USU vs. UCSB Men's Bball

gregneil

Here's some shots from my brother's latest game. (USU won by 30, shot 71% from the floor, at UCSB. They put on quite a clinic.) This time around I used white balance, and limited my post to using curves, USM, and noise ninja... Any criticism is welcome! Thanks for looking.

All shot with Canon DRebel 135 F2.0/L Shutter Priority 1/500 ISO 1600

Steve Cavigliano

Nice work Greg!!
Nice color and they are nice and sharp. Good job


The only thing I noticed, in just the first 3 shots, is that the Caucasian skintones of the player closest to the camera looks a bit yellow and the skintone of the Caucasian player right behind him looks perfect I don't know what causes this, but I see it in my pics sometimes too. :uhoh Maybe, it's the difference between shadowed and full ceiling light?

I think you did very well and I'm glad you got to see your Bro's team kick butt

Thanks for sharing,
Steve

gregneil

The only thing I noticed, in just the first 3 shots, is that the Caucasian skintones of the player closest to the camera looks a bit yellow and the skintone of the Caucasian player right behind him looks perfect

Wow, you're right. That's interesting. I wonder if maybe I lightened things a bit too much. I've had a tendency to do that lately. I'm going to keep blaming my monitor until I get the cash to buy myself a new system... then I'll have to find something else to blame it on. Thanks for taking the time to look and comment.

Angelo

I think these are great. Good color, lots of action, creative framing. And I don't see a problem with skin tones. Everyone has different pigmentation which reflects light differently. Look closely and see very natural variations in tone.

Based on your EXIF I'm assuming no flash was used? (Would've been distracting to players?)

winger

Can I say WOW, what an improvement from the first bunch you posted. Great experessions on the faces and nice job on the dunk.

Where were you sitting and standing for that. I think I figured out how to capture action in the paint for men (and looking at new creative ways) but I still struggle with the permitier game, and getting dunks to look a little better (althought sometimes they do look cool from the floor).
But with hoops it seems everywhere i go the background is just cluttereed as hell.

And then womens hoops is a whole new ballgame.

gregneil

Thanks for all the feedback! This was my fourth game, so I've had a few games to improve since the first one I shot. I always get to sit behind Utah State's bench, because my brother gets me in on the guest list. I'd love to try sitting underneath the basket, but don't have a press pass. I only have one lens that's adequate, a 135 prime, so I just shoot with it and hope something turns up. This last game my seats were in the second row behind the bench, which I prefer to the other games I shot where I was 5 or 6 rows up. I only wish on that dunk shot that his arm wasn't blocking his face.

No flash was used. They had strobes in the building, and someone was using them, but they only went off a few times during the game.

My biggest issue is focus. I think that's probably more to do with the camera than anything else. I have a real hard time capturing any moving action at all because the DOF is so shallow, and the moment the player moves, he's no longer in focus. I applied the firmware hack so that I can set the autofocus on my DRebel to One Shot, which has helped, and I'm using a set focus point in the upper third of the frame when in portrait mode.

Well, hopefully I'll get good seats to the Big West tournament, which is the next time I'll be able to hit a game. And hopefully my brother will bust out for some crazy offense so I can get him in action! The games I've gone to he's been pretty quiet - effective, but not much scoring...

Thanks again for the feedback

winger

gregneil wrote:

My biggest issue is focus. I think that's probably more to do with the camera than anything else. I have a real hard time capturing any moving action at all because the DOF is so shallow, and the moment the player moves, he's no longer in focus. I applied the firmware hack so that I can set the autofocus on my DRebel to One Shot, which has helped, and I'm using a set focus point in the upper third of the frame when in portrait mode.

Yeah I find my camera really struggles with tracking players when they are out on the permitier and I am shooting from the floor. If they are coming toward me they are fine, and I have no problem shooting the paint. But I really struggle with the 3's and some of the dunks (when I am shooting from the far corner of the floor)

Steve Cavigliano

gregneil wrote:

My biggest issue is focus. I think that's probably more to do with the camera than anything else. I have a real hard time capturing any moving action at all because the DOF is so shallow, and the moment the player moves, he's no longer in focus. I applied the firmware hack so that I can set the autofocus on my DRebel to One Shot, which has helped, and I'm using a set focus point in the upper third of the frame when in portrait mode.

Greg,
Same here. I half press so much, my shutter finger needs to be iced down after shooting a game :lol Also, the 1st shot in a burst is normally soft, so I have to make sure to start releasing the shutter BEFORE the action, to make sure I get that sharp shot when the action does occur.

It's a tough sport to shoot. As Karen mentioned, really good improvement on your part Enjoy shooting under that Division I lighting

Steve

gregneil

Same here. I half press so much, my shutter finger needs to be iced down after shooting a game Also, the 1st shot in a burst is normally soft, so I have to make sure to start releasing the shutter BEFORE the action, to make sure I get that sharp shot when the action does occur.

Ah, yes, the constant half press, release, half press, release method. Glad I'm not the only one dealing with finger blisters! Like Ringo said, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"

Steve and Karen, does the D20 refocus on the action in-between shots in burst mode? The Rebel definitely can't do it, and if the D20 does, well, that may be my deciding factor on upgrading... For some reason I thought that feature was only available on the 1D line.