Tennis - Suggestions?

Ferguson

Would love suggestions, not terribly happy with shooting Tennis, hard to get shots where the players do not look awkward.

FGCU vs. Northern Kentucky, taken between just before sunset and after dark under lights (no flash of course).

D4, ISO 2500, 200/F2 @ F2, 1/800th.



D4, ISO 1000, 200-400/F4 @ 300mm F4, 1/2000th:



D4, ISO 3200, 200/F2 @ F2, 1/800th



This is one of those interesting but awkward. Maybe it's just the expression.

D4, ISO 2000, 200-400/F4 @ 200mm F4, 1/800th



One thing I struggle with in evening games is color - as the lights come on, the sun sets, the lights cycling through ugly blue/green colors.... These are mostly hand adjusted, I did not get good results taking white off the uniform, not sure if it's got too much blue in the white or what. Or maybe mine are wrong.

Anyway, for your amusement or criticism.

Linwood

joshhuntnm

I like tennis shots where the ball is on the racquet like that second one. you might try slowing it down so you get just a tad of motion blur on the ball.

AceCo55

Not sure where you are allowed to stand, but I prefer my "go-to" shots without the net unless they are at the net volleying. I think it looks cleaner and we don't need the net to know it is tennis. For me it is a distraction. Great for occasional shot to build variety.
#2 and maybe #4 are cropped well, but for me the crop in #1 and #3 are too loose.
#3 is a great action shot - great timing
Really like the intensity and timing in #2

Ferguson

joshhuntnm wrote: »

I like tennis shots where the ball is on the racquet like that second one. you might try slowing it down so you get just a tad of motion blur on the ball.

Thank you. I agree. I've searched all the Nikon menu settings and can't find the one that automatically sets that timing.

No, seriously, I'm trying. I've spent a fair amount of time in single shot mode trying to get the right timing there, as even with the D4 at 10fps it's not fast enough to just count on a burst. It clearly takes practice.

Re slow down - good thought, next time will try more that way. I've done some other sports (like rodeo) where you can get some great sense of motion with a bit of blur added.

Ferguson

AceCo55 wrote: »

Not sure where you are allowed to stand, but I prefer my "go-to" shots without the net unless they are at the net volleying. I think it looks cleaner and we don't need the net to know it is tennis. For me it is a distraction. Great for occasional shot to build variety.
#2 and maybe #4 are cropped well, but for me the crop in #1 and #3 are too loose.
#3 is a great action shot - great timing
Really like the intensity and timing in #2

Two sides are closed off (semi-opaque screen), and the courts are 3 across so I can only get to the side of one, otherwise am shooting across another court(s). The side access varies a lot by how many people are there, I sometimes go sit in a small gate right at the net which is decent, but in one direction I'm shooting up where people are milling about at open fence side back court. Shooting over the net is the only place that it is even a bit "clean" in the background. The F2 did help blur out some of that background.

Thanks for the selections. I'm curious about #3 being too tight. Everything around it was empty court. Were you perhaps meaning I should add space in front to keep from centering the player? Or... ?

Thank you.

PS. #1 I agree. I'm not much a fan when the legs are cut off, but sometimes either I miss, or with the fixed 200/F2 the lack of a zoom is challenging at times (but I still really love that lens).

torags

Shoot the light side that benefits you, the players will changes sides , be patient.

Blur on the ball is difficult; there is too little lateral movement when shooting 3/4 and too low a SS gives you player blur

Shoot bursts, remorse later... Follow the ball, the player will find it...

Pick a background without staff or banners (good luck with that... )


He knocks the fuzz off the ball


and of course, this could be slower SS

Andy

Rags

perroneford

Tennis is one of those VERY tricky sports. Timing can be everything. Ball on racquet is much like ball on bat in baseball. It's nice to get, but there are many, MANY other moments as well.. Player celebrations, player conference (doubles), coach conference, and just happy moments. I'll post a few examples:


1. Near contact moment, player directly facing camera. All players have an angle at which they prefer their body when the strike the ball. Set yourself up so that you are face on to them in that body position and you'll get stuff like this.





2. The completion of a swing. Positioned right, you'll get them facing the camera, ball traveling toward camera, and you can shoot all the way through swing and get them in a "pretty" position.




3. Anticipation of the ball. I like these shots. Players are intently focused, eyes still, body still and the ball is arriving into the frame.



And another




4. The unexpected moment. Sometimes you just have to know when a player is going to do something in character, but outside the game. I was on another court but saw this player two courts away getting frustrated with herself and doing more and more antics. So I rushed over, and 2 minutes later was rewarded with this.





5. Working timing. I don't shoot bursts since I am usually on the D800. So I use warmups to get used to player timings. Sometimes you get exactly what you want after a few tries.





6. The quiet moment. Sometimes the story is best told in very quiet moments. Learn to look for those as well.




These are just my thoughts after a shooting about 5-6 games this season. I also vary positions from high to low, behind the baseline to between courts. And we have 5 courts in play during singles, so it's VERY tricky to move around. Move to a court with a purpose, get what you need, and move on.

Ferguson

Swing completion shots
Thank you, especially the examples of swing completion. I had a very few of those, probably deleted a lot of others where the position was great but no ball in the frame. But maybe I was premature. Glad to know others find those interesting.

Here's one I did keep.



Most of the rest had a ball in frame:



But it's hard to get up close and also get the ball in frame. Well, except this one, the last shot I got that night.



