My tennis shots...first time.

[phamster]

DOn't be easy on me..

i need cold hard facts of how to improve..

on mono pod
xti
AF on servo
iso 1600
1/4000 speed shutter
F stop @ 6.3 maybe should had it @ 8 or so.. but didn't bother to change
Tamron 18 - 250 lens...(pretty good for this lens i thought)


http://i29.tinypic.com/v33jmx.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/2hp3vy8.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2vdp25c.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/ibazxg.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/243ouuu.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/358o18n.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/2zhlk4k.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/144cg46.jpg

[phamster]

http://i26.tinypic.com/21axzyc.jpg
http://i25.tinypic.com/x0r71h.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/i40ewj.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/o0neah.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/1zgggf6.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/67pnxw.jpg

[folville]

Ok, well the first things that stand out are the color and the exposure. You may want to do a little color correction on these or at least for future reference I'd start with daylight white balance and then move to a custom WB if that doesn't work. As for exposure, I think you ran into some overexposure troubles here; the harsh fact of life is that at this time of day the sun will cast some seriously harsh shadows, so you'll have to sacrifice a lot detail in the shadows in order to prevent blown highlights. Any metering you do off a dark shirt like this will be as much two stops off. Go out with these things in mind and i'm sure you'll get some good shots.

[AdamLewis]

Things to watch

Horizons
Cropping
White Balance
Exposure
Backgrounds

Speaking of backgrounds, why do you think you should have shot at f/8? Sports, especially sports with ugly backgrounds are almost never shot with anything higher than f/4~5.6 at the most. Majority of shooting is normally done at f/2.8~3.5 to help isolate the player from the background. Of course peoples shooting styles may differ, but I personally see no reason to shoot these at f/8 (or really even f/6.3 for that matter).

Timing is good for a start. Keep practicing.

[phamster]

Things to watch

Horizons
Cropping
White Balance
Exposure
Backgrounds

Speaking of backgrounds, why do you think you should have shot at f/8? Sports, especially sports with ugly backgrounds are almost never shot with anything higher than f/4~5.6 at the most. Majority of shooting is normally done at f/2.8~3.5 to help isolate the player from the background. Of course peoples shooting styles may differ, but I personally see no reason to shoot these at f/8 (or really even f/6.3 for that matter).

Timing is good for a start. Keep practicing.


the f stop thinking of 8 was because i was getting over exposure, due to the high amount of light, sunny day, noon.. thinking i needed to close the iris down a little..

going at 1/4000 shutter speed and stilll over exposure, i thought the only solution is to close the iris down to lower the light..

also my tamron lens is the multi purpose 18 - 250 tele photo lens.. so the f stop on that is not constant @ 2.8.. (wishing i can get that lens soon !!!) but with the variable 3.5 to 6.3 tamron do it all lens.. what can you say.. you get what you pay for.. budget.. though 500 bucks for glass is not really budget for me, but to most of you it is.. lol..

some of the cropping i had to do to get the ugly-ness out of the picture.. but it was minimal.

i have to check what my white balance was, totally forgot to set that correctly i think.. thanks !!!

well i need to pratice some more.. (both - my forehand and photography!!!) i was one of the 3 players above..

[Seqsea]

Lowering the ISO to 100 should help get correct exposure at a lower aperture. No reason to be at 400 in bright sunlight if you don't need the extra speed.

[folville]

Lowering the ISO to 100 should help get correct exposure at a lower aperture. No reason to be at 400 in bright sunlight if you don't need the extra speed.

Ditto! I think that once you get past the proper exposure you can really start to think about adding creative elements in other ways (better framing, subject isolation, etc, etc).

To really get the thinnest depth of field at a small aperture like f/6.3 or f/8 you'll have to zoom in as far as possible (which, in tennis will make you step back quite a bit), but there is really only so much that you can do with technical limitations like that.

[phamster]

i will do these adjustments on the next shot session,

first
set my sunlight film style to iso 100
then make sure my W.B. is set to sunlight.. - i think on these i had it for indoors..

thanks for all of your input..

phamster

[Ben Daniels]

Looking at the EXIF the OP was using 1600 ISO in bright sunlight!
Lower to 100 or 200 ISO.If it clouds over, use 400ISO. Darker still up to 800ISO. Never 1600 in bright sun.

[phamster]

Looking at the EXIF the OP was using 1600 ISO in bright sunlight!
Lower to 100 or 200 ISO.If it clouds over, use 400ISO. Darker still up to 800ISO. Never 1600 in bright sun.

what can i say, i thought i had it set to 400, but now looking at it 1600 makes sense.. because before we played tennis i was inside and shot some pictures and i bumped to 1600.. then forgot to set it back before shooting.. also the W.B. was set to indoors too..

see total beginner.. lol..

phamster

[Galaxy99]

saw a few back focus on the fence.

[jpwone]

rotate the camera on the monopod and use portrait orientation. You will fill the frame with the player and not the background and get their legs in the shot.

[T2000]

f/8? Try f/2.8.

Shoot vertical. And tighter. The fence doesn't help the shot.

www.proTennisPhotos.com

[phamster]

T2000,

your stuff is simply amazing.. top notch stuff..

i am guessing all your shots are 300 prime lens? like a true pro...

thanks..i am going to shot vertical from now on.. i know what you mean now..

phamster

[T2000]

Thank you.

Primarly 70-200/2.8 and 300/2.8, occassionally some other lenses.

[mtnphtgrphr]

Someone mentioned cropping but I'll mention specifically not cutting off the rackets... As a person who has in the past played competitive tennis, and enjoys tennis as a sport... I would like to see the entire racket. This comes from a player perspective not a photographer perspective... I've never attempted shoot tennis, so I have no experience on that end...