First time shooting tennis

[sethmo]

Got my rental Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 today, went to the local hs to shoot some tennis just to get used to the lens. I think I should have used a faster shutter speed on all of these, but some of them turned ok. I think they are all a bit soft. Tips, critique, anything to help me improve? Thanks!

1.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/sethmo38/Sports/IMG_2288.jpg

2.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/sethmo38/Sports/IMG_2287.jpg

3.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/sethmo38/Sports/IMG_2280.jpg

4.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/sethmo38/Sports/IMG_2289.jpg

5.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/sethmo38/Sports/IMG_2282.jpg

6.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/sethmo38/Sports/IMG_2234.jpg

[mizouse]

you might want to try shooting different types of shots, not just the serves.

mustve been quite dark to be at iso800. and yes i wouldve tried to get a higher shutter speed.

[sethmo]

Yeah it was very overcast, had to get up to ISO 800 and f/2.8 just to keep the exposure right. I tried getting returns, but none of them really worked out. Will definitely try more next time.

[dslrsavior]

i like #5, but I'm no expert on specifics

[Aaagogo]

IMHO, go tighter, and it's a common problem with lower level tennis, multiple matches go on at the same time,

i suggest trying to find the angle to isloate only 1 court, shot further back down or go in tight. I feel that it makes the image cleaner.

[sethmo]

Yeah, I guess I was trying to get the players entire body in the frame, which didnt work out the best. Will try your guys' suggestions next time.

I was sitting in the top row of the bleachers, I think next time I will sit ground level a few feet back from the net pole. Will try the 24-70mm f2.8 too.

[Aaagogo]

the 24-70 is too wide i think, I had mine with me today, and I barely used it.

however, I think it would be nice to be able to use the 24-70 to shot the entire length of the tennis court, from up high.

I'm starting to realize that many beginner sports shooters, including myself always wants to try to include the ball... but I've and am slowly changing my opinion of getting the ball in the image. While capturing the ball is nice, but more often than not, the image becomes loose... IMO, so now, I want more of facial expressions and action shots, rather than ball shots.

[dmwierz]

I'm starting to realize that many beginner sports shooters, including myself always wants to try to include the ball... but I've and am slowly changing my opinion of getting the ball in the image. While capturing the ball is nice, but more often than not, the image becomes loose... IMO, so now, I want more of facial expressions and action shots, rather than ball shots.

Getting the ball in frame and being loose do not necessarily go hand in hand and you can get facial expressions AND the ball if your timing is good. Here are some samples (only to illustrate my points):

http://www.pbase.com/dmwierz45/image/76521368.jpg

and

http://www.pbase.com/dmwierz45/image/76382398.jpg

and even:

http://www.pbase.com/dmwierz45/image/76122258.jpg

And here's a little looser one from across the net, shooting into the far court:

http://www.pbase.com/dmwierz45/image/76452435.jpg

And I have a ton more just like these - all tight and all with ball.

Catching the ball in frame is all about timing and practice. Shooting loose will increase the odds if your timing is not good, but it will end up with a shot that is way too loose. Shoot tight and with both eyes open and time the shot. You want to be right in the grill with your images.

The shots above were all taken at the highest of pro level, with a 400mm lens, shot from within 5 feet of the court. I have used the 70-200 from courtside, but most of the time I end up zoomed all the way in at 200mm.

For the most part, you want shots of players' faces; not the sides. Yeah, the ball isn't required, but it IS a nice thing to have for action shots.

Some follow through shots won't have the ball in frame:

http://www.pbase.com/image/95801598.jpg

And then there are the jube shots like this:

http://www.pbase.com/dmwierz45/image/76071030.jpg

But in both of these, you want again to be tight on the emotion and facial expression of the player.

Rarely will serves yield compelling images, especially when shot from the side. Get as low as possible to clean up the backgrounds.:

http://www.pbase.com/image/95801379.jpg

And, you're specifically NOT supposed to fire the shutter until AFTER the ball toss.

On serves, sometimes it's best to shoot from behind the end line to get the player's face - even bring a ladder to get above the fence at the back of the court:

http://www.pbase.com/dmwierz45/image/76562173.jpg

And I don't even know what shot number 5 is all about. It almost looks like a frame where you accidentally hit the shutter.

Your shots are OK. The shots other than number 5 show good timing, but are a little soft IMO. Might be due to low shutter speed and might be due to bad AF. Since you didn't post your EXIF, I'm not sure where your shutter speeds were. Here's what I was able to pull off one of your images: Lens Focal Length (mm): 70; ISO: 800; Aperture: 2.8; Shutter: 1/400. Bump your ISO to 1600 which would get your shutter speed up to 1/800s. Yeah, you'll get a little more noise, but this will increase the sharpness of your images. Deal with the noise in post processing.

Also, unless you're shooting a forehand return from across the net, or a few other isolated situations, I'd suggest shooting vertical and not horizontal.

Hope this helps.

[sethmo]

That helps a ton, much appriciated. Definitely have a lot more to try next go around. What metering mode usually works best, center weight? I know to use AI Servo for sports. Thanks again.

[Aaagogo]

i understand Dennis what you said, btw, I sent you a PM.

I'm not challenging you or anything, but I've realised that while this is a forum to learn and share, alot of members strive to get the ball on impact shot, and in the midst of being so happy on getting that ball on impact shot, the other factors are lost.

shooting tight is what I'm in the midst of learning, alot of beginners, including myself like to shot loose. When I first started, it just seems easier, LOL

It takes a lot of practise to capture what Dennis has captured, something similar to a member's post where he broke down the odds of capturing the baseball bat hitting the ball, it's the same when you go in tight, the odds of capturing a good shot falls exponentially. not only the odds of getting a good shot drops, tracking becomes more difficult and framing becomes even harder.

I shot this yesterday, this was from studying of images posted here, Dennis' included.

This was full out at 200mm and i just missed the focus by a hair... and it's as shot, uncropped

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1888/img56091ox5.jpg

[Angry Dad]

Holy Crap Dennis. Im speechless. Those are such great photos.

[mizouse]

wow, nice shots.

and yea, i never did find pictures of serves to be that interesting.

anyways here are a few of mine i took recently

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/mizouse/47sportsucrvscalpolyMtennis02Joe_Ca.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/mizouse/47sportsucrvscalpolyMtennis01Quoc_D.jpg