NCAA Women's Basketball NIT

Mr. 2H2O

North Carolina State Lady Wolfpack are playing in the NIT and so far games have been at home (Yay!). Seats are easy to come by (unfortunately - should be more people gong out to support a great program). Here's some shots from the game last Thursday against the University of Florida:

1. Look how high she can jump.


2. Cheer squads keeping the crowd pumped up


3. Here's a pic of our only Senior - she's really good!


4. The final score and the lineup - it was great for Wolfpack fans!


Hope you enjoy!

- Mike

gman33

I like the shots...what was your setup like? Strobes, ISO, etc

Thanks

Mr. 2H2O

gman33 wrote:

I like the shots...what was your setup like? Strobes, ISO, etc

Thanks

Thanks Ed.

I used available lighting - they don't have strobes in this colesium. I was shooting ISO800, F3.6, 1/125 ~ 1/200 depending on where the action happened. I set a custom white balance using a white card.

I sharpened (always have to sharpen the output from a Panasonic FZ-50) and on a few pics did a minor adjustment to the overall exposure.

- Mike

johng

Mike,

Since this is a sports forum & not a fan or camera site, I'll comment on these as sports photos.

The biggest issue with the photos is they have way too much dead space in them. Action needs to be framed much tighter. The action in these shots fills abou 15% of the frame and it should fill about 80% That means either getting closer or using different (often expensive) equipment.

Additionally, for the action shots, faces really are important. Expressions really are important. So shooting a player's back is rarely interesting.

Now, I realize you're not a credentialed shooter so you dont have floor access. But I point these things out for you if sports shooting is something you're interested in or for other photographers that have an interest. Location is extremely important for sports shooting.

So for some snapshots to remember the game by these are great shots. But as sports photos those two issues keep these from being more. And please don't misunderstand - I dont intend to be mean spirited. Just to point out that if sports shooting is a goal you've got some hurdles to get past if you want to shoot basketball.

Mr. 2H2O

johng wrote:

Mike,

Since this is a sports forum & not a fan or camera site, I'll comment on these as sports photos.

The biggest issue with the photos is they have way too much dead space in them. Action needs to be framed much tighter. The action in these shots fills abou 15% of the frame and it should fill about 80% That means either getting closer or using different (often expensive) equipment.

Additionally, for the action shots, faces really are important. Expressions really are important. So shooting a player's back is rarely interesting.

Now, I realize you're not a credentialed shooter so you dont have floor access. But I point these things out for you if sports shooting is something you're interested in or for other photographers that have an interest. Location is extremely important for sports shooting.

So for some snapshots to remember the game by these are great shots. But as sports photos those two issues keep these from being more. And please don't misunderstand - I dont intend to be mean spirited. Just to point out that if sports shooting is a goal you've got some hurdles to get past if you want to shoot basketball.

John,
Thanks for your comments - I do receive them as you intended. The next game in the series was this past Sunday afternoon and I tried to do as you described to see if I could but also to see if I enjoy trying to get closer for faces and filling the frame (my lens goes out to 420mm at F3.7). I've also tried shooting MS basketball and early development basketball as well as req. football.
I've learned that doing as you described is quite hard in the sports I've shot and I also learned I really don't enjoy it very much - I'm much more of a documenter than a sports shooter. My fulfillment comes from showing an event to someone to either let them remember being there or let them experience the event via a photo package.
I admire the folks who can do as you describe because its very tough to get clear and clean shots of faces and actions. I marvel at some of the pics I see knowing how difficult it is to capture.
I appreciate you looking and taking time to comment - Thanks!

- Mike