Any softball tips for a rookie?

H e r b

Just planning for the first year of capturing my girls team, any tips would be appreciated. Because of location we are forced to play indoors all winter, and I want to be ready when we can get outside and play.


When we play indoors, most of the time the lighting is lousy. Any way to improve my shots without a flash?


Am I beating my head against the wall even trying? :dunno
Thanks for any thoughts
Herb

http://laserssilver.smugmug.com/

johng

Herb,
Do you want advice for indoors or outdoors or both?
Also, please provide the following:
1. What equipment you have (bodies, lenses)
2. EXIF for your posted photos

From there we can give you some pointers to help you out.

H e r b

johng wrote:

Herb,
Do you want advice for indoors or outdoors or both?
Also, please provide the following:
1. What equipment you have (bodies, lenses)
2. EXIF for your posted photos

From there we can give you some pointers to help you out.

Thanks for the response.
Indoors is killing me right now with the lighting at different facilities, as you can tell some good and some bad. Were about to get outdoors, so that would be my focus from now till Oct. Hopefully I'll figure out the indoors by then

Just got a new nikon d40 with a 18-55 and added on a nikor 70-300

Now don't beat me up to bad, but how do i find out my settings for specific shots?:help

Jeffro

H e r b wrote:

Now don't beat me up to bad, but how do i find out my settings for specific shots?:help

Here's a screenshot from your smug site, showing the settings of your shot. It's in the properties of the file as well.

Attachment not found.

Everything you need to know is right there, except the lens, so it's almost everything.

Investing in a f/2.8 lens would help quite a bit indoors.

Here's a good tip, keep both eyes open, one in the viewfinder, the other looking everywhere else!

Jeffro

H e r b wrote:

When we play indoors, most of the time the lighting is lousy. Any way to improve my shots without a flash?

This one is ISO 800 f/5.6 @ 1/30: focal length 270mm (405mm in 35mm)..I'm guessing you may even have been shooting through a fence, or screen...maybe

Cason

Jeffro wrote:

This one is ISO 800 f/5.6 @ 1/30: focal length 270mm (405mm in 35mm)..I'm guessing you may even have been shooting through a fence, or screen...maybe

That is pretty slow shutter speed for that focal length. If possible, try to keep your shutter speed close to the focal length.

As Jeffro mentioned, a f2.8 will be a good investment. That way your shutter speed will be fast enough to stop the action.

Also, increase the ISO, that could help.

KMCC

As others have already mentioned, if you're after action shots, it's going to be tough shooting indoors without a f/2.8 lens. You can try shooting at higher ISO, but of course you'll need something to clean up the noise.

That said, I really like the first shot; just crop it a little tighter to focus on the action.

That low ceiling must really be good at developing line drive hitters!

Keep posting.

kenyahudson

As others have mentioned an aperture of f/2.8 or wider is essential for indoor sports. However, since you will be going outside you have time to save for a faster lens. So far I've shot three outdoor softball games this year. (This is my first season shooting sports with a SLR.) Here's what I've picked up based on bulletin board messages, chatting with other photographers and trial and error. (I have a Canon, but I think this should all apply to Nikon cameras.)

* Outside you can shoot at ISO 200 or 400 depending on how cloudy a day it is. For late afternoon games (~3-5PM) you may need to bump the ISO up to keep the requisite shutter speeds.
* For autofocus mode use AI Servo or an equivalent that helps you focus on the action.
* Try to maintain a minimum shutter speed of 1/400. However, to catch the ball in flight or specific elements of the swing you should really be above 1/500. If as the sun goes down, you find you can't maintain that shutter speed, bump your ISO up a notch to achieve it. (The images will be noisier, but, it's easier to fix noise than blur.)
* Set your focus point to the center point. (Some suggest the point just north of center assuming portrait mode or just right of center in landscape mode.)
* I shoot in shutter speed mode or in manual mode. Others shoot in aperture mode, but I don't really like the fluctuating shutter speeds.

H e r b

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Just call me dumb, but I was adjusting the ISO to 800-1600 assuming that that would freeze the ball in the air. Apperently this just gives me the noise. Is there a quick and true formula to use for the shutter speed and the ISO?

kenyahudson

H e r b wrote:

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Just call me dumb, but I was adjusting the ISO to 800-1600 assuming that that would freeze the ball in the air. Apperently this just gives me the noise. Is there a quick and true formula to use for the shutter speed and the ISO?

Basically, aperture is the width of the lens opening that receives light. ISO is the speed with which the camera takes in light. (In Understanding Exposure, Peterson refers to it as the number of worker bees performing a task for a set period of time, 200 versus say 1600.) Shutter speed is the amount of time the camera records the frame. If there are multiple motions (or even mirror vibration or camera shake), they produce blur to various degrees. In the case of softball or baseball, slower shutter speeds will produce blur in the swing because the camera is recording several different movements, instead of fewer more precise movements. (Have you ever noticed, how you can get blur in the arm and the bat, but not in the rest of the body? Those were the elements that were moving when the shutter was open.) I hope that explains it. However, Understanding Exposure is a good book to check out or pick up to understand more.

In UE, Peterson claims that a shutter speed of 1/125 is needed to freeze the action of a person walking. Most sports photographers generally suggest shutter speeds of 1/500 or above to freeze action. 1/400 is a push that you can use if shooting indoors. To get shutter speeds that high, you need the camera to bring in more light. That's why people push their ISO to 800 or 1600. (You shouldn't need that outdoors unless it's evening.) That's also why people get lenses with apertures of 2.8 or wider to shoot indoor sports. The wider the aperture the more light a lens can bring in for a given ISO.

Feel free to experiment with this until you feel comfortable using it. Until then, you can try shooting mission-critical assignments in sports mode, which will set most of these things (except ISO) for you. At least for the Canon Digital Rebel XT, shooting in sports mode will automatically transfer you to a .jpeg instead of raw images though.

H e r b

Great explanation.
I also checked out the 2.8 lens and you are right about saving up! BTW great shot of the girl in the air on your softball shots! Thank goodness the indoor season is over and we can finally get outside starting this week. Will be shooting a scrimage of Friday and will post a few to see if I can retain any of your suggestions!
Again thanks to all!
Herb