# Action Soccer Shots



## Theantiquetiger (Mar 9, 2014)

I have always had trouble shooting my daughter's soccer games (usually not sharp), so I decided to open the aperture way open and bump the ISO, so the speed would get way up there (1/4000+)

Settings: 1/5000 /2.8 ISO 320 177 mm




maddy1 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

Settings: 1/4000 /5.6 ISO 500 200 mm




courtney2 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr


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## user3977 (Mar 10, 2014)

on the second one drop your iso to 100 and keep the  f@2.8 it would blur out the people behind her. by the way how do you like the tamron 70-200? have you used the canon one before getting that one?


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## Theantiquetiger (Mar 10, 2014)

user3977 said:


> on the second one drop your iso to 100 and keep the  f@2.8 it would blur out the people behind her. by the way how do you like the tamron 70-200? have you used the canon one before getting that one?



The reason I shot at ISO 500 is to keep the speed super fast, i don't think lowering the ISO would affect the DOF.

I love my Tamron 70-200 2.8.  I use it 80% of the time (I have four lenses, counting the one that came with my 60D).  I never used the Canon's version, but I heard it is faster in focusing.  I can live with a little slower focusing for $1700 less in price.


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## Braineack (Mar 10, 2014)

Understand the triangle.


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## Theantiquetiger (Mar 10, 2014)

Braineack said:


> Understand the triangle.



I am not sure if that is directed to me or User3977.  If it is directed to me, unless i am wrong, ISO has nothing to do (directly) with DOF.  I was shooting in AV and set at 2.8, so the DOF was not going to change, just the exposure.  If I lowered the ISO, it would have only slowed the speed, causing movement blur in the subject.


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## Tony S (Mar 10, 2014)

Double check your focus points, unless you are super wobbly and jabbing the shutter button you don't need 1/4000 to stop soccer action. Looking carefully at the grass it seems the focus in the second shot is slightly behind the keeper. 

It is a tough thing to keep track of the focus point while shooting action and it only takes being off by a hair for it to miss. So look at your old pictures to see what and where the focus point hit. That danged auto focus works just too well sometimes.


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## astroNikon (Mar 11, 2014)

With the focus points, on my Nikons I have preview options (Photo Information) so that in my LCD I can review the focus points of each Photo.  Really good for fine tuning your skills and settings.  I don't know if the Canon has something similar.

FWIW, I also don't understand the DOF in relation to ISO/Aperture.
I understand how ISO can affect your selection of Aperture which affects DOF, but I am unaware of how it affects DOF at a fixed Aperture.


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## Braineack (Mar 11, 2014)

Theantiquetiger said:


> Braineack said:
> 
> 
> > Understand the triangle.
> ...



It was directed at you, yes.

First, you shot the picture in question at 5.6, not 2.8, so User3977 suggested to drop _both_ the iso down and the aperture down to 2.8 from 5.6 to further blur the background to make the subject pop and to keep it less distracting.

Second, correct, ISO has no affect on DOF, but I think you missed the point: If you added two stops more of light you could have lowered the ISO to ~100 without having to sacrifice any shutter speed.

Or alternatively you could have kept the ISO at 500 and just increased the shutter speed, since the 60D goes to 1/8000, to keep the same exposure.


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## Theantiquetiger (Mar 11, 2014)

Ok, I see the problem, I thought I was at 2.8 (not 5.6). The first image is 2.8.  It makes sense now.


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## Braineack (Mar 11, 2014)

:thumbup:


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## Crazydad (Mar 11, 2014)

Since you will always have messy backgrounds on kids soccer games you always want to shoot with the aperture as wide open as possible to isolate the players. My other suggestion would be to get where can see their faces. Only seeing the back of a player does not usually make an interesting shot. When shooting my son's games, I found I get better shots when I am down by the goal they are trying to score on and get shots of the players as they are coming at me. That way you can get a lot more shots of their faces.


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## Theantiquetiger (Mar 11, 2014)

Crazydad said:


> Since you will always have messy backgrounds on kids soccer games you always want to shoot with the aperture as wide open as possible to isolate the players. My other suggestion would be to get where can see their faces. Only seeing the back of a player does not usually make an interesting shot. When shooting my son's games, I found I get better shots when I am down by the goal they are trying to score on and get shots of the players as they are coming at me. That way you can get a lot more shots of their faces.



I do (and did) go to the end near the goal and did get some face shots.  The one above of my daughter's back is actually my favorite because she is in midair. That is how she plays, 110% every game. I find shots on goal images better from mid field because you capture the action better (unless you are shooting through the net, but I tried that and didn't like it).


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## g4ptek (Mar 15, 2014)

Theantiquetiger said:


> I have always had trouble shooting my daughter's soccer games (usually not sharp), so I decided to open the aperture way open and bump the ISO, so the speed would get way up there (1/4000+)
> 
> Settings: 1/5000 /2.8 ISO 320 177 mm
> 
> ...



what's lens do you use for this?


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## Theantiquetiger (Mar 21, 2014)

g4ptek said:


> what's lens do you use for this?



Tamron 70-200 2.8


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