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High School Soccer - Newbie here!

VarsIQMedia
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p.1 #1 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Hey everyone, I'm relatively new here, but someone suggested I should share some of my work! Go easy on me, I just got back into photography in May after a LONG hiatus due to time and financial constraints. I previously shot with a D7100 and a Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 Sport, but I now shoot with a Z9, a Z8, and recently picked up a ZR with a laundry list of lenses. Constructive criticism welcome!

These shots are from a few games I covered throughout our season. I also coach for this program at the JV level, and these are our varsity kids. Kind of a bonus because I travel with the team, so they benefit while I work on getting better and building my portfolio.

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/1600s 11400 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/1600s 12800 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens 135mm f/1.8 1/2500s 7200 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/3200s 720 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/3200s 450 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/4000s 4500 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/2000s 16000 ISO 0.0 EV

� VarsIQMedia 2025

NIKON Z 8 NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens 400mm f/2.8 1/2000s 16000 ISO 0.0 EV

Edited on Dec 23, 2025 at 11:13 PM · View previous versions

Dec 22, 2025 at 11:11 PM

FiReBReTHaV2
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p.1 #2 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Care to share what ISO you're shooting with?

This is whats bringing me back in! the boy is getting decent at soccer so now I need a new setup (heh, heh Z8 time!) to properly document his growth and success

But, I notice that the older he gets the more they love to push them into night time games. First one in January starts at 21:15

If I had to be picky on your shots, first one I wish had more shadow exposed for length and giving the feeling of distance/speed etc. Same with red at the bottom, id like a bit more buffer/space around her. BUT, thats my personal flavor, and maybe gives you something to play with since outside view.

Dec 23, 2025 at 03:25 PM

VarsIQMedia
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p.1 #3 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

I turned on the EXIF. Looking back there�s a few where my settings could have been better, but there were some things I was testing this season as well.

Dec 23, 2025 at 11:15 PM

Llewtwo
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p.1 #4 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

You have some nice horizontal shots in this mix but more often than not it seems like the "best" images in soccer are verticle. There are a couple, three maybe here where they appear unbalanced with content heavy one one side but not much on the ot the image. Aside from that, and even that is personal preference, the images are quite nice.

Dec 26, 2025 at 10:26 AM

VarsIQMedia
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p.1 #5 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

I tend to look at these more artistically than I do practically, if that makes sense? When I�m considering the emotion and intent of some of these, it�s all about �where is the player looking,� or, �what is the player�s next move?� The images with that empty space depict a story almost.

However, contrary to how I see it, I do see your point!

Dec 26, 2025 at 11:29 AM

GWP23
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p.1 #6 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

I like them, you are certainly heading in the right direction�. Keep doing the B/W, looks great. One CC - crop tighter.

Jan 01, 2026 at 10:38 AM

schlotz
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p.1 #7 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Something to help: always number your photos so others can easily reference them when feedback is provided. For soccer you want ball, faces and peak action. Here is what I see along with some suggestions on how each can be made more powerful. In a number of them a tighter crop is warranted.

#1 Needs re-leveling, notice the slanted upright goal. It could be cropped tighter.
#2 Ok, artistic
#3 The focus should be the celebration and the crop should accentuate just that. Fill the frame with it and leave out the two players on the left.
#4 Fair amount of negative space, a tighter crop would strengthen the capture. Exposure boost would help as well.
#5 Artistic
#6 Player 18 is the focus and should be a major part of the frame instead of a small part. Crop tighter making her the prominent portion of the photo. Not really peak action here but a parent might like it regardless.
#7 Of the 3 artistic shots, I like this one the best although, I actually would like to see a little more space around her. As is, it seems a bit too close up.
#8 Goalies in action are always tough. Their performance usually looks better if shot from the sideline at a position across from the top of the box.

Since you coach, you already have an upper leg knowing the sport which is a major advantage in that anticipation helps to get the lens in position to capture action that is about to happen.

Looking forward to seeing more from you.

