Please Help!!!

wolfie

I am new to photography and indoor sports in particular. I shot my friend's son's basketball game the other day that was played in a middle school gym. I read up on camera setting suggestions but did not get the results I had hoped for. Where did I go wrong???
canon 30d
iso 1600
wb - fluorescent
set shutter priority at 1/250
av 2.8
lens 70-200 IS canon lens

can these photos be saved? (I only know how to upload one pix)

Thanks

ASkip

wolfie wrote:

I am new to photography and indoor sports in particular. I shot my friend's son's basketball game the other day that was played in a middle school gym. I read up on camera setting suggestions but did not get the results I had hoped for. Where did I go wrong???
canon 30d
iso 1600
wb - fluorescent
set shutter priority at 1/250
av 2.8
lens 70-200 IS canon lens

can these photos be saved? (I only know how to upload one pix)

Thanks

Hi,
I'm just trying out basketball this year too for a friend. and have almost the same settings (but a higher ISO and a color temp around 3000) in Nikon gear. and here's what I've decided... lower your expectations. Parents are happy to see their kids moving; they should give you a big hug and some thanks. Your picture looks pretty good for crummy middle school gym lights. With 3 kids lined up like that, only one's going to be in focus. and at 1/250 something's going to be moving. I USM mine, color correct, and then run them through a noise filter (Noiseware). Then I go outside and take pictures where I'm much happier and try to forget about basketball. hehe.

MJRPHOTO

ASkip wrote:

Hi,
I'm just trying out basketball this year too for a friend. and have almost the same settings (but a higher ISO and a color temp around 3000) in Nikon gear. and here's what I've decided... lower your expectations. Parents are happy to see their kids moving; they should give you a big hug and some thanks. Your picture looks pretty good for crummy middle school gym lights. With 3 kids lined up like that, only one's going to be in focus. and at 1/250 something's going to be moving. I USM mine, color correct, and then run them through a noise filter (Noiseware). Then I go outside and take pictures where I'm much happier and try to forget about basketball. hehe.

I feel the same as the above poster. I did get better photo's this year with the D300 at ISO 3200. I tried to get more light by getting the Nikon 85mm f1.4 but found it is way to slow on the focusing end to be usefull. So I have gone back to my 70-200 f2.8 VR with an SB-800 flash on the D300 at ISO 3200, 1/250 ss and have been getting much better results (I did not say good results). Last year I was using my D200's.
Go here to see some of my latest shots:
http://mjrphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4304633_RFzJT#252288071

wilsonjg

MJRPHOTO wrote:

I feel the same as the above poster. I did get better photo's this year with the D300 at ISO 3200. I tried to get more light by getting the Nikon 85mm f1.4 but found it is way to slow on the focusing end to be usefull. So I have gone back to my 70-200 f2.8 VR with an SB-800 flash on the D300 at ISO 3200, 1/250 ss and have been getting much better results (I did not say good results). Last year I was using my D200's.
Go here to see some of my latest shots:
http://mjrphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4304633_RFzJT#252288071

Can't agree more with the two previous posts.....I'm using almost the exact setup that MJRPHOTO is using - but I use my little kit 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G a lot too .....I am fortunate that the several high schools I shoot for do not mind you shooting with a raw flash (I use my SB800-always pointed at the ceiling with a bounce card or my Whaletail)
Here are what my recent efforts look like...
http://www.photographybyjoeywilson.com/gallery/4275213_mr4Us

zacker

what AF mode did you use? One shot or AI servo? I WOULDNT use one shot, not for sports.. also, it looks as though you just missed focus.. plus, shooting a F2.8 l ike that is gona leave almost no room for focus error.. and dont forget also, move the camera wit the subjects.. youll get it, practice, practice, practice! I have a 30D too so I know it can be done.

davidweaver

The pics are fine.
They need some post-processing tuning.

Take a look at the histogram (RGB) for the image you posted:


Make a small adjustment:


This gets you this image:


Add a bit of sharpening using Unsharpen Mask and you ge this image:


If all your shots are coming out like that then create an action in Photoshop and assign it to a shortcut key. That way you can very quickly correct the images.

Cheers,
David

wolfie

davidweaver wrote:

The pics are fine.
They need some post-processing tuning.

