volunteering for some B-Ball shoots...recommendations...

[brit84]

hello,
I have volunteered to shoot some basketball competitions in a month. I have never shot sports before and i am volunterring my time to build my skill and build a portfolio (and get a reference from the university)

My equipment list is in my sig, please give advice as to what to use. I plan on taking my laptop, and downloading pictures at half times from the camera to the computer.

I assume ill be using the 70-200 the most, and hope to try the 10-22. Not sure how the 24-105 will handle indoors.

I have a meeting this week to talk about it with the coordinator, to ill try to get some preliminary pics fo assessment of lighting etc. From past games, other photogs have not used flash so I assume it is not allowed.

thanks for any help!

[cstewart]

Depending on the lighting in your gym, expect to use an ISO of 1600 or 3200 on the 40D as you will want to keep shutter speeds at 1/400 and likley higher. You may want to shoot RAW so that if you need to bump exposure later you can do so with better results than if you shot JPEG only.

Your 70-200 will work well but it may be a bit too tight for in close shots. Conversely your 10-22 may be too wide. I recently shot a BBall Tourney (THREAD HERE (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=629719)) and had good results with my EFS 17-55 lens while under the net. With my 70-200 I usually sat further to the sidelines, however it is great for shooting ball handlers as they move up court.

Get permission from tournament coordinators and refs to be able to sit along the baseline as that is where you will get best shots. Shoot in vertical mode a fair bit as BBall lends itself to this. Get your timing so that you "freeze" ball at the "top" of a dribble (when ball is up on players hand) or at the peak of a jump shot just before release as this is when it is in motion the least and you can get sharp images even at lower shutter speeds.

Use your 6.5 fps mode (although I found I would only take a burst of 2-3 photos before stopping at any time). Watch your white balance. I used Auto in the gym I was in and the results were strangely way too warm. Again this can be corrected in PP afterward so shoot RAW for best flexibility. Or use a custom white balance.

Watch a few Bball games on TV to get a sense of how the play moves and then try and anticipate this when you are shooting. You will find that there are some pretty commonly repeated moves and plays and if you can anticipate these you will get "the shot" more often than not.

Good luck with it! Post some shots here when you are done!

Cheers!

Chris

[cstewart]

One other thing...you don't say if you have the battery pack grip for the 40D. I found this to be a blessing as I was shooting in vertical mode a fair bit and the additional shutter button on the grip ensured my right arm and hand were not continuously contorted. If you don't have one you will likley know what I mean after the first quarter or so!

BTW where in BC are you??

[brit84]

One other thing...you don't say if you have the battery pack grip for the 40D. I found this to be a blessing as I was shooting in vertical mode a fair bit and the additional shutter button on the grip ensured my right arm and hand were not continuously contorted. If you don't have one you will likley know what I mean after the first quarter or so!

BTW where in BC are you??

Hi, thanks for the help!
I do have a grip and plan to get some rechargable AAs for the pack. I havnt updated my sig.

Im in Prince George, unbc is hosting the ccaa nationals.

Do you think i should look for a 50 1.4 or 85 1.8?.

[Mike R]

Hi, thanks for the help!
I do have a grip and plan to get some rechargable AAs for the pack. I havnt updated my sig.

Im in Prince George, unbc is hosting the ccaa nationals.

Do you think i should look for a 50 1.4 or 85 1.8?.

You don't say if your 70-200 is f/4 or 2.8 and since I don't know the lighting conditions you may be up against, I would say that if you can afford it, get the 85 1.8 I use it in a HS gym which has very poor lighting and it preforms great shooting at 2.2 In the US it's under$400.00

[Paul S]

Mike, Does Oxford Have white ceilings in the gym?

Regards, Paul

[Mike R]

Mike, Does Oxford Have white ceilings in the gym?

Regards, Paul

Clean out your messages, I'll PM you.

[brit84]

You don't say if your 70-200 is f/4 or 2.8 and since I don't know the lighting conditions you may be up against, I would say that if you can afford it, get the 85 1.8 I use it in a HS gym which has very poor lighting and it preforms great shooting at 2.2 In the US it's under$400.00

sorry, tis the 2.8.

I will look into the 85 also.

thanks, i get more info tomorrow