Game photos

[crush]

I was futzing with the camera between games when two ~15 year old latina girls walked by and said "Nice camera". I said thank you and explained I have it to give me a reason to keep my mouth shut during games. They said "Wow, all Mexican soccer parents should get a camera!". I replied that there are plenty of loud obnoxious soccer parents of all races that need cameras.

A note to all the photographers and videographers out there, please actually keep your mouth shut! Many times you will need to be on the wrong side of the field to have good lighting. If you are quiet, friendly with the refs, stay out of the way and helpful with the balls that inevitably seem to be aimed at the camera person, you are much less likely to be told to leave. This also makes it easier for everyone else who is serious about using a camera.

I will share why I dont film. First of all, I couldn't do it mentally because I would lose my train of thought and then watch my dd get whacked to the ground and then I drop camera. I couldn't catch up with her because she was so fast back then. The biggest reason is my left hand shakes a little. Doc say's not Parkinson's thank God. A simple test is to put hand on the leg and if it still shakes, go in and get tested. I did a game we all sat down to watch at home and you could see my shaking and people laughed at first and then I told them to be more sensitive next time. Well, after that embarrassment, their was never a next time Today, ECNL does all the games so no need and some parents are amazing and send us games. I super appreciate the sacrifice so we can watch later. It also allows me to yell still when my dd gets whacked. Getting whacked is till going on Outside. Peace brother

 

[MyDaughtersAKeeper]

A note to all the photographers and videographers out there, please actually keep your mouth shut! Many times you will need to be on the wrong side of the field to have good lighting. If you are quiet, friendly with the refs, stay out of the way and helpful with the balls that inevitably seem to be aimed at the camera person, you are much less likely to be told to leave. This also makes it easier for everyone else who is serious about using a camera.

Plug an external mic cable into the video camera. Do not attach a mic. No sound is recorded. Fail safe method so even if you do let something out it does not get picked up. Learned this after recording HS soccer for DD's HS team.

 

[Curious]

Has anyone else been surprised by the number of players that have their tongue sticking out while playing? I never noticed this before taking photos, and now find there is often a player on each team that does this. It does seem to get less frequent with the oldest age group, but still happens. I just saw a photo of a Spanish decathlon athlete doing this so it’s not just kids. It creates a challenge when I’m trying to ensure I have at least one good photo of each player on the team. I guess the biggest surprise is that I haven’t heard of players biting their tongue badly while playing.

 

[Messi>CR7]

Has anyone else been surprised by the number of players that have their tongue sticking out while playing? I never noticed this before taking photos, and now find there is often a player on each team that does this. It does seem to get less frequent with the oldest age group, but still happens. I just saw a photo of a Spanish decathlon athlete doing this so it’s not just kids. It creates a challenge when I’m trying to ensure I have at least one good photo of each player on the team. I guess the biggest surprise is that I haven’t heard of players biting their tongue badly while playing.

Michael Jordan always did that.

 

[outside!]

Plug an external mic cable into the video camera. Do not attach a mic. No sound is recorded. Fail safe method so even if you do let something out it does not get picked up. Learned this after recording HS soccer for DD's HS team.

A day of shooting video during a game in Lancaster with 44 mph wind gust killed my old camera's microphone, so I didn't have that issue.

 

[RedDevilDad]

Same reason why I started to take pics at games. I caught myself one too many times and decided I needed to keep busy on the sidelines.

100% with you. Keeps me from coaching my kid and fixing the ref... haha... I'm at 30,000 pics later and zero sideline enemies. haha.

 

[crush]

100% with you. Keeps me from coaching my kid and fixing the ref... haha... I'm at 30,000 pics later and zero sideline enemies. haha.

I know one dad that is just like you. He goes home, cracks a beer and yells in the privacy of his living room and no one to hear.

 

[RedDevilDad]

Side note... I've been uploading photos to Amazon Photos (with my prime account). It has some cool facial recognition photos. I was able to send some parents links to every picture I have that their kid is in. It's also funny seeing some of the same opponents over the years.

 

[fjc8871]

Side note... I've been uploading photos to Amazon Photos (with my prime account). It has some cool facial recognition photos. I was able to send some parents links to every picture I have that their kid is in. It's also funny seeing some of the same opponents over the years.

