MLS ALL STAR GAME (soccer)

[wembley]

Here are a few from todays MLS All star game in Chicago.
MLS beat Chelsea 1-0.
titles later.
Gallery here: http://www.pbase.com/wembley/mls_all_star_game_2006

1: Jamie Moreno wins an aerial battle

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2: Chelseas Essien, challenges MLS All starer Derosario

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3: Essien slips away from Derosario with Moreno and Lampard looking on

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4: MLS' Jimm Conrad tussles with Chelseas Dider Drogba

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5: Albright slips in to get a shot off before Terry can stop him

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6: Albright breaks away from Bridge

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7: Lampard of Chelsea turns from MLS' Derosario

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8: Gros leaps above Smith

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9: Gros and geremi get tangled up

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10: Gros and Geremi continue their 2nd half competition

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Cheers
Gavin

 

[Job.1]

Greats actions !!

 

[Gale]

Some fancy high footin action shots.
Good shots

 

[eng45ine]

Very nice series, your images show nice action and are composed real well with tight crops. What lens did you use for these, a 400mm? Looks like there was tricky harsh lighting in certain areas of the field. Looked like a good trip for you. Are these going to be in a magazine?

 

[wembley]

Job, Gale:

Thanks for the views and comments.

cheers
Gavin

 

[wembley]

Very nice series, your images show nice action and are composed real well with tight crops. What lens did you use for these, a 400mm? Looks like there was tricky harsh lighting in certain areas of the field. Looked like a good trip for you. Are these going to be in a magazine?

Frank:

Thanks for the comment.
I think 1 thru 6 were with the sigma 100-300f4 and 7-10 the nikon 300f4 af-s. I had just got my sigma back from Sigma (recalibrated and tightened the front barrel) and the focus locking had significantly improved. I wanted to use the zoom part. In the 2nd half I switched to the Nikon, and lost several shots where action was too close.
A 400 f2.8 or 300 f2.8 is truly necessary. I had to crop a lot of these, and when action was pretty far out, the DOF of the f4 just doesn't make the players stand out. I also shot more in portrait mode than I have in the past and it is hard to frame close by action. The zoom is nice as you can cheat, ie be zoomed out and follow a greater area then zoom in on the specific action.

Lighting was difficult. On field was nearly full shade the whole game, with sometimes very bright light on the crowd. A couple of sunspots were on the field. (BTW #6 was pp'ed in bibble the rest were done in pse2 and there is a considerable difference in the red)
I was worried about the shade as I have a D2H and only the f4 lenses. I shot most of the game at 1/800 or 1/1000 and f4 and adjusted iso from 400 to 1250 (althought these only go through maybe 1000) considering this, I was very happy with the noise!
It was fun, but I made lots of rookie errors (missed the team photos, didn't get too much crowd action, left the tripod ring in other suitcase so no monopod). No magazines unfortunately!

cheers
Gavin

BTW 1: Did you make the game? 2: WGN 10pm sports news, the game was featured at exactly 10.23pm. DO they know who Shevchenko and Ballack are?

 

[eng45ine]

Thanks for sharing the nitty gritty about your shoot, Gavin. My hunger for sports action photography is insatiable and I love to look and learn. I like what I saw in your series and did notice that the harsh sunlight was a problem in a few. It looked like a great event to shoot and I hope to get credentialed to shoot such an event. I have shot Triple A baseball from the photographer's pit in the past, but that is the highest level of pro sports so far. I do shoot alot of youth sports and am working to make contacts at some local colleges.

I did think about going to the game, but some responsibilities at home cancelled that option. Plus, it is aweful tough for me to go to a game and not bring some gear! I did see some tv coverage of the contest, but I sure don't rmember which channel I saw it. Soccer isn't too well covered in Chicago, but the fanbase is huge and getting bigger.

If you ever get back to the area, please let me know and maybe we can hook up.

 

[dbirdsong]

Nice shots..

 

[phatnev]

Great stuff, cant wait to see Chelsea FC dominate the EPL once again this year. Shevchenko and Ballack are probably the best additions one could dream to add to a side, Chelsea is going to be phenomonal and I cant wait to watch it. Hopefully Real will fail to put it together once more this year in La Liga because as a FC Barca fan I couldnt stand to watch them win :biggrin:

 

[vincecos]

Great action shots. Well done!!!

 

[acena]

Great action shots Gavin. Thanks for sharing

 

[tojor]

Great soccer shots. Seems that you got very close to the action and got some big names too. I like the tight crops.

 

[wembley]

Dave, Chris, Vince, Alex, Torben.

Thanks for the comments. Being on the field with a press credential really helps!

cheers
Gavin

 

[zidder]

I know why Chelsea lost,because they were playing Soccer instead of Football :biggrin: :biggrin:

Very nice shots

 

[Noctifor]

Great shots! I take it you had a press pass and were on the field?

 

[wembley]

press pass

Great shots! I take it you had a press pass and were on the field?

Josh:

Yes I had a press pass. My 1st credentialed game and made a few rookie errors, but I was very happy overall with the experience and practice.

cheers
Gavin

 

[cgaengineer]

The expressions on these players faces is amazing, you captured it very well!

 

[docsol]

Gavin these are great! I was just at the meadowlands to watch Barcelona and their magic against the Red Bulls. Sitting at midfield, 30 rows up, with a D200, 70-200, TC 1.4. My images are poor when compared to yours. The 70-200 doesn't cut it from the stands.

 

[Dave Dickerson]

Outstanding shots, Gavin. I'll bet you had a blast. The game was quite exciting on television; I can only imagine what it was like to see and shoot from the sidelines.

Once again, well done!