Kids Basketball (2nd try)

[pcasciola]

A little better this week but still tough to compensate for the lighting.

20D + 85mm, ISO 1600, f/1.8, available light

#1
http://www.casciola.com/pics/bball_8241.jpg

#2
http://www.casciola.com/pics/bball_8289.jpg

#3
http://www.casciola.com/pics/bball_8295.jpg

#4
http://www.casciola.com/pics/bball_8357.jpg

#5
http://www.casciola.com/pics/bball_8373.jpg

[maderito]

Nice shots! Who would think shooting a bunch of kids having fun is such a challenge?

The young fella with the goggles looks like he has a future on the court; any relation?

[pcasciola]

Nice shots! Who would think shooting a bunch of kids having fun is such a challenge?

The young fella with the goggles looks like he has a future on the court; any relation?

Thanks, maderito.

It's tough because the lighting is horrible and I cannot use any flashes or strobes. The lighting is far worse than it appears in the pics. When I walked into the gym today I almost turned around and brought my camera back to the car. It's still fun though, but frustrating as hell to take 100+ shots and only end up with 20-30 keepers.

That kid with the goggles is not related to me. He is one of the best players in the league, though, and he actually passes the ball more than he shoots which is very unusual for someone that age and with that ability.

[maderito]

Thanks, maderito.
It's still fun though, but frustrating as hell to take 100+ shots and only end up with 20-30 keepers.

A poster on another forum whom I respect a lot talked about 5-10% keepers - he has high standards.

Most shooters don't fess up to their statistics. Here are mine for a 40 minute college game:

300+ shots
100 worth closer review
50-75 actually RAW converted and post-processed
30-40 keepers
5-10 worth sharing on public forums
1-2 signature shots for the game

A shot like this (http://www.pbase.com/maderito/image/39562541) of the team captain makes it a worthwhile day.

It's probably different if you go to a game and just focus on getting shots of certain players without regard to what they're doing on the court. I'm usually focused on the action and I try to remember to also get reaction shots.

[pcasciola]

Most shooters don't fess up to their statistics. Here are mine for a 40 minute college game:

300+ shots
100 worth closer review
50-75 actually RAW converted and post-processed
30-40 keepers
5-10 worth sharing on public forums
1-2 signature shots for the game

A shot like this (http://www.pbase.com/maderito/image/39562541) of the team captain makes it a worthwhile day.
I'm glad you posted those stats.

My actual numbers for this shoot were similar in percentage, but I am not overly picky given the conditions, and I find most of the parents are nowhere near as picky as me. Some shots that I consider barely keepers, they tell me look like Sports Illustrated quality, which is pretty funny.

Yesterday, i had
180 shots
about 50-60 reviewed more closely
35 raw converted
2-3 worth sharing (barely)
1 that was really happy with (#4)

That's a great shot you got there of the team captain. I've yet to get anything like that indoors. That's really good with no additional lighting, and the lighting doesn't look like it's all that great in your gym either, based on the lights I saw in a couple of your shots where I could see them.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Jetmech1]

Very good pictures. I had simlar results while shooting my children playing basketball. The lighting was terrible. Some cames out ok. I shot 2 games and took about 130 pics each game. I deleted more than half and had about 10 each that were good. Can't wait to try again this coming weekend.

Here the link for a few of my pics.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57779

I think I will try to shoot RAW next time around.

[pcasciola]

Thanks Jetmech. I saw your shots last night. Very nice. Your daughter looks like she had a lot of fun. The 85mm f/1.8 is an amazing lens for the price, isn't it?

Definitely try RAW next time. It makes it a lot easier to get the white balance right. During the RAW conversion, you can just pick something that is white or pure gray (shot of a gray card if you have one) to pick up the white balance and it generally works out really well. I use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR 2.4) with Photoshop CS.

[Pugdaddy]

I like the third one best. Super sharp focus with good colors from the scoreboard in the background. Good shooting, Pcas.

[Jetmech1]

Thanks Jetmech. I saw your shots last night. Very nice. Your daughter looks like she had a lot of fun. The 85mm f/1.8 is an amazing lens for the price, isn't it?

Definitely try RAW next time. It makes it a lot easier to get the white balance right. During the RAW conversion, you can just pick something that is white or pure gray (shot of a gray card if you have one) to pick up the white balance and it generally works out really well. I use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR 2.4) with Photoshop CS.

Yes it is a very nice lens for the price. Now I just need more time to play with it.

[gramps]

The lightining is most gyms and arenas is real tough! I shot two games last saturday night, about a total of 80 pictures. It was a good night, I would up with about 10 "keepers". Thank God for RAW!!!!!!

[pcasciola]

Actually, I was at the Meadowland's Arena the other night (where the NJ Nets and Devils play), and I could not believe how good the lighting was there. I would love to shoot there on a regular basis. I was just playing around from the stands with my 300 f/4L, and was getting 1/500th at ISO 3200. Even with an f/2.8 lens I would have been able to shoot ISO 800 or 1600 with ease there.

This is a RAW I converted "As Shot" with white balance adjustment at all. No noise reduction either. I wonder what kind of lights they use there?

http://www.casciola.com/pics/as_shot_8065.jpg

[Hydro]

Great shots. I really liked the second one. A question, though. I wanted to post 3 or 4 pictures of a college softball game, but the the limit seems to be two unless you have a link to another site. Your post didn't have a link, but you were able to embed several shots like others on here. Any help appreciated.

[pcasciola]

I never tried to post images other than linking to my website, but can you just do two consecutive posts with 2 each? I see people do that on other forums sometimes.

BTW, what's an 18-22 kit lens. :D

[Hydro]

Thanks Pcasciola!