New season of Soccer Pics to Critique

Hello -

I'm back at it shooting outdoor soccer pictures of my kids team. Here are two of many just to get some thoughts on. There have been fixed in light room. Below them are the originals.

Looking for opinions on how they look.





Thank you,
David

David - thank you for posting.

I think you got the right idea when it comes to sports. Crop if necessary.

With sports as long as it captures their face(s) and ball it will be good to go.

Good editing, possibly just a fraction tight with the cropping but thats just a personal preference, otherwise fine.

Nice photos and you got the cropping spot on I think. One thing that will improve your shots is to sit down. Get one of those 3 leg folding stools and shoot from that. Trust me the lower angle will make a huge difference

1) Cropping: I agree, keep it tight. Get right in there where the action is.

2) Angle: Again, I agree. I had this issue when shooting sports at first. There was just something missing, and I couldn't put my finger on it. All the pros who shoot sporting events are generally sitting. It doesn't matter which sport: football, basketball, soccer...all the 'togs are sitting down on the sidelines most of the time. That lower angle just adds a little extra pop that makes the viewer feel like they're on the field.

Work on your timing and varying your shutter speed. Imagine if shot #2 were 1-3 frames later. You'd have a cool shot of a kicked soccer ball in motion versus a ball just laying on the ground.

This is a nasty old Canon file but you can see how getting lower makes the player look better Ya we always had to sit down at football, the shots look better but also you wouldn't believe the hassle you get if you block someones view! lol As for cropping, it's only the player that's important unless you are going for a different sort of look.

Good shots, I would have cropped a little to the left on the top photo, it's too tight to the girl in the yellow top as opposed to the open space on the right side, if that makes sense. The lower photo is the better action shot, I think. Again, nice shots!