Arena Football Suggestions

budman101budman101 Registered Users Posts: 158 Major grins
edited March 16, 2010 in Sports
As a favor to a friend I photographed an arena football game this weekend. I knew it would be a challenge getting decent action shots and I was not dissapointed. IMO the shots, to say the least, are not up to standards. Could anyone out there post some of decent shots along with technical details?

One of my better shots. Sony A700, 70-200/2.8 @180mm, ISO 1600, f4.5, 1/160, center point focus, drive mode continous high (5fps).
805744889_6umnt-XL.jpg

Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited March 8, 2010
    budman101 wrote:
    As a favor to a friend I photographed an arena football game this weekend. I knew it would be a challenge getting decent action shots and I was not dissapointed. IMO the shots, to say the least, are not up to standards. Could anyone out there post some of decent shots along with technical details?

    One of my better shots. Sony A700, 70-200/2.8 @180mm, ISO 1600, f4.5, 1/160, center point focus.
    804103843_DZqTo-L.jpg

    Thanks in advance.
    I never got good at shooting football, but I would advise opening the lens all the way (why did you choose 4.5?). Get the fastest shutter you can get, 1/160 won't cut it. Also watching backgrounds has got to be difficult in an environment like that.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
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  • GadgetRickGadgetRick Registered Users Posts: 787 Major grins
    edited March 8, 2010
    Also, you might want to shoot in burst mode (if you're not). Catching the shot just as they're about to (or are) getting hit is a bit more dramatic than after the contact is already made.

    Not bad otherwise.
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  • Rocketman766Rocketman766 Registered Users Posts: 332 Major grins
    edited March 8, 2010
    Whats up with the carpet there? Was it really that loose? Is there a designated spot for photographers at arena football games?
  • ErbemanErbeman Registered Users Posts: 926 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2010
    You for sure messed up by not shooting wide open with that lens. If you had, you probably could have gotten somewhere around 1/400 shutter speed which is barely fast enough for football. It looks like the camera you use doesn't do too well at higher ISO as there is alot of noise at a pretty low ISO. So, I probably wouldn't change that.
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  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2010
    Erbeman wrote:
    You for sure messed up by not shooting wide open with that lens. If you had, you probably could have gotten somewhere around 1/400 shutter speed which is barely fast enough for football. It looks like the camera you use doesn't do too well at higher ISO as there is alot of noise at a pretty low ISO. So, I probably wouldn't change that.
    I disagree with that last statement --- more grain with less player motion blur is better than what he currently has.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
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  • ErbemanErbeman Registered Users Posts: 926 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2010
    mercphoto wrote:
    I disagree with that last statement --- more grain with less player motion blur is better than what he currently has.

    Yea, he'll have less blur but the pic will look like crap. What good is a halfway sharp picture if it looks bad. He simply doesn't have good enough equipment for those circumstances to get pics he could be proud of. Well, how about pics, I would be proud of since I don't know him or his standards.
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    D700, D300, Nikkor 35-70 F/2.8, Nikkor 50mm F/1.8, Nikkor 70-200 AF-S VR F/2.8, Nikkor AF-S 1.7 teleconverter II,(2) Profoto D1 500 Air,SB-900, SB-600, (2)MB-D10, MacBook Pro
  • johngjohng Registered Users Posts: 1,658 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2010
    Erbeman wrote:
    Yea, he'll have less blur but the pic will look like crap. What good is a halfway sharp picture if it looks bad. He simply doesn't have good enough equipment for those circumstances to get pics he could be proud of. Well, how about pics, I would be proud of since I don't know him or his standards.

    OK - let's take a step back. From what I've seen, the A700 does just fine at ISO 1600. The noise is very likely so noticable because this photo was likely heavily cropped. I can't imagine being close enough to get that tight of framing at 180mm. He would have to be standing about 20 feet away.

    You just can't crop heavily at high ISOs with any camera.

    As suggested, if you open up the aperture and get a resulting higher shutter speed you'll do better. but you have to realize you can't crop this much at ISO 1600. You need to shoot within the constraints of the lens. I wouldn't plan on shooting anything further than 25 yards from your shooting position. THat really limits what action you can shoot.

    Make those two adjustments and I think you'll see the quality go up quite a bit.
  • travischancetravischance Registered Users Posts: 642 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2010
    budman101 wrote:
    As a favor to a friend I photographed an arena football game this weekend. I knew it would be a challenge getting decent action shots and I was not dissapointed. IMO the shots, to say the least, are not up to standards. Could anyone out there post some of decent shots along with technical details?

    One of my better shots. Sony A700, 70-200/2.8 @180mm, ISO 1600, f4.5, 1/160, center point focus, drive mode continous high (5fps).


    Thanks in advance.

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