Friday night and 3200 iso Football

[hawk911]

I know I need NN or NI to fix the grain, but is my composition better? I used a monopod this time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/wiwildwood/IMG_2099.jpg

[IODebbie]

I have a feeling that others, such a Dennis, will elect for an even tighter crop than I (when I shoot high school football, I'm shooting for both the players and their families so I try to get as many kids in the shot as possible). I cropped out a lot of the empty space (including the foot), straightened the horizon (there are always lots of level lines in the background at high school fields [such as tracks, fences, goal posts, etc.] so it really is obvious if your shot is not straight), blurred the background where it was really grainy, brightened and boosted the contrast a little, burned the runner's face just a tad and adjusted the white balance by adding just a touch of blue. This is what I came up with:
http://photos.imageevent.com/pokemom/photoshoots/photographicexcursions2/IMG_2099.jpg

I find that no matter how hard I try, I'm always doing a significant amount of PP on night football shots.

[hawk911]

did I do better on this one?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/wiwildwood/IMG_8646.jpg

[IODebbie]

I do like the composition on that one. Unfortunately, there is so much noise, it's really hard to evaluate it technically. I've never shot 3200 ISO, so I don't know what to expect with that setting. Can you please post the full EXIF data for the shot?

Again, PP can clean it up quite a bit:
http://photos.imageevent.com/pokemom/photoshoots/photographicexcursions2/IMG_8646.jpg

Did you try shooting at 1600 ISO?

[hawk911]

what are you doing to it to clean it up? And 1600 was underexposed even more.

Tv=1/320, Av=f2.8, ISO=3200, shot @ 146mm. Exif is all preserved if you have a plugin for the browser.

[hawk911]

and another shot; when they were running right at me. I had to run to get out of the way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/wiwildwood/IMG_8606.jpg

[IODebbie]

I am blurring the background (where you can really see the gaininess), increasing the contrast and brightness just a bit, despeckling and a slight white balance adjustment.

You might try dropping your shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/200 and putting the ISO at 1600. It could just be that the stadium is just too dark to get decent shots no matter what you do.

[hawk911]

I am blurring the background (where you can really see the gaininess), increasing the contrast and brightness just a bit, despeckling and a slight white balance adjustment.

You might try dropping your shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/200 and putting the ISO at 1600. It could just be that the stadium is just too dark to get decent shots no matter what you do.

What program are you using, and how did you adjust WB? I've tried with color curves, and just can't get it right.

[mutiny5050]

there is only 1 program, we here at Photography on the net are not allowed to talk about any other. Photoshop CS3, or cs2

[IODebbie]

I edit with Photo Impact - it's really just something you develop an eye for (I shot Pop Warner for 3 years and now this is my second year of high school - freshmen and varsity). I tried to adjust the last photo you posted and I can't get it right.

The best thing to do is to try and get your white balance right when you are shooting. Auto white balance generally will not work on the high school fields and I haven't found one of the pre-set settings that works well. I suggest that you head out onto the field before the game and have someone hold a white or gray card - take a picture of it filling the screen (you may have to shoot on manual) and then set your white balance using that shot. I've also heard that holding a white coffee filter over the lens, pointing at the stadium lights and taking the shot in manual is a good way to get your shot to set the white balance. If you can't get it right when you shoot, then PP is the next best thing.

I usually make all of my other adjustments first since it seems like sometimes lightening the shot or adjusting the contrast will change what I perceive the color balance to be. When I do adjust the color, I make a big adjustment to make sure I'm headed in the right direction, then I reset and add the corrective color little by little until it looks right to me.

If the shot looks to yellow, add blue (and vice versa).
If the shot looks to green, add red (and vice versa).

[hawk911]

Thanks again. I'm glad I asked, because I use PE5.0, until I can afford CS3.

[hawk911]

I downloaded NeatImage trial, and here's the same original shot; no cropping.

Before:

[hawk911]

and after:

[hawk911]

Diver, or Dennis- care to comment?

[superdiver]

1)I would corp ALOT tighter...I would try and single out the main players. The players are separated too much for me...not that thats the "right way" to do it, just the way I would do it.

2)they really seem dark, I understand your conditions and dont know that you will be able to do better giving your conditions.

3)they are noisy enough that when ran thorugh NI they appear plastic.

What I would do is try it in Av mode, see what you get, maybe even move the ec to the right 1/3 or 2/3 to lighten it up. If you have to darken it it wont hurt the picture at all. I just dont know if you will have the light for it...

You got under their masks, but the light just wasnt there...I imagine you would have to go to faster glass or a flash...

[hawk911]

faster than F2.8 at 200-300? I don't believe it exists, does it? I will try flash again next time, just not as high as I had it before. Feel free to show me the crop, even if it pixelates. I need to understand how others see the images, or would like to see them.

Also, doesn't the crop kind of depend on the intended purpose of the image?

[superdiver]

faster than F2.8 at 200-300? I don't believe it exists, does it? I will try flash again next time, just not as high as I had it before. Feel free to show me the crop, even if it pixelates. I need to understand how others see the images, or would like to see them.

Also, doesn't the crop kind of depend on the intended purpose of the image?


Well, there is always the 200 1.8 (if you can find one and come up with the cash....LOL...but that was my point, you really are running out of options for this little light...

And you are also right about the crop interpreting what is meant in the shot...I guess what I was saying is that I dont like that the shot was saying to me, seemed confused. Like I always say, this photog stuff is SOOO subjective....LOL

[Mortgage101]

There is a white piece of glas I put over my lens to set custom WB when I shoot wierd situations. I can't remember who made it but essentially point in the direction you will be shooting. Shoot through this white lens cap. set it as your custom WB and problem solved.

[superdiver]

I believe its called Expodisk...

[joegolf68]

Fine shots. the second one has a nice comp to it, IMHO. At 3200 ISO I think they are very impressive indeed!

[gromeo]

Hawk, I feel your pain, HS football is tough since most schools seldom have good lighting as most of the HS I shoot at I use iso 3200. Here is my take on this photo, I tend to crop really tight and focus on the player, since one of the players is out of the play and mostly back ground (#44) and #52 is close but is still mostly back ground, I made the crop to focus mainly on the runner.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z52/guzmanphoto/IMG_8646-1.jpg

[hawk911]

Interesting takes, all of them, on a subjective subject. I like the crop, and if I was selling the shot to the QB's parents, they would like it. If I'm selling to #52's parents because he was tracking the QB, I've just cut the sale.

There was a comment earlier on NR and looking plastic. I've never played with NR before, so it's VERY likely I overdid it. I have a gray card, so next time I'll shoot that for a custom WB.