college hoops

gregneil

I got a new lens (Canon 135/f2.0L) and decided to try it out at my brother's basketball game. I've never shot sports before. I found I had a hard time getting focus - the second I was in focus, the action would move and I'd be all blurry. Gotta figure out a way around that... I shot in RAW, but didn't set manual WB ahead of time - big mistake. My little 12" powerbook took forever to process each image using Canon's file viewer utility, and I couldn't figure out if it would do batch processing. I suppose there's something better to use, I just don't know what it is...

I shot with my digital rebel at ISO1600 using shutter priority set to 400. Most of the time the camera chose 2.0 or 2.5 for the aperature. I was about 7 rows up for most of the shots. During post I used the noise ninja plugin prior to basic level, brightness, contrast, and sharpening adjustments in photoshop 7. My post workflow consisted of using Canon image viewer to convert to Tiff, then open in photoshop, then make adjustments, then save as jpeg. I notcied that the jpeg files don't haveall the EXIF data associated with them, and I'm wondering where along the way that got lost...

Anyway, I'm pretty new to photography and all the photoshopping I did I learned on dgrin from y'all. Here's a few of the ones that turned out OK. Any pointers would be appreciated.

winger

Thats great on the dunk shot. I would even crop it tigher so you lose the guy that is sort of fuzzy in the bottom of it.

One thing I find that helps me tracking the action better in sports is setting the focuse to the AI servo. It helps you track the action better for sports (made a huge difference for me in ice hockey which moves alot faster).

Those are great shots for 1600 with the rebel, that is one of the reasons i upgraded to a 20d cause the higher iso were just too noisy and well you can ask doctorit how much love PS. Most of what I use is what comes straight out of the camera ( I may have to level stuff out for hockey but that is a whole different ball of wax in terms of lighting challenges with the white ice) Someone suggested the noise ninja to me but i never got around to trying it out.

One of the biggest tips I ever picked up in terms of sports is faces. You want expression in the shots, you want the person viewing them to realise this is more than just a basket ball game, but what is going on. And reaction shots are just as good, like your shot of the players looking on. And of you brother playing D there.

Nice for your first try. If you want more tips on sports photos try perusing this site: http://www.sportsshooter.com. The message board is great and just looking through some of the photographers profiles and see what they do is helpful too. Hopefully soon I will be a member too (in the 2nd step of my applicaton process and keeping my fingers crossed).

I am in no ways an expert, im kind of learning my way though hoops too and I shoot both men's and women's and I find the good places to sit for men's isnt really working for the women's games.
But if you are interested you can look through some of the ones I have taken this season. ( I just started shooing hoops this year, and have only had one year with the digital SLR, I feel like I have improved a ton so you can see where you can go with it).
Men's hoops: http://winger.smugmug.com/Sports/48201
Women's hoops: http://winger.smugmug.com/Sports/48586
I still have another women's game to add but i have to get two hockey games up first.

Keep on shooting!

winger

And I actually have a question about the dunk shot, did you post produce the back ground like that or is that all from the lens ( with a 2.0 I would imagine mostly the lens) just curious. Sometimes with my 70-200L even at 2.8 my backgrounds are a little too clear for my liking....I guess you can post produce that stuff out....maybe someday I will learn.

One of my favorites from the last umass home game, this kid is a freshman know as the "Big Deli" he makes the best faces.

rutt

As someone who has shot a lot of sports, I think these are great. Makes it tempting to go try to shoot this sport. I suppose it has the advantage that you know where the most action is going to happen. (Quite the opposite from baseball, or ski racing, for example.)

pathfinder

gregneil wrote:

I got a new lens (Canon 135/f2.0L) and decided to try it out at my brother's basketball game. I've never shot sports before. I found I had a hard time getting focus - the second I was in focus, the action would move and I'd be all blurry. Gotta figure out a way around that... I shot in RAW, but didn't set manual WB ahead of time - big mistake. My little 12" powerbook took forever to process each image using Canon's file viewer utility, and I couldn't figure out if it would do batch processing. I suppose there's something better to use, I just don't know what it is...

I shot with my digital rebel at ISO1600 using shutter priority set to 400. Most of the time the camera chose 2.0 or 2.5 for the aperature. I was about 7 rows up for most of the shots. During post I used the noise ninja plugin prior to basic level, brightness, contrast, and sharpening adjustments in photoshop 7. My post workflow consisted of using Canon image viewer to convert to Tiff, then open in photoshop, then make adjustments, then save as jpeg. I notcied that the jpeg files don't haveall the EXIF data associated with them, and I'm wondering where along the way that got lost...

