Sun and Best Soccer Setup

[Warren Buchalter]

I'm going to be attending a soccer tournament for the sole purposes of taking sports shots. As I'm completely flexible as to the time of day etc I like to get some recommendation.

1) Best time of day to shoot - Early morning?

2) Should the Sun be in front, behind, or to the side for the best shot.

3) If I can't get the sun in the best position without having a distracting backround which of the 2 is more important.

Thanks.

Warren

[Nill Toulme]

The very best is the evening "golden hour;" next best is the morning "golden hour." Basically the lower the sun the better. I like to shoot with the sun more or less directly behind me to minimize shadows on the faces, but don't be afraid to experiment.

Morning:

http://www.toulme.net/sports/aysa/iafc_u19g_06-07/082706_vestavia/060827-aysa19g-012_std.jpg

Late afternoon:

http://www.toulme.net/sports/woodward/soccer/vgirls2005/040405_lovett/1d2-51175_std.jpg

Interesting question re sun vs. background, with no definite answer. If you're shooting with a nice big lens like a 400 f/2.8 you can get away with some pretty nasty backgrounds, particularly when the subjects are relatively close. If you don't have that luxury, then you really do need to pay attention to the backgrounds, but not to the exclusion of the light. You'll be able to move around quite a bit, and you'll notice that the backgrounds will change as your shooting angle changes.

You might want to shoot RAW, or at least RAW + jpg, to give yourself some latitude. Let us know how you do.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Warren Buchalter]

Nill,

Thanks for your great reply with examples. The tournament starts at 8am and continues till 5PM. I'll be shooting RAW with a 70-300 IS at f5.6. I'll upload a few tomorrow hopefully.

Warren

[Asher Kelman]

http://www.toulme.net/sports/woodward/soccer/vgirls2005/040405_lovett/1d2-51175_std.jpg


Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

I have always loved this shot, Nill! It seems she's deliberating her options. The light models her well. This image might be also special in B&W. I wonder?

Asher

[Nill Toulme]

Thanks Asher. Of all the many thousands of images I have made over the years, this one just might be my personal favorite.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net