Jan 02, 2026 at 07:19 PM

Mike_5D
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p.1 #8 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Llewtwo wrote:
You have some nice horizontal shots in this mix but more often than not it seems like the "best" images in soccer are verticle. There are a couple, three maybe here where they appear unbalanced with content heavy one one side but not much on the ot the image. Aside from that, and even that is personal preference, the images are quite nice.

I like to crop to a 4:3 landscape ratio a lot for soccer. Some shots are too wide for portrait, but landscape still leaves a lot of useless space on the sides on a 3:2 frame.

Jan 13, 2026 at 03:54 PM

Mike_5D
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p.1 #9 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

schlotz wrote:
#1 Needs re-leveling, notice the slanted upright goal. It could be cropped tighter.

Movable soccer goals are often wonky though. I'm reluctant to use them unless there's no other reference in frame. It looks like the horizon is level.

Jan 13, 2026 at 03:57 PM

schlotz
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p.1 #10 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Horizon in not level, left side is higher than the right. Use PS or LR tools and you'll see it needs adjusting. Now, this may be trivial to some but if you are attempting to up your game to the level of others it's something to pay attention to.

Jan 13, 2026 at 07:28 PM

Caleb Williams
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p.1 #11 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

schlotz wrote:
Horizon in not level, left side is higher than the right. Use PS or LR tools and you'll see it needs adjusting. Now, this may be trivial to some but if you are attempting to up your game to the level of others it's something to pay attention to.

I agree. I measured it about 1.1 degrees off as attached below.

Also, cropping tighter is my ideal style and that crop is what I'd go with on a horizontal 3:2 frame.

Cropping of VarsIQMedia's photo in Camera Raw

Jan 14, 2026 at 11:52 PM

isyoox703
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p.1 #12 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

I like your shots, a lot. I am going to say some things, and I mean no offense to anyone else, but man, sports photography is like going to McDonalds for a burger. Every internet denizen has the same notions about what makes a photo "good," and it's monotonous and boring. I am only just now starting to shoot the sports my kids play (1 season into U10 soccer, for example), and as I find a style I like to document my own kids, I have been looking at websites like maxpreps and groups on Facebook and reddit. Everyone always says the same thing, shoot low (the one piece of advice that really had an impact on the photos I was taking, and my happiness with them), keep the horizon level (sure, but honestly, close enough is good enough, sheesh), 2 faces and a ball, crop tighter, no tighter, no even tighter, etc. I would not pay for any photo of my kid that showed up on maxpreps (not that I am there yet) because they are all one note. These, I would buy. Your first shot gives context about distance to goal, position relative to other players, etc., but you'll have people tell you make it a vertical shot with 2 faces and a ball.

The one thing I have gotten more obsessive about is scouting sightlines with the background in mind. U10 soccer isn't always played on the fanciest fields, and I really dislike distracting backgrounds. Not always something controllable, but something I try to mitigate before I start shooting.

Again, your photos are great, and I love the look of the 400 2.8, nothing beats it. It's the one piece of glass I covet most on the Nikon side as a Sony user (will buy one eventually, but taking pics of kids does not warrant the outlay as far as my boss/wife is concerned). Enjoy watching the kids you coach play, and documenting the journey, and as long as you like your photos, who cares about what others think (unless you're trying to sell them, at which point, just go with the maxpreps style?)...

Jan 16, 2026 at 09:45 AM

schlotz
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p.1 #13 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Kind of doubt too many of the pros I shoot with would agree with the burger analogy.

Jan 16, 2026 at 01:14 PM

isyoox703
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p.1 #14 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

Not the nicest analogy, you�re right. I just mean I am sure pros are taking specific types of shots to sell to media and getting paid, and that sort of thing requires consistency for the scale. I wonder how many award winning sports photos were also sold commercially, for example.

schlotz wrote:
Kind of doubt too many of the pros I shoot with would agree with the burger analogy.

Jan 16, 2026 at 03:47 PM

Llewtwo
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p.1 #15 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

My rule of thumb is, aside from breathing room around a subject, if it doesn't help the image I crop it out. I am not talking about environmental shots or shots setting the overall scene. I like those too and there is good reason to go wide for those. I use to crop whatever the scene called for without regard for whether the image would be printed. In time I have determined that 3 x 2, horizontal or vertical, is a pretty natural crop for sports generally and as it turns out for social media use too.