Anyway, I'm pretty new to photography and all the photoshopping I did I learned on dgrin from y'all. Here's a few of the ones that turned out OK. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Fast primes are great for isolating the subject against the chaos of the background in a gymnasium. I particularly like the 2nd frame for this reason.
Unfortunately you are learning also that the 300D is not as good a camera for fast action sports as the 135 F2.0 L is a good lens. You will be happier shooting sports with one of Canon's better bodies - like a 20D or even a used 1D.

Nice shots but not quite in focus at times, and the shallow DOF of f2.0 demands precision in focusing. The lower noise level of the 20D will be a big asset also. It will also shoot at ISO 3200, but noisily.

gregneil

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'll probalby have to suffer for a little while longer with my rebel, but that 20D sounds like what I need. I don't think the rebel even offers AI servo mode. Thanks for the links, winger, looks like a lot of good reading. That UMass / Xavier shot is great. I can feel the impact about to happen as those two big bodies collide.

On the dunk shot, the background was nice and blurry in the camera, but was pretty dark, and since the player's uniform is dark, he didn't stand out enough for me. I used a mask to lighten the background some. It looks a little fake, but I kind of like the effect. I wish I'd been on the other side and could have captured his face...

Next time I'm going to set the WB ahead of time, and see if I can sneak onto the floor to get some shots with my 50/f1.8. And hopefully next time USU will learn to finish strong on the road and get the win.

lynnma

gregneil wrote:

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'll probalby have to suffer for a little while longer with my rebel, but that 20D sounds like what I need. I don't think the rebel even offers AI servo mode. Thanks for the links, winger, looks like a lot of good reading. That UMass / Xavier shot is great. I can feel the impact about to happen as those two big bodies collide.

On the dunk shot, the background was nice and blurry in the camera, but was pretty dark, and since the player's uniform is dark, he didn't stand out enough for me. I used a mask to lighten the background some. It looks a little fake, but I kind of like the effect. I wish I'd been on the other side and could have captured his face...

Next time I'm going to set the WB ahead of time, and see if I can sneak onto the floor to get some shots with my 50/f1.8. And hopefully next time USU will learn to finish strong on the road and get the win.

wow.. great shots and a great lens by the look of it..

Steve Cavigliano

Very good Greg ^5
I'd be really happy with these, if I were a first time B-ball shooter. As a matter of fact, I am definitely not a first time B-ball shooter and I'd still be thrilled with these Great color and good action. And very, close up.

I've been shooting B-ball for 3 years and your shots are better than any I've ever gotten. I'm hoping that you had better lighting (and a more easily attained white balance), otherwise I have spent years spinning my photographic wheels Quick, someone call AAA

Thanks for sharing Greg,
Steve

gregneil

Thanks for the feedback Lynn and Steve. It was a pretty decently lit gym, which helped. I used the eyedropper in Canon file viewer utility to pick the white for white balance, and that seemed to work well on the RAW files. I usually chose part of the number on the uniform of a Utah State player. Seemed to give the most natural look.

I've been digging your JC ball shots when you've posted them, Steve. Is that West Valley College in Saratoga? I couldn't quite make out the name on the uniform. My brother played at Cañada before transfering to Utah State, and used to play open gym with all the West Valley guys. They usually have one of the best teams in the state.

Steve Cavigliano

gregneil wrote:

Thanks for the feedback Lynn and Steve. It was a pretty decently lit gym, which helped. I used the eyedropper in Canon file viewer utility to pick the white for white balance, and that seemed to work well on the RAW files. I usually chose part of the number on the uniform of a Utah State player. Seemed to give the most natural look.

I've been digging your JC ball shots when you've posted them, Steve. Is that West Valley College in Saratoga? I couldn't quite make out the name on the uniform. My brother played at Cañada before transfering to Utah State, and used to play open gym with all the West Valley guys. They usually have one of the best teams in the state.

Hey Greg

Thanks for the comments on my JC B-ball shots Yep, that's West Valley JC in Saratoga. They do have a very good team. I believe they are 12-3 and they won a JC tournament in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago. I think they play Canada next week. Hopefully, it'll be a home game and I'll post some pics My son plays for the Vikings, so it gives me a good excuse to have some low light fun with my 20D and 85mm F1.8 Those sodium vapor lights are awful though Even with a good wb, everything still looks too yellow....lol


Steve

gregneil

Go Vikings! I found the only thing that stinks about shooting my brother's game was that I get so invovled in looking for the shot, I forget to enjoy the game. I live in southern California now, and luckily Utah State plays 6 teams down here, so I'll get more chances to see him in action. I think the 85/f1.8 is the next lens I'll pick up - on my rebel, the 135 is just a bit too long for some of the shots I want, though when it does work, it does a mighty fine job.

Be sure to post more pics from the next WV game!