Take a look at the histogram (RGB) for the image you posted:


Make a small adjustment:


This gets you this image:


Add a bit of sharpening using Unsharpen Mask and you ge this image:


If all your shots are coming out like that then create an action in Photoshop and assign it to a shortcut key. That way you can very quickly correct the images.

Cheers,
David

Thank your help! I followed you up until the sharpening... mine didn't look as good. Is there a trick? Thanks again.

cletus

wolfie wrote:

Thank your help! I followed you up until the sharpening... mine didn't look as good. Is there a trick? Thanks again.

We have several good sharpening tutorials here. Have you tried this one
Basic Sharpening???

kini62

I'd move from shutter priority to manual since the lighting is going to be pretty consistant.

Take some test shots, check histogram and adjust as needed.

Set manual WB or shoot in RAW and adjust after.

Also when shooting a high ISOs it's always better to ere on the overexpose end of things. Underexposure leads to more noise.

Get a noise removal program. I like Noiseware.

I don't know what you use to PP with but

PSE 5 and 6 has a nice "adjust sharpening" command that is similar to CS' "smart sharpen" and it works really well.

Keep practicing, have fun.

Gene

davidweaver

wolfie wrote:

Thank your help! I followed you up until the sharpening... mine didn't look as good. Is there a trick? Thanks again.

Play around with different sharpening setting suinti lyou get somethin you like.

Remeber to look at it at size. The final image size.

sportsshooter06

MJRPHOTO wrote:

I feel the same as the above poster. I did get better photo's this year with the D300 at ISO 3200. I tried to get more light by getting the Nikon 85mm f1.4 but found it is way to slow on the focusing end to be usefull. So I have gone back to my 70-200 f2.8 VR with an SB-800 flash on the D300 at ISO 3200, 1/250 ss and have been getting much better results (I did not say good results). Last year I was using my D200's.
Go here to see some of my latest shots:
http://mjrphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4304633_RFzJT#252288071

If you are using a D300, 70-200vr
Were you in shutter or aperture priority, use aperture p and shoot at f2.8
Your shutter speed should be slightly higher.
af-c, ISO 3200, shoot as tight as possible, this will reduce noise.

try this it should help

Grumpy_one

How I learned the importance of sharpening...
My buddy took some team pictures of my daughter’s soccer team. The moms weren’t too impressed. He didn't charge anything and I thought it was a nice gesture (work buddy who has high end camera equip). They said it didn't look professional. So I looked at the photos and learned about sharpening and making photo's "pop". Here is what I learned from Dgrin last year.

one note: I only sharpened the "lightness" channel in lab mode after all the other adjustments were done.

Here is a comparison

illuminati919

Set that lense down to 2.8 and youre highest shutter possible. The 30D should do pretty good at iso 1600. And don't forget to pan with the players, this will save you from the motion blur.

Ak-47

Middle school gym lights are the worst! Don't let them discourage you, but know that they don't get much better at the high school level either. Liek a previous poster said: lower your expectations. He's right. Chances are the images you capture will be 3x better than most people in the stands with a point and shoot. I shoot college, and that is still a challenge. I've recently been shooting the Golden State Warriors.. and guess what my settings are?
ISO 1600, 2.8, 1/500... with my 70-200L on a Mark II. And I still have to run a Noise Reducer.. and that is shooting in a Pro Arena! Haven't tried shooting in RAW, but sounds like a good alternative if you don't mind a ton of post processing!

wolfie

Grumpy_one wrote:

My buddy took some team pictures of my daughter’s soccer team. The moms weren’t too impressed. He didn't charge anything and I thought it was a nice gesture (work buddy who has high end camera equip). They said it didn't look professional. So I looked at the photos and learned about sharpening and making photo's "pop". Here is what I learned from Dgrin last year.

one note: I only sharpened the "lightness" channel in lab mode after all the other adjustments were done.

Here is a comparison

WOW! what a difference!! What program did you use to do post processing?? Are there recommended settings or do you do it by sight?

wolfie

Grumpy_one wrote:

My buddy took some team pictures of my daughter’s soccer team. The moms weren’t too impressed. He didn't charge anything and I thought it was a nice gesture (work buddy who has high end camera equip). They said it didn't look professional. So I looked at the photos and learned about sharpening and making photo's "pop". Here is what I learned from Dgrin last year.

one note: I only sharpened the "lightness" channel in lab mode after all the other adjustments were done.

Here is a comparison

WOW! What a difference! What program are you using for PP. Are there recommended settings or do you do by sight?