Man those HS must have some awesome lighting, not a single one of those images are above 4000 ISO! and look at the shutter speeds! I'll be down at 1/640 and 8000 ISO every friday night this year!
Great set of images. I'm hoping to hit a Jamboree this week to shake some rust off.
Thanks Matt, These were shot at the local universities field (UTC) thats why the lights are good, not great. We do have some HS's in the area that have better lighting, but for the most I will be right there with you in the high iso range.
Colors and exposure looks okay and you've caught some peak action of what are really more stock-like images. Now, what could you tweak to make these (and future posts) just a bit better? IMO, it would be cropping out some of that wasted space. In this set, for example, you would not only be cropping out wasted space but some of the distracting lines and shapes at the top of several.
Specifically, 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8 all have space at the top PLUS space that has a bunch of distracting lines and shapes (#8). With some like #1, 7 and 8 a tighter crop off the top won't get rid of all the bleachers or shapes, but it will make them less distracting. With a tighter crop off the top of #4 and 5, however, you take much of that distracting background out of the image as I've shown below. (As always, just let me know if you have a problem with me cropping your images and re-posting here.)
Again, there's nothing major wrong with these images and I'm sure there are a lot of people who would be totally happy with them as they are (including parents who might be buying them). But for me, I opened the thread and the first thing I saw at the top of image #1. Had it just been that image I'd probably not have said anything, but since there were several I thought this might give you something to think about.
Thanks Scott, I usually do crop pretty tight and the ones you pointed out and cropped are better for getting rid of the dead space. While I tend to crop tight these could have went more.
Very nice series. I can't wait for kickoff but we have several weeks to go. Some schools couldn't start 2 a days until this week and school starts the 27th.
I'm sending off my 2 bodies tomorrow to get a clean and check anticipating the upcoming football season. I can't wait. People have different passions when it comes to photography...mine is football!
Andy,
Great shots.
I am getting ready for the season (starts tomorrow night in Williamson County, TN). I will be using a 300/2.8 and a 1DIV. I noticed you are using a 400/2.8 - do you need to crop your photos much with that lens? I seem to do a lot of cropping when I use the 300 for soccer and Lacrosse so I am wondering if you consider the jump from 300 to 400 worthwhile? I just asked for an evaluation copy of a 400/2.8 from CPS so I hope to find out for myself soon but would like your thoughts as well.
Thanks,
Andy
I posted some HS football images in this thread and explained a little about why I prefer the 400. If all you can afford is a 300 then you should be fine cropping from a Mark 4 body. For me, if I have to choose between a 400 or 300 for field sports I'm going with the 400.
IMO, it would be cropping out some of that wasted space. In this set, for example, you would not only be cropping out wasted space but some of the distracting lines and shapes at the top of several.
