eircom League of Ireland - C&C

City-Exile

Some pictures taken at tonight's eircom League of Ireland clash, between table toppers, St. Patrick's Athletic & Drogheda United.
First eircom League outing, with my 300mm f/2.8
It takes quite a bit of getting used to but I'm not disappointed with the results.
I have over 100 more, that I'll upload later.
Some need to be cropped.

evilhomer

I like the 3rd and the 4th ones. They convey a great sense of action. I would say that perhaps they could do with a little brightening up? have you done levels and curves on them?

How hard was it to keep up with the action with that lens? Did you shoot JPG or RAW?

Good work, keep it up!

Oh, and Go St Pats!

City-Exile

They're jpgs and you see them as the camera took them. Absolutely no adjustments, not even cropping! It's not always easy to track the action, but I only expect to get a handful of good shots, at each game.

AllMyOwnTeeth

How did you find working at fixed length? I'm quite fond of taking rugby shots but I've always used a zoom. I look at all the pros using primes and I wonder why I guess it's one way to avoid taking 500 shots at a game.

City-Exile

OutOfFocus wrote:

How did you find working at fixed length?

Where you position yourself is much more important, when you've got a fixed focal length.
I specifically went to that game last night, to try as many things as possible, since I wasn't too bothered about the results. I'll probably get another game in, this weekend, to hone my technique, before I shoot a Cork City FC game, where there's a requirement to get decent shots.

The full set, from last nights game, are here...

Yerac

I like them, particularly impressive if they haven't been processed at all.

With a bit of "livening up" 1st and 3rd are perfect.

City-Exile

I had to crop this one, and adjusted the levels...

AllMyOwnTeeth

excellent stuff

GristlyEnd

Nice set of shots. Did you find that 300mm was enough?

City-Exile

DarrenG wrote:

Nice set of shots. Did you find that 300mm was enough?

Enough, and maybe too much, at times.
Once I get used to it, I'm sure it will be perfect.
I'm so glad that I was in a position to buy the lens, as it has given me so much confidence, with regard to what I can expect to take from a game.

DeVore

beginner question here:

When I take photos of action shots I end up with everything crisp apart from the person who is moving, they are always blurred. I set the camera to sports mode (its a Canon 350d) but it still happens. If there is LOTS of light it seems happy enough but even in an overcast day its tough to get shots anything like as crisp as you seem to have gotten.

DeV.

City-Exile

DeVore wrote:

If there is LOTS of light it seems happy enough but even in an overcast day its tough to get shots anything like as crisp as you seem to have gotten.

Yeah, that's more to do with the ability of the lens to focus quickly, due to the lack of light.
I broke the bank for a specialist lens, which is why you'll see a few sets posted here from me recently.
The Aperture of the lens is f/2.8, which allows much more light in, than the lens you're using.

thebaz

very nice -- i especially like the last one !

soccer is much tougher to shoot , than it would appear , i find rugby a lot easier -- well done

Valentia

I think that you did a great job for a first time out with a new lens. As you say it will become more comfortable and instinctive the more you use it. It is a mightily impressive piece of kit. Well ware!

GristlyEnd

City-Exile wrote:

Enough, and maybe too much, at times.
Once I get used to it, I'm sure it will be perfect.
I'm so glad that I was in a position to buy the lens, as it has given me so much confidence, with regard to what I can expect to take from a game.

Too much, interesting. I'm undecided between a few lens. 300mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4.5 or 200-400 f/4. I have an opportunity for sports photography (not pro) and a prime lens is needed.

City-Exile

Originally, I wanted to buy the 400mm f/2.8, but decided that it was too much money to spend. It's more than you could ever want, at a field sport.
What I found with the 300mm, was that I needed to get behind the goal, as the players were often on top of me, when I was between the 18 yard box & the halfway line.

You can see in some of the shots, that I literally just squeezed the action into the frame.

I'm absolutely blown away by the 300mm f/2.8 and don't regret spending so much money on it. It makes me feel like a real photographer, when I see the images I've captured & compare them to what I see in the papers.

City-Exile

Here are some pictures from the eircom League Cup 1/4 Final clash, between Bohemian FC & Cork City FC.














Full set here...

Borderfox

Some great shots Peadar, what body are you shooting with?

City-Exile

Borderfox wrote:

... what body are you shooting with?

All I could afford was a 400D but it's not managing too badly, I think.

Borderfox

Not too bad, are you selling shots to papers/ inpho/ sportsfile? You would love a 30D with 5fps. I changed to a second hand 20D and it was so much better. Still though L glass is L glass and its shine through in all your shots along with your eye.

City-Exile

I don't make a cent off my pictures.
Getting credit for what is printed in the Cork City FC match day programme, is the full extent of my reward.
I can't justify spending much more on photography this year.

Morlar

Some great shots there in that latest set. I would say 2nd & 5th and 6th would be the strongest overall.

City-Exile

Thanks for the feedback, guys.
I'm still learning from my mistakes and try to do the best with what I've got & the poor light, at football grounds in this country.

Borderfox

Yeah they arent the brightest places in the world.

City-Exile

With regard to the pictures from last night's game, the only editing done was cropping. No other adjustments, so they're almost as they were on the camera.

City-Exile

City-Exile wrote:

Full set here...

This picture won top prize in its category, in a photography competition at home. Only the 2nd competition I've ever entered.
If you remember the TV3 competition, well this was at the exact opposite end of the spectrum, in terms of quality, but it's a start and the only way is up.

sineadw

Nice one Peadar! Congrats I'd love to have a go at the sports stuff but I'd have to kill someone for a lens first.

City-Exile

Not sure how well a 350D would cope with a 300mm f/2.8
My 400D is under a lot of pressure.
What makes sports photography so much more difficult, is the cropping, captioning and e-mailing of pictures, from the sidelines, during the game.

Since most eircom League games are in the evenings, you don't have much time to get the shots away, if you want to make the deadline for the morning papers.
In the picture above, only John O'Flynn's number is visible, so you'd need to recognise Owen Heary, for the caption, saying something like, "Bohemian's captain, Owen Heary struggles to get to grips with Cork City's John O'Flynn, during the eircom League Cup clash between the sides, at Dalymount Park, last night."

Eirebear

great shot dude.
And well done on the competition!

What i try and do (especially for small level local games) is get a snap of the front and back of each player before getting into the action.
That way i have the number to match up to the faces when i get home to edit.

Luckily most of my stuff goes to a weekly though so i dont have the same deadline issues.

City-Exile

We get team sheets at every game and I'm an eLoI fan, so it's a bit easier for me, but there are times, where you get confused.
Pats wore numbers on their shorts, last Thursday. That was the first time for them. Cork City FC always do it. It makes such a difference!

Eirebear

City-Exile wrote:

We get team sheets at every game and I'm an eLoI fan, so it's a bit easier for me, but there are times, where you get confused.
Pats wore numbers on their shorts, last Thursday. That was the first time for them. Cork City FC always do it. It makes such a difference!

Whereas i tend to have to chase down the referee at half time!
Or in the case of GAA matches make as many educated guesses as i can because even the official team sheets are generally wrong

soccerc

Eirebear wrote:

great shot dude.
And well done on the competition!

What i try and do (especially for small level local games) is get a snap of the front and back of each player before getting into the action.
That way i have the number to match up to the faces when i get home to edit.

Luckily most of my stuff goes to a weekly though so i dont have the same deadline issues.

For junior soccer I photograph teams front and back before game along wit the match card. Even then you are not guaranteed the person named is the person occupying a place:D

( One game I knew 90% of the names on the card but only 2 players on the pitch)