| Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | News | Contest | |||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
Bruce Bennett takes advantage of Tamron’s SP AF200-500mm F/5-6.3 Di LD lens to capture every goal and the triumphant facial expressions that go along with it. |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SP AF200-500mm
F/5-6.3 Di by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano |
|||||
You can't beat a fast-action soccer match for excitement,
fancy footwork and heated sideline exchanges (ever watch two coaches
go head to head when the ref makes an iffy call?). But for all
of the dramatic goals and off-sides arguments, it's the expressions
of the players themselves that really epitomize the thrill of the
game. And for Farmingdale, New York, photographer Bruce Bennett,
it all starts with the eyes. |
|||||
|
“When I’m doing more news-style photography, I’m looking for interaction, meaning I back out a little bit more and use a shorter focal length,” he says. “But mostly what I try to do when I photograph sports is focus on individuals. And the most important part of the individual is the face. While I’ll be looking for full length also (I try not to cut off extremities, any part of their arms and legs), I’ll always be on the lookout for good facial expressions that show the player is motivated. The same for hockey, which I also photograph a lot of—you can always tell by the eyes whether the players are into the game or are just floating.” |
|||||
Part of being able to zoom in on every grimace and grin is having the right lens, like Tamron’s 200-500mm Di lens, which Bennett used for a recent Sunday showdown in Bethpage, New York. “What I like especially about this lens is the focal distance,” he says. “It’s perfect for a soccer field, especially when you take into consideration that many of the digital cameras that photographers use these days have a multiplication factor of 1.4 or 1.6. You’re able to get the action that’s nearby, as well as action that’s at the other end of the field.” |
|||||
Bennett has a couple of vantage points he prefers on the field. He usually positions himself about eight to ten feet back from the sidelines. “That way the guys holding the penalty flags won’t bump into you, and you’ll have less chance of getting hit from soccer players coming out of bounds,” he says. “I also like to shoot (although I didn’t do it on this shoot, since the player I was focusing on was a defending player) to be behind the net, off to one side, so that you can frame the net in the shot as the player attacks the goalie.” |
|||||
Giving every player his due time in front of the lens means Bennett has to constantly be on the move. “You can’t just take up one position,” he explains. “Plus, moving around enables you to eliminate distracting backgrounds. Anything bright or reflective in the background is something you should look at getting rid of. A wide soccer field is conducive to being able to eliminate the background since you have so much room to move around. If you’re in a position where the background is distracting, it’s easy to move 20 or 30 feet down the field and just get a slightly different angle. You can also creatively use selective depth-of-field to eliminate distracting backgrounds and follow individual players.” |
|||||
He Shoots – He Scores! |
|||||
It’s no small feat to follow the players’ rapid-fire feet, but Bennett has become skilled at nailing most of the major plays by not only knowing where to go— he also knows when to rely on the technology of his camera. “It’s more a function of using your motor drive than it is a function of correct positioning,” he says. “The players can head the ball facing any direction, so heading the ball isn’t something where you can pick a position and say, ‘That’s what I’m going to look to shoot.’ It’s more like, ‘OK, I can see this kid is getting ready to head the ball, let’s lean on the motor drive a little bit and get a sequence.’ Heading the ball in soccer is a difficult shot to get exactly right, so it’s one of those things, especially with the higher-end cameras, where you can shoot up to eight frames per second and make sure you capture that key moment.” |
|||||
Bennett’s background shooting ice hockey has served him well when it comes to keeping up with the players. “Because most of my sports training comes from ice hockey, I’m more used to players changing course on a dime,” he says. “I actually find soccer easier to shoot and easier to keep track of the players because their movements aren’t quite as fast. Occasionally I’ll go to a slower shutter speed and pan with the action at 1/16th or 1/30 of a second, or I’ll also do a zoom effect where I’ll rack the zoom quickly during anywhere from 1/8th to 1/15th of a second for a different effect. When I use the 200-500mm, I’ll also use a monopod just to shift the weight off my hand.” |
|||||
Besides getting the horizon line straight (“it’s very distracting if you don’t do that”), perhaps one of the most important tips Bennett can offer when you’re chasing fullbacks and wingmen down the field is to fill your frame. “Especially with digital, it’s easy for a photographer to go back in and fix the image and crop and do all sorts of things, but it’s real important to frame it right in the first place,” he says, “What I always say is, ‘Get in close, and then get in closer.’ The cardinal mistake most photographers make when they’re starting out is not to fill the frame. It’s important because of that eye contact, because of the faces, because of the quality of the digital image. Make sure you do it.” |
|||||
For more information on Bruce Bennett’s work, go to www.longislandny.com. |
|||||
Tip Box Some Sidelight From the Sidelines Placing the players in the right light means strategically harnessing the sun’s rays to your advantage, according to Bennett. “I’ll try not to shoot directly into the sun,” he explains. “In soccer, because of the size of the field and the availability I have to actually move around, I’ll try to pick a position where most of the players have a little sidelighting. This helps separate them from the background and gives them a little more depth and texture.” |
|||||