Some of the opponents turn out to be teammates sometimes. Amazon photos is great! Unlimited cloud storage for photos and no compression.

 

[outside!]

Some of the opponents turn out to be teammates sometimes. Amazon photos is great! Unlimited cloud storage for photos and no compression.

Amazon is making money off of storing those photos somehow. My guess is that they are selling or using them for training AI systems to do facial recognition.

 

[EvilGoalie 21]

Like somebody else posted when our kid hit about U16 we switched to predominately video. We use a 70-200 zoom with a DSLR so can shift to shooting frames if need be. My wife has gotten pretty good at it. The relevant moments happen fast so have to be ready. We also use an external mic with a duster and it helps beat the wind noise. Not like Lancaster-level wind noise, but then again most of the highlights you'll get at Lancaster are balls defying the laws of physics in horizontal sheets of rain. A lot of older teams end up with a Veo or equivalent to help with field-view game footage, and it's great. The thing about Veo type of footage, however, is if you end up posting highlights on social media feeds the action can look pretty small, like if viewed on a cell phone display, and if you zoom in it fuzzes out fast. With the zoom lens you can really get in on the action and the resolution can be superb. Dump the files into a video processing application and it is easy to do slo-mo, instant replay, add titles and audio tracks, etc. And ditto on the advice to just set up sort of apart from everyone to minimize extraneous/embarrasing noise and then do your thing, even on the opposing side. I mean I've shot footage of opposing keepers, talked to their manager, and got an email to send clips to them. Or bring a white plastic folding chair, a little notebook, a ball cap and look like you have a bad sun burn. They'll think your a college scout. Is the trouble worth it? In our case we have no idea, but you do end up with a nice distillation of the culmination of many years of hard training and moments you'll want to remember.

 

[Curious]

I’ve got a question for those of you who have been taking game photos for a while, how many do you take during a game compared to how many turn out well. This last weekend I got about 30 photos I liked (I’m picky) but I took close to 600. I’m new at this and so wondered if this is normal or do I really need to learn to choose my photo opportunities better.

 

[Messi>CR7]

I’ve got a question for those of you who have been taking game photos for a while, how many do you take during a game compared to how many turn out well. This last weekend I got about 30 photos I liked (I’m picky) but I took close to 600. I’m new at this and so wondered if this is normal or do I really need to learn to choose my photo opportunities better.

You're pickier than me. For a team of 16, I typically would have 800 to 1000 shots, and keep about 80.

I shoot behind the goal line (next to the opposing GK) and I switch to the other side after halftime, so my camera is ALWAYS facing our own players' eyes. I do this regardless of the direction of the sun as photos that didn't catch the eyes are almost never keepers. It's more challenging when we play a superior team, i.e. action is mostly in our own defensive 1/3 and far away from my camera.

I take shots during warm-up and use them as "fillers/backup" in case I couldn't get enough good in-game shots for some players. I try to post similar number of shots for every player but obviously keep a lot more of my kids for my private collection.

I use back button focusing exclusively.

 

[outside!]

You're pickier than me. For a team of 16, I typically would have 800 to 1000 shots, and keep about 80.

I shoot behind the goal line (next to the opposing GK) and I switch to the other side after halftime, so my camera is ALWAYS facing our own players' eyes. I do this regardless of the direction of the sun as photos that didn't catch the eyes are almost never keepers. It's more challenging when we play a superior team, i.e. action is mostly in our own defensive 1/3 and far away from my camera.

I take shots during warm-up and use them as "fillers/backup" in case I couldn't get enough good in-game shots for some players. I try to post similar number of shots for every player but obviously keep a lot more of my kids for my private collection.

I use back button focusing exclusively.

I agree, faces in the picture are better than butts. Most soccer pitches should be north south, so that the rising or setting sun don't blind the keepers. I usually stand roughly even with the 18 on the offensive end of the field for our team when shooting pictures and on whatever sideline puts the sun at my back. I prefer this angle over being behind the goal line as it works better for goal shot sequences. When taking pictures, I like to try to get a sequence of pictures that tell a story. If I am on the side of the field with the AR, I always say hello and let them know I will stay out of their way. Having said all that, I have gotten great pictures from the wrong end of the field, wrong sideline before.

