FC Long Beach Boys U9 & U10 Youth Soccer

With these two following teams that makes 7 out of 15 teams covered for action shots. Not even half-way done yet. I was hoping to get another game shot on Sunday but needed to stay home while my wife went out and spent some time with our daughter. I needed to rest anyways and just spent the time going through these shots and putting together a new BoxFlex I bought.

Well enough of that, now back to the games. This first game was a boys U10 game followed by a boys U9 game. Both of these games were in the afternoon with harsh light, which made positioning and shadows rough. There were also a lot of parents out, which made locations where I could shoot from limited. I sat while shooting both of these games to maintain a low perspective, which adds a lot of impact to the action.

All of these were shot with the beast (300 f/2.8) and my camera set at aperture priority at f/2.8. I had the ISO at 100, which gave me a shutter speed of 1/3200 - 1/5000.

This game was played immediately after the above 10U game and into the late afternoon, which meant some harsh light. As the first game I stayed low, pretty much sitting on the grass while shooting this game.

9U Boys

Yeah, you guessed it "A couple of fun ones"

Following This Blog

I have added a new element to my blog. It is located along the right side of this blog and will allow you to follow this blog. I am currently having problems with it and it would appear that people can not add themselves by clicking on the follow this blog tab. So if you find that you want to follow this blog, which if you love to shoot sports action and find yourself asking yourself questions on camera setting or how to get that particular shot, then follow this blog. If it won't let you add yourself, then go to your dashboard (located along the top of the bar, right side. Once at Dashboard, go to your reading list and make sure the tab "Blogs I'm following" is open, then just add my blog to it (jimcayer.blogspot.com). Hope to see you connected.

Belmont Shores Women's Rugby vs San Diego Surfers

Click on the above title to view and order prints from this game.

This last Sunday was another day of women's rugby. I was out shooting the Belmont Shores Landsharks Women's Rugby team as they played agasint the San Diego Surfers. I have to say that the surfers came ready to play and were pumped. The Landscharks held their own during the first half but just didn't seem to want it as much as the surfers, who came back in the second half and won the match. I did get some great action, so take a look and enjoy.

Some "Line-Out" shots

When a ball is throw or kicked out of bounds the team who has possesion of the ball will throw it in, but prior to that, each team will line up perpendicular to the thrower. The thrower will throw the ball down the middle between each team, who will attempt to gain possession of the ball.

I was very pleased with this two shot series. This is the end result of a scrum. The player in blue (San Diego Surfers) just received the ball from the scrum and was in the process of tossing it to another team mate when she was hit and tackled by the player in green (Belmont shores). Now your probably asking yourself, "What the heck is a scrum" Well I'm not sure I can explain it, but I will try. When a penalty is called a scrum if formed. Each team will have several players form a base and face each other. The team that has possession will toss the ball under into the center and under this base while each team using their feet will attempt to kick the back back through their legs to the player at the back of the scrum. This player will get the ball and usually toss it out to another player who will begin the run and forward movement. I hope that makes sence.

A few hard hits / tackles.

These next two shots are a bit misleading. They both appear as though the players are attempting to receive or intercept a pass, which in both of these situations is not the case.

In each of these situations the player in blue (San Diego Surfers) were throwing the ball back to one of their team mates, whom is not pictured.

A few open field runs

Girls U9 Soccer

Saturday I went out to shoot a couple of Girls U9 soccer games. This is such a great age to shoot for any sport and these two games were no exception. I really enjoyed watching these two games and having the opportunity to shoot them was just the icing on the cake.

When I'm giving advice on shooting sports I will often advise people to get a low perspective, such as kneeling or sitting. You can get away with standing when shooting high school age kids and up, as their height is usually equal if not taller then the shooter (photographer). When it comes to the younger kids though, kneeling or sitting is highly suggested. By getting this low perspective you add emphasis and impact to the action. Look through the shots in this post and you will see that in some of the shots one or more of the girls was captured in the air. By being low the height of their jump appears higher, and adds impact to the action. If I was to stand for these shots then the impact of the height would not be as much.

This first group of shots is from the Beach U9 game.

Shots from the FC Long Beach Game.

I loved the look of this shot. You can just see this young girls focus

and intensity as she follows the ball as she begins her kick.

Just a couple of fun plays.

I loved the way the light highlighted these girls hair.

The Milk Bucket Stays

Lakewood varsity had their rivalry game against Mayfair this last Friday night at Lakewood. With the Milk Bucket on the line Lakewood came out ready to play. Our offense kept the ball moving while our defense stopped the Mayfair Monsoons for a victory.

Prior to game start

I shot this game with my 300 f/2.8 in manual mode. My aperture was set at f/2.8, shutter at 1/400, and my ISO at 3200. I did use my flash, which was set a full power.

Click on the above title "The Milk Bucket Stays" to view all the pictures and order prints.

An Intercepted Pass

"The Milk Bucket Remains at Lakewood"