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26.01.09
Take great football shots
Words by Alex Broadway
For photographers, the great thing about local ball sports, especially football, is accessibility. There are simply so many teams and games at a grass-roots level within easy reach. For your first foray into football photography though, the easiest place to start is an afternoon in the park with some mates. While they run around tiring themselves out, you can fire away getting valuable practice.
When you want to take the next step and shoot an organised local league game, it’s a lot easier than you may think. Almost every village and town in the UK has at least one local team, even if it is only a Sunday league pub team.
When I first started, I already knew of three local football teams, all within 10 minutes’ drive; chances are most people are in a similar situation. And even if you don’t know of any teams, a quick glance at the back pages of the local paper will provide plenty of information. Another great source of information are local community websites.
As well as promoting participation in local sports clubs, they provide plenty of details on locations, contacts and match fixtures. It’s always best to get permission to shoot at small local clubs, but this generally doesn’t mean more than a quick phone call or simply asking when you arrive. It’s best to contact a club beforehand, especially if you are planning on travelling.
Most local clubs are more than happy for you to photograph a game; if they don’t seem too keen, offer a few free pictures for them to use. As the leagues get higher, more and more restrictions apply – press passes, league passes and so on – so don’t expect to call up your local premier league club and be given a pass!
Football is a tricky subject to photograph. If you miss something, it’s gone forever. There are no second chances, no asking the players to go back and try it again. That’s what makes it so challenging, but at the same time so rewarding. Don’t expect to master it in one 90-minute game or even 10 90-minute games – I’m still learning.
Shooting football requires a combination of knowing your equipment inside out, super fast reactions, plus knowledge of both the players and the game.
If you’ve never used aperture-priority, shutter-priority or manual before – now is the time! Ditch the fully automatic and program sports modes and select one of the above. These are the modes I work in 90 per cent of the time – there are no set rules as to which one works best, the only way is to try them and see what works for you or suits the style of picture you are aiming for.
I try to never drop below around 1/640sec; any slower and the players may start to get movement blur. Remember when shooting with digital, you have three variables to play with to get the settings you require – aperture, shutter and ISO – use them all to your advantage.
As footy is a fast action sport, AF is essential. Set the AF mode to continuous so the camera’s AF can track the players as they move. Also select continuous shooting mode, so you can fire in bursts to capture the action.
Once the camera is set up, the next thing to do is make yourself comfortable somewhere around the pitch. The obvious place is behind the goal to the left or right as this is where the important action will take place, but depending on your lens, this may not be the best place. If you have a shorter lens, 250mm and below, sit nearer the halfway line to catch the midfield action; if you have a longer lens, 300/400mm plus, sitting behind the goal is best, as you will be able to shoot up to and around the halfway line and the action in the box. Again, this isn’t set in stone. Change positions and find what best works for you and your equipment.
When it comes to actually shooting the game, you want to be capturing the action in the centre of the frame, filling it as much as possible, but trying to keep heads, arms and legs in the frame as well as the most essential ingredient – the ball. Try to predict the action. Start shooting as the players begin to jump for the ball, line up to kick it or charge in for the tackle – this way you will catch them as they make contact and this makes for the most exciting pictures.
The importance of frame-filling can’t be underestimated. Capturing the action is no use to man nor beast, if the players are two indistinguishable dots on the horizon. Wait for players to come closer, zoom in, or, if your lens is too short, move to a position closer to the action.
No action shot is worth anything without the ball. Capturing the ball in the frame can be tricky, as it moves so fast, but it is essential. Practise predicting the action, move ahead of the ball and shoot in bursts around the peak of the action. Quick reactions and timing are crucial. Practice really does make perfect.
Most of the time I shoot with the camera in the horizontal position, but again, experiment and see what works. As well as concentrating on where the ball is and the action around it, keep an eye out for colourful crowd shots (if there are any on your local park!), off the ball clashes and the managers’ touchline antics.
Don’t worry if you find yourself taking loads of photos, the beauty of digital is that it costs nothing and you can instantly review what you have taken – take full advantage of this and pack plenty of cards as they soon fill up. Don’t be disappointed if you end up with hundreds of photos, but very few that are sharp, well exposed and action packed. As you shoot more games, you’ll improve – and so will your success rate. View all the pictures after the game on a computer screen and analyse where you went wrong. Then next time, try to correct these errors.
KIT BAG
Watch any professional football game on the TV and you will notice a sea of huge black or white telephoto lenses lining the pitch side. I’m sure everybody would love a pair of nine frames-per-second (fps) DSLRs and a 400mm f/2.8 lens. While some of you may be lucky enough to own this type of kit, it’s not essential.
Key features to look for in a DSLR are a good AF system, a buffer that will allow a burst of constant shooting and a fast continuous frame rate. Most DSLRs are capable of 3-4fps, which is sufficient when you’re starting out. Ideally, something around the 5-6fps mark is a good bet, such as the Nikon D300 or Canon EOS 40D.
Lens wise, something like a 70-300mm is a good starting point and will be more than capable in good light. As you progress and want maybe to buy a more specific lens, look out for lenses with internal focusing motors, like Nikon’s AF-S or Canon’s USM lenses, and with a fast maximum aperture such as f/2.8 or f/4, this means faster, more accurate focusing and nicely blurred out backgrounds for making the action really stand out.
Other important things to remember are a sturdy monopod, something to sit on and waterproofs – for you and the camera if you intend to carry on shooting in the rain. I also take a fleece, gloves and hat – I couldn’t function without them in winter!
TECHNIQUE
Not a lover of the round ball game? Try rugby. PM reader Graham Severn started taking pictures at his son’s mini rugby games and is now official photographer for the Doncaster Knights.
“I find rugby easier to shoot than football largely because it tends to be a little more static,” he explained. “Certainly, there are times when it’s fast moving, but there are also more predictable action areas, such as scrums and line-outs.
“After taking pictures of my son’s team for while, I became known at the club and moved on to shooting the first team. In return for supplying a set of images on a CD, I get passes to all the home games and some away fixtures as well.
“Equipment-wise, I use a Canon EOS-1D MkII and, typically, an EF 100-400mm lens, but I also have 28-135mm and 10-22mm zooms for closer shots.”
NOW WHAT?
Giving a few pictures to the local club for use in programmes and promotional material, or even to display in the bar, is a good way to say thanks for letting you take some pictures. It can even lead to paid work if they’re impressed with your shots.
You could also see if the local paper is interested; you’ll need to talk to the picture desk. Many local papers have few, if any, staff photographers, so they can’t cover everything. Even if they say ‘no’ the first time, don’t be put off, try again. If your shots are good enough, they may call you next time, to ask you to cover fixtures. If you do get work for a paper, accurate captioning is important, so remember to note the players’ and team names.
A rather different approach is offered by working with an event photography company. They cover events, such as kids tournaments, specifically to shoot and sell the pictures there and then to players and parents. So it could be a good way to practise and make some money at the same time. Get a portfolio together, then contact the company for a trial.
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