But by coincidence. It didn't actually hit me or the camera, but I felt the air move as it went past my ear.

perroneford

This is why I never delete ANYTHING that I shoot. You never know when a picture will have great meaning. That slightly soft picture of an athlete may be their or their parent's favorite photo. If you delete it, you'll never have a clue.

Good work on these last few. Not having a ball in frame doesn't bother me in the least if the photo is compelling.

Ferguson

perroneford wrote: »

This is why I never delete ANYTHING that I shoot. ....QUOTE]

Yeah, almost everything you've told me I came to agree with, this one I still struggle with. I would have stacks of disk drives filled with crap. You must have a much higher keeper rate than I do.

You should see (or more precisely you should NOT see) all the shots I deleted after the NCAA Selection party at FGCU when, with local photographers like they've never had there -- they turned the lights out for the party in the arena. I wish I had a shot of the photographers faces. But let's say my keeper rate went WAY down. They are deleted, electrons recycled, photons released to better use.

perroneford

Ferguson wrote: »

perroneford wrote: »

This is why I never delete ANYTHING that I shoot. ....QUOTE]

Yeah, almost everything you've told me I came to agree with, this one I still struggle with. I would have stacks of disk drives filled with crap. You must have a much higher keeper rate than I do.

My keeper rate is usually ok, but I push a lot so end up with a LOT of stuff that just doesn't work out. That's ok with me.

I just don't like deleting things. I sometimes learn more from what DOESN'T work than from what does. And I go through my library of stuff just about every night looking for hidden gems I might have missed. Disks are pretty cheap to me. I have 2 4TB drives on my desk now. One primary, one backup. I plan on going through that once ever 6-12 months depending on my shoot schedule.

AceCo55

Ferguson wrote: »

Thanks for the selections. I'm curious about #3 being too tight. Everything around it was empty court. Were you perhaps meaning I should add space in front to keep from centering the player? Or... ?

Hmmm ... what I said was that in my opinion #3 was too LOOSE and needed much closer cropping to get rid of wasted space.

perroneford

Agreed. #3 and #4 would be much stronger images cropped.

Ferguson

AceCo55 wrote: »

Hmmm ... what I said was that in my opinion #3 was too LOOSE and needed much closer cropping to get rid of wasted space.

And... one day I'll learn to read. My apologies, and thank you again.

Mitchell

I shoot a lot of tennis. At the high school and college level, your best bet is to find a way to shoot through the fence. I use a 300mm, f2.8 and rest my shade right up against the fence. If there is a windscreen, I search for a gap or a wind flap. I have gotten schools to cut a small hole for my lens.

Accept that there is a net in your way. We all know there is a net there. I'm all about trying to get good faces with the action so I typically leave the net at the bottom quarter of the photo. I've played around with some tilts which seems to make the net less obnoxious to my eye.

Ferguson

Mitchell wrote: »

I shoot a lot of tennis. At the high school and college level, your best bet is to find a way to shoot through the fence. I use a 300mm, f2.8 and rest my shade right up against the fence. If there is a windscreen, I search for a gap or a wind flap. I have gotten schools to cut a small hole for my lens.

Thanks.

I try to avoid shooting through the fence, as I just assume it's going to rob contrast and a bit of sharpness. But I wonder if it really matters.

One day I'm going to do a real controlled experiment. I had this discussion with someone at Softball, similar scenario -- what impact does shooting through the fence have. By eye you don't see it, but if I stand there and move side to side (e.g. at 400mm) I do see the image shift a bit, like there's a blur induced. Less pronounced with a net (e.g. foul ball netting - finer but closer together). I need to shot some images of the same scene and lighting through, and not through the fence.

Incidentally, I rather like the slanted view, but Peronne and others yell at me if I don't have my horizons straight. Glad to know someone else does it also!

perroneford

LIES!!! !

Nothing wrong at all with a tilted horizon... If you mean to do it and it has purpose. Having a tilted horizon because you held the camera crooked and didn't realize it is a TOTALLY different matter.

Ferguson wrote: »

Incidentally, I rather like the slanted view, but Peronne and others yell at me if I don't have my horizons straight. Glad to know someone else does it also!

Mitchell

perroneford wrote: »

LIES!!! !

Nothing wrong at all with a tilted horizon... If you mean to do it and it has purpose. Having a tilted horizon because you held the camera crooked and didn't realize it is a TOTALLY different matter.

I too dislike the tilt when not well played or intended. For tennis, I embrace the tilt since I find the straight net somewhat boring.

As for shooting through the fence (TTF), I find this is my only option when shooting our local high schools and colleges. They don't have stadium style courts, and I am not allowed onto the court.

I use a monopod and brace my lens right up against an opening in the fence. Try to center the opening as best as you can on the lens. Proximity and centering are your friends.

David Evertsen

FGCU Men just beat Georgetown Linwood!! You sure know how to pick your schools, lots of great pictures of the Mens and Womens team on the FGCU site!!


David

Ferguson

David Evertsen wrote: »

FGCU Men just beat Georgetown Linwood!! You sure know how to pick your schools, lots of great pictures of the Mens and Womens team on the FGCU site!!

I keep asking if my pass will work in the final four, so far no answer.

David Evertsen

Ferguson wrote: »

I keep asking if my pass will work in the final four, so far no answer.

You need to bug Patrick and the AD more... Either that or get the Cheer team to send you...