 

[Curious]

You're pickier than me. For a team of 16, I typically would have 800 to 1000 shots, and keep about 80.

I shoot behind the goal line (next to the opposing GK) and I switch to the other side after halftime, so my camera is ALWAYS facing our own players' eyes. I do this regardless of the direction of the sun as photos that didn't catch the eyes are almost never keepers. It's more challenging when we play a superior team, i.e. action is mostly in our own defensive 1/3 and far away from my camera.

I take shots during warm-up and use them as "fillers/backup" in case I couldn't get enough good in-game shots for some players. I try to post similar number of shots for every player but obviously keep a lot more of my kids for my private collection.

I use back button focusing exclusively.

You're pickier than me. For a team of 16, I typically would have 800 to 1000 shots, and keep about 80.

I shoot behind the goal line (next to the opposing GK) and I switch to the other side after halftime, so my camera is ALWAYS facing our own players' eyes. I do this regardless of the direction of the sun as photos that didn't catch the eyes are almost never keepers. It's more challenging when we play a superior team, i.e. action is mostly in our own defensive 1/3 and far away from my camera.

I take shots during warm-up and use them as "fillers/backup" in case I couldn't get enough good in-game shots for some players. I try to post similar number of shots for every player but obviously keep a lot more of my kids for my private collection.

I use back button focusing exclusively.

What size lens do you use for that?

 

[JumboJack]

For one game if I’m there to shoot both teams I’ll shoot 400-600. I will probably end up with 100 or so keepers. My number one tip is to try and get the eyes and the ball in the shot. Also get low meaning sit on the ground. Gives the best perspective.

 

[Messi>CR7]

What size lens do you use for that?

My trusted 70-200mm f2.8 with a crop sensor body. I tried longer zoom lens with variable aperture, but didn't like them at all. 70-200mm f2.8 is perfect for 7v7 and 9v9, but for 11v1 and a true regulation size field, you might have to do some cropping if the action is far away.

I would love to have a 300mm f2.8, but I also need to pay for club soccer for two kids.

 

[Curious]

For one game if I’m there to shoot both teams I’ll shoot 400-600. I will probably end up with 100 or so keepers. My number one tip is to try and get the eyes and the ball in the shot. Also get low meaning sit on the ground. Gives the best perspective.

JumboJack, I took your advice and sat on the ground while taking some photos for a neighbor this weekend and liked the results, thanks. It was fun taking photos of young players for a change.

 

[Curious]

Just in case I wasn’t actually the last person to realize it’s possible to rent good camera equipment for a reasonable price I thought I’d let people know. Over the weekend I rented a very nice lens from Protog rentals in Costa Mesa for $40, picked it up Friday evening and dropped it back off Monday evening. It was a lens that was on my “If I had a million dollars” wish list but could never justify purchasing just to take pictures of my kids playing soccer. The down side is now that I have witnessed what a good lens can do it will be hard to go back to using my lens again, kind of like once you have flown business class it’s hard to go back to economy. They also rent video equipment, but as I’m only interested in stills I didn’t pay much attention to their video inventory.

 

[outside!]

Just in case I wasn’t actually the last person to realize it’s possible to rent good camera equipment for a reasonable price I thought I’d let people know. Over the weekend I rented a very nice lens from Protog rentals in Costa Mesa for $40, picked it up Friday evening and dropped it back off Monday evening. It was a lens that was on my “If I had a million dollars” wish list but could never justify purchasing just to take pictures of my kids playing soccer. The down side is now that I have witnessed what a good lens can do it will be hard to go back to using my lens again, kind of like once you have flown business class it’s hard to go back to economy. They also rent video equipment, but as I’m only interested in stills I didn’t pay much attention to their video inventory.

What lens did you rent? With the release of the mirrorless cameras, DSLR bodies and lens used prices are falling. I picked up a D610 last year that had barely been used for under $300 (with lots of accesories). I mostly shoot video now, and modern DSLR's shoot video just as well as dedicated video cameras. They are a bit more cumbersome, but you have much better optics and I can switch to stills when the lighting is good.