first basketball game of the season DII

i think i shot a pretty good game tonight. had about 70 total keepers not all action shots some where cheerleaders and fans

here are a few samples of the action though

1.

and an angry coach shot

#5 is really good, like the lines. #4 is backfocused. An angry coach is always good but his feet are cut off and there's a ton of room at the top of the photo.

thanks for the feedback.i already knew about the backfocus in #4 (was taken with the sigma 30 which isnt a top notch sports lens) and im aware of the feet in the coach shot, didnt have time to carefully frame it since its sports. ill crop it a little later to remove the extra headroom.

thanks again

These shots look great. I like number 5 the best. I've been asked by the AD at our local high school to take pictures of the boys basketball team this year. Any advice? I'm shooting a T1i with a Sigma 70-200 2.8.

thanks. #5 seems to be a winner on facebook too lol.

my only advice is pray for consistent lighting lol. other than that. you really only need 1/500 to freeze the action and it is possible to get away with 1/400 but i really dont like going under 500 because at the games i shoot it has too much motion blur. also i move around a lot because not every player is right handed. i usually shoot from the entire baseline but i stay in the corner a lot or directly under the basket. you can sit under the basket and get close to the baseline with probably your 50 1.8 and get some nice shots assuming none of the players you shoot are insanely tall. i have to use my 30 1.4 for the mens game when sitting on the floor under the hoop but the womens game i can shoot my 50 1.8

I'll have to try using my 50 1.8. Hopefully it can focus fast enough. Thank you.

Brian:

Curious about your settings. Did you set TV mode and 1/500 on the shutter and let the camera choose f/number? Some of the backgrounds (images 2-5) appear way too much in focus based on the action, distance from your lens and distance from lens to BG.

My experience shooting ambient light basketball, (even at the HS level) is to set aperture to f/2, shutter at 1/640 and simply raise ISO setting until good exposure is achieved.

Your shots represent really good action, but they're not nearly as sharp as they should be. It could be motion blur, but most look like focus was missed. Were you using the 30mm f/1.4 you mentioned? The 'go-to' lenses for this style of shooting are 85 f/1.8 and the bit wider 50mm f/1.4. HS kids are 95% the size of college guys and these two lenses work great!

dave

yea im limited to what i can use based on space. i dont have enough room to shoot 85mm on a crop camera so i have to make do with what i have. the sigma 30 is not good for sports since it does not work quickly in servo mode and missed focus a little but not enough to ruin my shots. these are not for sports illustrated so i dont need them to be tack sharp.

motion blur is an issue as well. i dont shoot under the best conditions to get good sharp action. but for what i have im doing well

i shoot in manual mode: ISO 2500-3200 f2 or f2.8 at 1/500 with my sigma 30 or a 70-200

Brian - nice shots, especially good considering the limitations that you mentioned. It's great to see a photographer adapt to the gear you own. It speaks to your ability as a photographer.

mrwilt wrote in post #13402531
I'll have to try using my 50 1.8. Hopefully it can focus fast enough. Thank you.

mrwilt, I don't want to rain on your parade, but the 50 1.8 is notorious for slow focusing in the best of circumstances, but when used in lighting situations where higher ISO is required, it's pretty much unusable. If you can get $350 or so budgeted, I would recommend going with the 85mm 1.8, even on your cropped camera body. move to the corners of the base line & get some good shots from there. You'll have a lot better chance of getting keepers that way than with your nifty fifty.

I'm fortunate in that our court is very well lit. You can get away with 1/640 but feet or the ball can still be a bit blurry if they're in motion. I like to stay at 1/800 and above, and I understand that this isn't possible for everyone, depending on lighting, etc. With the 7D, I'm generally right at 1600 or 2000 iso and 1/800 to 1/1000. Here are a few from last night.

3074 x 5184

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3456 x 3926

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2722 x 2723

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those are nice. when i shoot with the 70-200 on my court i can get 1/500 2.8 ISO 3200 which has a lot of noise but not enough to ruin a shot after a little noise reduction in PP

when i shoot with my 30 at f2 i get 1/500 ISO 2500 which gets a much cleaner shot.

thanks for the comments guys. i have this feeling like in the situation i shoot in on my court, a full frame camera would actually benefit but is not necessary of course.

Yeah, full frame would make a huge difference. Even if you're not as tight, you have the ability to crop and not be punished as much like on a crop sensor camera. Here's a good example of what full frame can do for you. Original photo and cropped photo. You just can't retain that level of detail on a crop sensor camera because the information simply isn't there digitally to begin with. Sports photography is hard enough as it is, shooting loose and having the ability to crop is essential in many instances.

2796 x 3906

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1674 x 1891

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yea would be nice. pretty much the only affordable FF that i can buy new is the 5DmkII which really doesnt hold up well for sports against my 7D other than better high ISO performance. a mkIV would be nice if it was affordable lol

wait until the 1DX comes out and used Mark IV's will drop in price.