I don't look at those "rules" so much as rules but guidelines. You have to decide when to depart from them. I have been in gyms where a low position has terrible lights in the background of every image or junk in the background.

I wouldn't describe the art of capturing good photos according to a fairly well known set of guidelines creating cheeseburgers. If so there are plenty of guys/gals that made a good living creating them for SI and others in the day. The cheeseburgers are created by folks that have no interest in being better tomorrow than they are today and keep producing good but not great sports photos.

All that said, if you look at what people download from a gallery it's often least what you would expect. It's often those images around the game and sometimes they don't conform to general guidelines. For whatever reason, I have a lot of folks that download images post fall or injury. Not necessarily the image where it happened but the kid being attended to by trainers and teammates and walking off the field.

Feb 01, 2026 at 11:40 AM

MMP
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p.1 #16 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

I know this discussion died down, but after shooting my first 10U game of the 2026 season yesterday and culling through the images last night, the comment about the so-called "rules" does hit home a bit.

It's nice to have some of those classic images with a tight crop, ball in frame, face looking up, etc. Those are the ones I'd expect to see in an online article about the team or being sold to the masses of parents. For those purposes, the "rules" should be followed for the most part.

That being said, if you're shooting with intentions other than the above, the images can get boring after the 2nd or 3rd game. For the last several years I've shared my images free of charge with the other parents of our team. The ones that get the most attention and the ones the parents share on their own social media are almost never the ones that follow the "rules". The league often uses my images combined with their own text overlays about registration, tryouts, and tournaments for promotional purposes. They almost exclusively end up using the pics that follow the rules.

My personal take away is that you just need to shoot with the end goal in mind. Break the rules with intention.

May 04, 2026 at 11:26 AM

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p.1 #17 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

MMP wrote:
I know this discussion died down, but after shooting my first 10U game of the 2026 season yesterday and culling through the images last night, the comment about the so-called "rules" does hit home a bit.

It's nice to have some of those classic images with a tight crop, ball in frame, face looking up, etc. Those are the ones I'd expect to see in an online article about the team or being sold to the masses of parents. For those purposes, the "rules" should be followed for the most part.

That being said, if you're shooting with intentions other than the...Show more →

At 10U the parents are thrilled with any free pictures of their kids that are in focus... so that's not saying all that much.

May 11, 2026 at 09:29 AM

MMP
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p.1 #18 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

carl_g wrote:
At 10U the parents are thrilled with any free pictures of their kids that are in focus... so that's not saying all that much.

The images becoming repetitive/boring is my own personal observation and has nothing to do with the technical quality of the image. They get images with classic framing and images with non-traditional framing that can be considered more artsy, and of course, both styles are in-focus. I've simply noticed the non-traditional images usually generate a more positive response with parents.

Not quite sure I'm following about why that is "not saying all that much". If the photos are produced for and delivered to a parent, their reaction is all that needs to be said. If the end client was different, maybe a media outlet or similar, I suppose the traditional images might be better received.

May 11, 2026 at 10:31 AM

carl_g
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p.1 #19 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

I'm saying, If you are giving away pictures to parents of U10 soccer (which is totally cool of you) of course their reaction is going to be great. Anything with their kid on it is going to be well received. The bar is pretty low. That's why I said its not saying much.

May 11, 2026 at 11:44 AM

MMP
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p.1 #20 · High School Soccer - Newbie here!

carl_g wrote:
I'm saying, If you are giving away pictures to parents of U10 soccer (which is totally cool of you) of course their reaction is going to be great. Anything with their kid on it is going to be well received. The bar is pretty low. That's why I said its not saying much.

I don't disagree with that, but again, quality really has nothing to do with my comment or their reaction. It was just a comparison/preference between image styles (of the same image quality). We're beating a dead horse. It's not that important.

May 12, 2026 at 02:15 PM

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