Sports Photography: Shooting Soccer Games

The seasons are changing, and I can certainly feel it everywhere I go. And with the new season comes the kickoff of a number of different sports! I'll spend the next few emails giving you some tips for shooting at outdoor sports games. So get your cameras ready, because the action happens fast! Today, I will start with soccer

Benefits of Soccer Shooting
One of the benefits of shooting at soccer games is the wide open field. It allows you to compose a variety of different angles in your photos. Also, there are typically no fences at kid's soccer games, so you can get close to the action without anything blocking you. Of course, if you are shooting at professional events, you need a pass for that kind of access. But either way, use these benefits to your advantage when shooting.

Composition
I've found it is best to stand near the corner of the field rather than along the sidelines at a soccer game. Standing near the corner allows you to shoot the action coming toward you, as well as near the net without the net getting in the way of the shot. If you shoot from the sidelines, your shots will mostly consist of the players running from side to side, and you will have the opposing team's bench in the background. Get down low on your knees or sit on the ground when you compose your shot. This adds more drama to the photo and makes the players look more powerful, which is a really cool effect for kid's games. It also helps you avoid a lot of background clutter and distractions and concentrate just on the action. Also, I find that the best lighting is when the sun is directly in front or behind the players, and not coming from the side.

Take the Shot
I strongly suggest charging your battery and clearing your memory card before the game, because you should take a lot of shots. Professional sports photographers shoot hundreds or even thousands of photos during a game just to get those one or two amazing photos, so don't be afraid to let loose and shoot a lot. Use a long lens if you have one to help isolate different players and shorten the depth of field, set your aperture to f4 or f2.8, drop your ISO to around 100, and use a fast shutter speed, like 1/500 or 1/1000, to freeze the action (read more about using manual mode on your camera). Also, try to anticipate what is going to happen, as well as how and where the players react. If your kid has the ball and is on his way to shoot a game winner, capture the action, and keep shooting during the reaction to get some emotional shots of the team celebrating together. Lastly, resist the urge to run up and down the field with the game. Instead, stay in one place most of the time, and let the action come to you. Your photos will be better because of it.

Digi's Site Tip
Did you know you can use your online account to convert your photos to black and white or sepia, then order prints, photo books, cards, or other photo products with the black and white or sepia photos? Well, you can! Simply log in to your account, click "My Web Photos" on the right, select a photo to edit, click the "Edit" button from the toolbar above the photos, and click "Edit/Crop Photo." Then, in the Edit Tools page, click "Effects," choose "Black and White" or "Sepia," and save a copy of the photo so you don't save over the original. The edited version will show up in the same album, and you can order it as you normally would.

Also, we now have an integration with iPhoto (versions 10 and above) that uploads your images from iPhoto to your account so you can easily order prints, create photo books, and much more:

1. Download LifePics Uploader for iPhoto 
2. Double click the file and follow the installation instructions 
3. Open iPhoto and select the photos you want to upload to your online account 
4. Choose from the top menu: "File," "Export," "LifePics Uploader," and then click the "export" button. Voila! Your photos will be uploaded to your account.