Article header for kids soccer photography

WRITTEN BY:  BRUCE LOVELACE

PUBLISHED: August 30, 2024

How to photograph a kids soccer game: Tips for Parents and Fans

Follow these basic how to tips and your photos of kids soccer games will come out much better. This youth soccer photography guide will give you helpful tips, recommended lenses to use, and the best camera settings to capture the game action.

As a parent we all want to capture some of the great moments that come from watching our children play soccer, but hiring a pro can be expensive. Getting sharp action photos can be challenging, even with young kids.

Right away, realize that camera settings and lens choice depends a lot on how old the kids are that you are photographing. We'll dive into it in just a second. Also, at the end of this article is an FAQ section. It will give you the quick answers to the frequently asked questions about photographing youth soccer games.

Best Camera

Nikon D300 Camera

Sorry, your smartphone is great for snapshots of your friend and family, parties, vacation photos, and landscapes, but they're  simply no good for action photos.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of cameras that will work well for you to photograph your child during a game. Rather than sell you on any one specific camera model, I'm going to tell you the features you need to look for.

A camera with interchangeable lenses is best so that you can fit it with a telephoto zoom lens. It's also a big advantage if your camera has a fast burst rate. A rate of at least 5 frames-per-second for small sided soccer and 8 frames per second for older, faster-paced soccer games is helpful. To save money you can get a used DSLR or mirrorless camera for reduced price and still be capable of getting great photos.

Point and shoot cameras focus to slowly and have slow burst rates that are too slow for action photos of kids in motion. Also, for more in-depth information, see my article on the Best Camera For Sports photography.

Best Shutter Speed For Kids Soccer Photos

The biggest challenge you face when shooting sports and action photos is getting sharp photos. The level of sharpness is dependent on accurate focusing and using a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion.

Sometimes it's missed focus, but usually the biggest reason for blurry photos when shooting soccer photos is too slow of a shutter speed

The photo below was taken using a 1/800 second exposure. It's sharpness is adequate but it's not tac sharp, as the saying goes. A sharper photo would have resulted if I had a shutter speed of 1/1500 second.

For a deeper dive into understanding shutter speed and sharpness, see the table included in this article on shutter speeds.

Soccer Action at 1/800th secondCamera Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/800th second using ISO 1000
Lens was a 100-400mm zoomed to 182mm

Best Lens

canon 400mm bird lens100-400mm Lens

For close-up photos of your favorite young soccer play you want to use a lens than zooms in and isolates your child from the rest of the players. For U-5 through U-8 soccer use a zoom lens that can zoom in to a 200mm setting. 

For larger fields where the players are often farther away from you, a lens with more magnification, such as 200-500mm, 150-600mm. Pro soccer photographer often use fast (large maximum apertures) lenses with focal lengths of 400mm, 600mm, and sometimes even 800mm that can cost over $10,000.

Lenses that aren't as fast and zoom from 100-300mm or 100-400mm are more reasonably price.

Best Position

Generally speaking, the best opportunities to get good shots are the corners and midfield. See the diagram below. Of course you are restricted from being to close to the endlines and sidelines. The four spots near the corners are great for capturing exciting moments in the game inside the penalty area and with corner kicks.

The midfield locations give you a central location to get a good view of the action no matter where it is on the field.  In some situations you may not be allowed directly behind the players' benches.

Soccer photography hot spotsStarting Soccer Photography Hot Spots
(Marked in Red)

More Best Location Tips

Be prepared to wander to various vantage points during the game as the action can move quickly. Here are two additional tips on locations for creative photos as the game progresses.

  • GET LOW. You'll get a stronger and unique perspective if you shoot some of your photos from ground level. Rather than shoot everything from a standing position, you can go down on one knee, sit  on a short stool, or yes, even lie down on your stomach.
  • THROUGH THE NET.  Standing behind the goal and shooting through the nest will give you another distinct perspective. The trick is to manually pre-set the focus on the action in front of the goal and not the netting that is between you and the players.
  • BACKGROUND CONTROL. Nothing ruins a photograph more than a distracting background behind your subject. It's easy to focus (pun intended) on the subject and forget to watch what's behind your subject. Sometimes the best location to shoot the game is where the background is uncluttered. Using a large aperture will also help you get a pleasing blurred background.


FAQ

Camera sports/action modeSports/Action Mode

What camera settings are best for soccer games?

The most important camera setting to be mindful of is one that gives you a fast shutter speed when photographing action. You can use the Action/Sports mode as shown above or, better yet, use shutter priority mode.

In shutter priority mode for kids ages 3-8 use a shutter speed of 1/500 second or faster. For kids 8-12 use 1/800 second or faster. For high school games and above use 1/1000 second or faster.

Which camera mode is most appropriate for photographing youth soccer

The easiest camera mode to use for youth soccer is "sports" or "action" mode. It's an automatic mode that biases toward faster shutter speeds. you'll get even better results by using shutter priority mode where you set the exact shutter speed that's appropriate to the level of soccer and the camera does the rest.

What focus mode should I use for photographing kids soccer

The best focusing mode to use for sports photographing is Continuous Focusing. Your lens will constantly adjust the focus to follow the moving soccer player. Canon calls it AI Servo AF and Nikon calls it AF-C. Using a focus tracking mode, if available, is best.

What is the best focal length for kids soccer?

The overall best lens for shooting kids soccer games is the 70-200mm lens for full frame DSLR cameras. For smaller sensor cameras, like Canon APS-C and Nikon DX, you can use an 85-300mm lens or something close to that. For full-sided soccer fields a 100-400mm zoom lens is best.

What's the best aperture to use for soccer game photos.

Generally, you'll want to use the widest lens opening possible which is f/2.8 if you're using a pro lens. If not, use f/4.0 or f/5.6. If you're zoomed in to a telephoto focal length it will isolate your subject in sharp focus and give the background a pleasant blur.

A lot goes into the success of getting great photos of your child playing soccer. Mid-range camera equipment is adequate, although the better the equipment you start with the faster your progress will be.

The more you try it the better you'll be at it and If you are considering investing in a decent camera and lens, realize you'll be able to use it for other types of photography.

Good luck. I hope this post gave you some good ideas to use for photographing kids soccer games.


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Article published by Bruce Lovelace

ABOUT BRUCE LOVELACE

Bruce is the publisher of this website. He is the author of the book "Improve Your Photography Instantly."  Read more on Bruce on his Bio Page. He's been known as The Traveling Photographer ever since 1994. Read more about this website.

View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram.   Visit the Facebook Page. Watch him on YouTube.  Bruce runs photo workshops for kids and adults, and provides one-on-one photography coaching.

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