Comments on: Practical Guide for Youth Soccer Photography – Part B

By: EclecticGuy

EclecticGuy — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:15:12 +0000

Biswas, I am working on a post to answer your question and will put a link here when it is done – probably tomorrow. Cheers.

By: Biswas

Biswas — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:46:13 +0000

Thanks for this very helpful guide. You mentioned checking the histogram; I’ve tried reading a bit about it on wikipedia and other sites, but haven’t quite fully understood it…what exactly do you look at in the histogram?

Thank you.

By: Abdullah

Abdullah — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:40:54 +0000

I appreciate your response, I will tell you about results as soon as possible.
thank you,

By: EclecticGuy

EclecticGuy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:08:35 +0000

Thanks Abdullah. Here is what you need to do to set the camera up properly.

First, set the camera to Spot Metering and AF Point (auto focus point) modes. Make sure Auto Focus is “on”. Now, set the camera to manual (M) mode. Set your shutter speed to 1/800 s – this is the slowest you want to go for soccer in order to stop the motion without blurring. Hopefully you will be able to use a faster shutter speed but start with 1/800. Now, set your ISO to 200 and open your lens all the way – f4 for your 70-200. Check the exposure on one of the player’s faces or a light jersey and see what your exposure is. If you are underexposed, push up the ISO to 400 or even higher if needed until you get a good exposure. Usually you will be over exposed. In this case, raise the shutter speed to 1/1000 or higher until you get a good exposure. You can also lower your ISO to 100 or so if you have really bright light. Take a test photo and check your histogram.

This is a good place to start, hope this helps!

By: Abdullah

Abdullah — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:24:11 +0000

Thank you for this helpful guide.
I have 70-200mm f4 on 350D, what’s the best ISO, aperture, shutter, autofocus and metering mode if match take place in shaded playgraound opened to sun from 3 sides.