Trying Something Different For Basketball

73Rocks73Rocks Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
edited January 12, 2011 in Sports
I was off during the local holiday shootout so I thought I would wander over to the gym and get a few shots. The team I cover for the paper was not playing so I thought I would try using a technique with my Canon 50D that a lot of “Grinners” use . . . the bounce flash (I normally don’t use a flash at all). Seeing as I had about 10ft of space behind the baseline rather than 4ft I decided to use my Canon 85mm f1.8 prime lens instead of my normal 50mm f1.8 prime lens.

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Bringing the ball upcourt . . . I like this one because I caught the cheerleaders in the other 2/3rds of the background.
Shutter Speed 400 / ISO 800 / No Flash

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Shooting over the defense.
Shutter Speed 400 / ISO 800 / No Flash

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Slipping behind the defense for a “backdoor” layup.
Shutter Speed 250 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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Short jump shot in the lane.
Shutter Speed 250 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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Saving the ball from rolling out of bounds.
Shutter Speed 250 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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Gliding over the defense for a “finger tip roll” basket.
Shutter Speed 250 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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The 6’ 8” big-man “skys” over the defense for 2 points.
Shutter Speed 400 / ISO 800 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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Finger tip roll basket in the lane.
Shutter Speed 500 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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Slipping the defense and gliding to the basket for 2 points.
Shutter Speed 500 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling

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Going up for the rebound.
Shutter Speed 5250 / ISO 500 / Bounce Flash Off The Ceiling
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Any constructive criticism will be taken as advice.
Thanks for looking.

Comments

  • jonh68jonh68 Registered Users Posts: 2,711 Major grins
    edited January 2, 2011
    They look good to me. Nice action and clear shots of their faces. The only nitpick I have is maybe the WB is a little cool in some them. Some of the players seem a little pale, but that could be the players natural look too.
    www.jonimages.com
  • jimqjrjimqjr Registered Users Posts: 250 Major grins
    edited January 2, 2011
    I love the primes for indoor sports. I too am not a fan of the flash.
    Can you include the f stops for the pictures I think that it would be helpful for those trying to learn something new.

    I too usually shoot with a 50mm also. The 85 is tight which is what you are getting.

    Great shots keep up the good work.clap.gif
  • 73Rocks73Rocks Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
    edited January 2, 2011
    jonh68 wrote: »
    They look good to me. Nice action and clear shots of their faces. The only nitpick I have is maybe the WB is a little cool in some them. Some of the players seem a little pale, but that could be the players natural look too.

    It could be the White Balance . . . I don't know if I got a good enough shot of my Gray Card for a White Balance reference before I started shooting.

    OR it could be that everyone is just that pale up here in the Great White North this time of year.

    But thanks for looking and the comment!
  • 73Rocks73Rocks Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
    edited January 2, 2011
    jimqjr wrote: »
    I love the primes for indoor sports. I too am not a fan of the flash.
    Can you include the f stops for the pictures I think that it would be helpful for those trying to learn something new.

    I too usually shoot with a 50mm also. The 85 is tight which is what you are getting.

    Great shots keep up the good work.clap.gif

    All of the shots were at f1.8 except for the 7th one . . . that was shot at f2.8.

    Although I liked how the shots turned out overall, "no flash" is still my preference. I like the 50mm f1.8 because in the small gyms around NE SD there isn't that much room between the baseline and the wall. 50mm works out just about right. I am eagerly waiting to try out Santa's little gift for me this year . . . a 50mm f1.4 prime.

    Thanks for looking and the comment!
  • jonh68jonh68 Registered Users Posts: 2,711 Major grins
    edited January 2, 2011
    73Rocks wrote: »
    It could be the White Balance . . . I don't know if I got a good enough shot of my Gray Card for a White Balance reference before I started shooting.

    OR it could be that everyone is just that pale up here in the Great White North this time of year.

    But thanks for looking and the comment!

    When the lights recycle, it really doesn't matter too much because they will be off anyway.

    Usually what I do is warm them up a bit in pp, which you can adust WB with jpg shots too. Or, photoshop elements has a skin tone dropper that I use as well. Sometimes though, they are just pale!
    www.jonimages.com
  • 73Rocks73Rocks Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
    edited January 3, 2011
    jonh68 wrote: »
    When the lights recycle, it really doesn't matter too much because they will be off anyway.

    Usually what I do is warm them up a bit in pp, which you can adust WB with jpg shots too. Or, photoshop elements has a skin tone dropper that I use as well. Sometimes though, they are just pale!

