Freelance Sports Photography
This past Monday (Labor Day) I had the opportunity to photograph my first MSU Men's Soccer game in East Lansing. Soccer may not be the biggest college sport around, but this game marked a big occasion for me. It is the first sporting event for which I was an officially accredited photographer! In addition to that, it was actually the first soccer game that I had ever shot. With all this in mind, I was very proud of some of the shots I got. As a goalie myself (albeit a different sport), I loved the goalie pictures. While I didn't get any jaw dropping pictures of saves, I am certainly going to make that a goal (no pun intended) as the season goes on.
MSU Goalkeeper zac Kelly takes a goal kick (shot with nikon z6 & nikon 200-500 f/5.6 @ 460 mm, 1/3200, f/5.6)
The goalkeepers were relatively easy compared to the free roaming positions on the field, however. As with most team sports, soccer is a very dynamic and flowing game. One second the ball would be on the opposite sideline, and it could quickly move to right in front of me (I was almost hit with an errant pass on the sideline!). The most difficult part, however, was how often players are facing away from you. I find that the most engaging photos happen when you can see an athlete's face. Fortunately, I managed to get plenty of these.
MSU Defender Will Eby surveys the field (shot with nikon z6 & nikon 200-500 f/5.6 @ 330 mm, 1/3200, f/5.6)
However, roughly half or more of the time, the players on the team that you're photographing for are facing the opposite way. This forced me to learn how to take good pictures of players from the rear pretty quickly. While this trick may not apply to all sports, it turns out that kicking a ball is a very photogenic movement from the back as well. Particularly when you can effectively frame the shot to show what is going on around them and what their goal in kicking it is (pun intended this time). That's how I managed to get my likely favorite shot from the game.
MSU midfielder peter soudan strikes a volley against the university of detroit mercy (shot with nikon z6 & nikon 200-500 f/5.6 @ 220 mm, 1/3200, f/5.6)
All things considered, I was super happy with the pictures I got from the game. While it may have been my first time photographing soccer, I am an avid soccer fan. I've been invited back to take more pictures for both men's and women's soccer which I am super excited for. With some more experience, I can't wait to see what the rest of this season will have in store for me! In addition to soccer, I'm working on getting credentialed to shoot some more sports at MSU. It will be a busy year for me with my own hockey going on as well, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Stay tuned, and as always, let me know if you would like to hear about a particular topic.
