Sorry, more basketball :-(

Steve Cavigliano · January 27, 2005

Hello all,
OK, I know I have probably posted too many B-ball shots and you're all pretty sick of them by now. But, I have gotten lots of useful feedback from the group, regarding my previous B-ball pics, which I think have really helped the "viewability" of my shots. For this I thank you :clap

If I could ask you to induldge me one more time

Because of the soduim vapor lighting, I am having color issues with my images. I use Custom WB and have tried RAW adjustments and jpg level adjustments. Still, my images seem to be too yellow :uhoh

Last night, I was pretty fed up and figured WTH, I'm going to do a Custom WB and shoot jpg only. RAW doesn't seem to be helping much, so why waste my time with it?

Anyhow, these are jpgs, from last night, with white dropper levels and white and black dropper curves and I lowered the mid and shadow yellow color balance (more blue). I also had to use selective color-White, on some of them, to get the yellow out of the white uniforms.

Are these results any better?

I'd appreciate any input on the post processing done. Any other comments would be gravy

Thanks in advance. This is really bugging me and I can't seem to get over this hump :scratch

Thanks for looking,
Steve

gus · January 27, 2005

No advise from me other than keep doing it steve...they are sharp.

This wasnt with the Bigma was it ?

Nir · January 27, 2005

Hey Steve!

I'm not even going to try dealing with the post processing - going to leave that to the pros. I usually just play around until I'm satisfied (or not). The photos look great to me!
But hey, you said you were learning from the feedback here! Where are the cheerleaders?! :uhoh

Harryb · January 27, 2005

More B-ball shots! :puke1 You're almost as bad as me.

Seriously. the shots are ok. The first one is outstanding. Your post work is on the mark, just keep doing what you are doing.

I like the first shot best because the players aren't lost in the background like the follwoing shots. Have you tried shooting with less dof?

Harry

Steve Cavigliano · January 27, 2005

Humungus wrote:

No advise from me other than keep doing it steve...they are sharp.

This wasnt with the Bigma was it ?

Thanks Gus

No, this wasn't the Bigma. This is fastttttttt glass territory. Even F2.8 lenses won't get the speed you need in this poor lighting. I was using the Canon 85mm F1.8. I used an F2.2 aperture, 1/500 speed, ISO1600 and still wound up under exposing by about 1/3-1/2 stop, on most of them.

These are basically Parameter 1 jpgs tweaked with levels and/or curves.

Thanks for looking,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · January 27, 2005

Nir wrote:

Hey Steve!

I'm not even going to try dealing with the post processing - going to leave that to the pros. I usually just play around until I'm satisfied (or not). The photos look great to me!
But hey, you said you were learning from the feedback here! Where are the cheerleaders?! :uhoh

Thanks Nir

Yeah, post processing can be an art form and I'm definitely no artist....lol I do the same as you, but I have a real bad eye (I think it's the right one...lol) for skintones and color. As long as the color is in the ballpark, I'm OK with it. But, I'm trying to get these shots to look as good as possible for the players and their families.
I think they're getting better, but then again what do I know? :lol

No cheerleaders either :cry That's OK too. With my luck, they'd be male

Thanks for looking,
Steve

pathfinder · January 27, 2005

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Hello all,
OK, I know I have probably posted too many B-ball shots and you're all pretty sick of them by now. But, I have gotten lots of useful feedback from the group, regarding my previous B-ball pics, which I think have really helped the "viewability" of my shots. For this I thank you

If I could ask you to induldge me one more time

Because of the soduim vapor lighting, I am having color issues with my images. I use Custom WB and have tried RAW adjustments and jpg level adjustments. Still, my images seem to be too yellow :uhoh

Last night, I was pretty fed up and figured WTH, I'm going to do a Custom WB and shoot jpg only. RAW doesn't seem to be helping much, so why waste my time with it?

