces it's quality and makes it an f4 lens) or pick my shots carefully, waiting for the action to be close enough to get the desired results.

Hopefully that will give you something to work on.

Mark

Mark, These are fantastic..As PhotoDadSaid the colours "Pop" right out at you...

#5 Does look like shes on the verge of breaking her leg..Makes me cringe..!!!

#7 & 8 look like there all gathered in a Bus shelter keeping out of the harsh weather...Lol

As usual your shots are great and spot on......

Andrew

Very nice action and colors--- Colors really POP as has been stated
I would crop 1st and last tighter, but that is the way I see it

Thanks for sharing, mark

wrams wrote: Thanks Andrew. I would be very concerned if a bus did pull up on the pitch LOL.

oldtime wrote: I probably should have cropped more on the first and last but just left them at the size ready for printing.

Thanks,

Mark