lesson 1a. Where to stand

So, you have checked, and re-checked your camera settings. You have made sure your battery is charged, and you have plenty of compact flash (or SD, or whatever your camera takes) So now you want to know, where should I stand/sit?



Many venues have rules on where you are allowed to position yourself during play. The higher level the sport, the more rules and restrictions there are usually. But there are places to position yourself to get the most out of your shoot. If you are shooting for a specific team, this makes things a lot easier. Generally, you want to put yourself in a corner or in the end that your team is attacking.
As the team you are shooting is attacking to the right, positioning yourself in the corner or end will assure you the maximum amount of faces towards the camera and the most action. Shooting from the end, down the Field, also has the added benefit of reducing undesirable backgrounds.

Here is a shot from the corner of the soccer field shooting all the way across the field diagonally.

Because of the distance between the subjects and the background, shooting down the field has taken what would normally be a distracting background, and blurred it out quite nicely.

One other point I want to make. It seems obvious, but I want to stress positioning yourself in the direction your team is coming towards. Once the action is moving away from you, your shots become FAR less effective.

As you can see, the back shot is far less compelling.

Next time, I want to dig a little deeper into backgrounds, and how distance between you, the subject, and the background can dramatically change the effect of the picture. Also, how the position of the sun can help determine the best spot to shot from. Till next time...