Anyhow, these are jpgs, from last night, with white dropper levels and white and black dropper curves and I lowered the mid and shadow yellow color balance (more blue). I also had to use selective color-White, on some of them, to get the yellow out of the white uniforms.

Are these results any better?

I'd appreciate any input on the post processing done. Any other comments would be gravy

Thanks in advance. This is really bugging me and I can't seem to get over this hump

Thanks for looking,
Steve

I think you ARE over the hump. Steve. The whites are white, the blacks are black, and the skin tones look pretty good. For shooting available light under sodium lights this is as good as I've seen. Very well done!

Steve Cavigliano · January 27, 2005

Harryb wrote:

More B-ball shots! :puke1 You're almost as bad as me.

Seriously. the shots are ok. The first one is outstanding. Your post work is on the mark, just keep doing what you are doing.

I like the first shot best because the players aren't lost in the background like the follwoing shots. Have you tried shooting with less dof?

Harry

Harry, and you probably thought I was going to post an egret :lol4 I'm pretty limited and predictable. Birds, B-ball and the occassional surf shot....lol At least you'll never have to worry about posting to any "Steve C won a KPOTD" threads

Thanks for the nice comments

Yeah, this DOF stuff is tough :uhoh The only way I can get shallower, with the 85mm and it's 136mm FOV, is to be so close, that all I get is head and shoulders. Great for portraits, but not too good for basketball. Especially, since just about all the players are huge....lol

This is about the best DOF I can get and still get enough player in the frame, for the pic to make sense.

I think I'm going to invest the $80 and give the 50mm F1.8 Mk II a try. It's 80mm FOV, might help me get a blurier BG and yet still be able to get the entire player in the frame

Thanks for looking,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · January 27, 2005

pathfinder wrote:

I think you ARE over the hump. Steve. The whites are white, the blacks are black, and the skin tones look pretty good. For shooting available light under sodium lights this is as good as I've seen. Very well done!

PF,
Thank you and that's really good news

Now all I have to do is go back and reprocess 100 images

At least this time I'll have a clue.....lol

Thanks again for all the assistance. It is very much appreciated

Steve

Ann McRae · January 27, 2005

Hey Steve - they do seem to have lost some golden glow.

I also get color shifts, far less frequently when I do a custom wb than before. Sometimes I can correct and sometimes i just kinda say WTH and leave 'em. I do not think there is any really good way around this prblem - those lights are just evil!

Good stuff - keep 'em coming!

ann

Steve Cavigliano · January 27, 2005

Ann McRae wrote:

Hey Steve - they do seem to have lost some golden glow.

I also get color shifts, far less frequently when I do a custom wb than before. Sometimes I can correct and sometimes i just kinda say WTH and leave 'em. I do not think there is any really good way around this prblem - those lights are just evil!

Good stuff - keep 'em coming!

ann

Thank you Ann

The coach really like the pics (he has a bad eye for color too.....

) so much so that he now lets me roam the floor. Both sides. So this time I was able to get the crowd, such as it was, into the shot as BG. Instead of the usual wall of rolled up bleachers and the players benches. I thought it was kind of kewl change and added lots of color. But, as Harry points out, the crowd can be a distraction and the players do tend to blend into it

Oh well, only a few more weeks of the season left (then the championships

). I sure hope Spring baseball shoots aren't as tough as this

Thanks for looking,
Steve

ian408 · January 28, 2005

Steve,

I think the color isn't bad at all. Nice action, especially under the
net.

Ian

Steve Cavigliano · January 28, 2005

ian408 wrote:

Steve,

I think the color isn't bad at all. Nice action, especially under the
net.

Ian

Thanks Ian

I'm really liking the advice you guys gave about getting tight and under the basket. I like the results better than those shots where I tried to get too many people, or too much action into the frame

Now I just wish it would stop raining so I could do some outdoor shooting with good old sunlight

Thanks for looking and for your comments,
Steve

Sorry, more basketball :-(

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