Football - penalty shootouts

[kelack]

Having had a couple of recent cup finals that have resulted in penalty shootouts, I wondered how you deal with them. I hate them pain in the arse to photograph

 

[footydad]

I know what you mean, where's the best place to take the shot? But, I tried something a bit different when my daughters club won a shoot out in cup final a few years ago, pics below


IMG_5431 by Ian Kendle, on Flickr


IMG_5444 by Ian Kendle, on Flickr

 

[KIPAX]

penalty shoot outs are by far the best pictures ever at a football match!!

Positon to the left of the goal and as close to the goalposts as the ref will allow..on the left allows for a good run up and face on shot as most players are right footed

pictures of the rest of the team on the half way line are great ..as soon as a player scores or doesnt take a pic of the lineup.. whos cheering whos moaning.. great pics..

then when the last goal goes in the best pics ever are the players runnign towards you.. happens every time ..they are side on above. far better running straight at you and always screaming or happy faces.. then the inevitable pile up..


penalty shoot outs arnt good for players or fans.. but brilliant for a photogrpaher

 

[kelack]

If only the last two penalty shootouts had gone that way for me!

Refs wouldn't allow me by the goal at all in either. Had to be behind near the half way line. :bleurgh:

 

[KIPAX]

Had to be behind near the half way line. :bleurgh:

Never had that before.. I always make sure the ref is OK or the offical nearest me and they always are... shame that...

 

[kelack]

Both games had had quite a lot of trouble in so the refs in both were a bit frayed.

 

[GooGaBu]

I know Kipax and myself disagree on this one..
I stay on the sidelines - on the left-side of the goal (I think) - so that I can shoot both the penalty taker and the keeper.
As you never know whether it'll be the kicker or the keeper that decides the shoot-out.
This way - if you are shooting for a club, you can alternate between shooting the keeper and the penalty taker.. without changing positions.
Fair enough, you might not get the players running directly towards you, but you'll get more of 'facing towards you' than in your example images.

But - as with so many aspects of sports photography.. there is no right or wrong - what suits one person, might not suit the other one.

From my penalty shooting experience - in three 'important' games I've covered, it was always a save by the keeper that decided the game. So then getting the keeper making the save and celebrating was what got used the following day as the 'number 1' picture.

 

[Little John]

Shoot the takers and the team celebrateing running towards the keeper always. Have someone else shoot the keepers. Chance of selling 10 images to 10 different people and you never know about the celebration shot. Shoot the keeper thats 2 different people to sell to but get a good shot of the keeper and they will buy it as getting good shots during a game other than kicking are very difficult becasue there are normally bodys in the way.

 

[Tugster]

I think it just goes to show that it really depends upon who you are shooting for.