    Thanks for the tip . . . I have used the Photoshop Skin Tone Dropper before but I guess I just didn't catch the lighter skin on the players. I will keep an eye on this for the next game.

    Again, thanks for the time and the tip -
    Mark
  • Scott293Scott293 Registered Users Posts: 369 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2011
    I think the flash shots are great. When I'm shooting on the floor I don't bounce from the ceiling I bounce on the wall behind me it's works great know matter how much room you have and bounce from the ceiling when I'm above the back board shooting down. Great timing as well !!
    Scott Davis

    Nikon D70,D2H,D300,Nikkor 300mm f2.8,Nikkor 80-200 f2.8, Nikkor 24-70 AF-S f2.8,Nikkor 50 f1.8

    www.ScottDavis.smugmug.com
  • 73Rocks73Rocks Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2011
    Scott293 wrote: »
    I think the flash shots are great. When I'm shooting on the floor I don't bounce from the ceiling I bounce on the wall behind me it's works great know matter how much room you have and bounce from the ceiling when I'm above the back board shooting down. Great timing as well !!

    You know . . . I should have caught this sooner. Upon further review, even though the pictures turned out OK . . . I just realized that by turning my flash, my camera defaulted back the the highest normal sync speed which is 250/sec. I was trying to shoot at 500/sec and looking back at the properties of the images every shot with the "bounce" flash was at 250/sec. You might want to check this out with your own gear before trying to shoot a whole event using the "bounce" flash method.
  • Scott293Scott293 Registered Users Posts: 369 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2011
    73Rocks wrote: »
    You know . . . I should have caught this sooner. Upon further review, even though the pictures turned out OK . . . I just realized that by turning my flash, my camera defaulted back the the highest normal sync speed which is 250/sec. I was trying to shoot at 500/sec and looking back at the properties of the images every shot with the "bounce" flash was at 250/sec. You might want to check this out with your own gear before trying to shoot a whole event using the "bounce" flash method.

    Yes my camera sync is 320/sec at the highest works out great. I think once you get the hang of it you will hate to shoot without bouncing in school gyms.
    Scott Davis

    Nikon D70,D2H,D300,Nikkor 300mm f2.8,Nikkor 80-200 f2.8, Nikkor 24-70 AF-S f2.8,Nikkor 50 f1.8

    www.ScottDavis.smugmug.com
  • jimqjrjimqjr Registered Users Posts: 250 Major grins
    edited January 12, 2011
    73Rocks wrote: »
    All of the shots were at f1.8 except for the 7th one . . . that was shot at f2.8.

    Although I liked how the shots turned out overall, "no flash" is still my preference. I like the 50mm f1.8 because in the small gyms around NE SD there isn't that much room between the baseline and the wall. 50mm works out just about right. I am eagerly waiting to try out Santa's little gift for me this year . . . a 50mm f1.4 prime.

    Thanks for looking and the comment!

    I shoot mainly with the 50 1.2 for basketball sometimes the 85 1.2. I also sit within a few feet of the baseline. What I have found is that if you need to go below 1.8 or maybe 1.6 you are too narrow so the light that you gain is lost in the shallow depth of field. You will see this when you get them coming at you with the ball out in front of them. I also like to shoot pretty fast my goal is usually 1/1000th of a second though I do not like to go over 2500 iso so some gyms were good others. Good luck. I look forward to seeing your photos with the new lens.
  • 73Rocks73Rocks Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
    edited January 12, 2011
    jimqjr wrote: »
    I shoot mainly with the 50 1.2 for basketball sometimes the 85 1.2. I also sit within a few feet of the baseline. What I have found is that if you need to go below 1.8 or maybe 1.6 you are too narrow so the light that you gain is lost in the shallow depth of field. You will see this when you get them coming at you with the ball out in front of them. I also like to shoot pretty fast my goal is usually 1/1000th of a second though I do not like to go over 2500 iso so some gyms were good others. Good luck. I look forward to seeing your photos with the new lens.

    Thanks for the comments Jim

    I just tried out my new f1.4 50mm and it seemed to work great (I will post a thread with the shots after I get done replying to your message). Of course I was shooting in a bright, well it gym, I was still glad Santa put it under my tree.

    I am trying to stay under 800 for ISO because my 50D is just too grainy above 800. Maybe next fall for football I can upgrade to a 7D . . . I see a lot of grinners have great shots with 7Ds up to 3200 ISO.

    Until then I will try to squeeze everything I can out of what I have.
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