First go at Basketball, C&C wanted

This is from my first assignment as I just started with our school paper, I shoot a lot of other sports but have never tried basketball. All of these were shot with a 60D and 18-135 kit lens and while I had to crank the ISO up and shoot at f/5.6, I think they came out pretty good.

Thanks for looking

1)

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Good stuff ... and one in the paper?!!! Must be REALLY good stuff. Great action shots.

Exposures and WB look great. The look a tad heavy on the contrast for my taste. Plus, watch your horizons. Shots 4-6 have serious downward left tilt. Looks like they all tilt that way as a matter of fact but 4-6 are way unlevel. Once your eye becomes trained to see this, you'll correct it with better camera technique and fix the oddball one or 2 in post processing.

Also during processing it's usually good to lighten some of the shadows as one team is always in a very dark color. I try my best to expose for the white jerseys just to the point of seeing the blinkies on the screen, then try to recover the dark stuff in post. Seems to make for a better color balance on the finished shots.

Good luck and keep getting those good 'action' shots!

dave

snyderman wrote in post #13445200
Good stuff ... and one in the paper?!!! Must be REALLY good stuff. Great action shots.

Exposures and WB look great. The look a tad heavy on the contrast for my taste. Plus, watch your horizons. Shots 4-6 have serious downward left tilt. Looks like they all tilt that way as a matter of fact but 4-6 are way unlevel. Once your eye becomes trained to see this, you'll correct it with better camera technique and fix the oddball one or 2 in post processing.

Also during processing it's usually good to lighten some of the shadows as one team is always in a very dark color. I try my best to expose for the white jerseys just to the point of seeing the blinkies on the screen, then try to recover the dark stuff in post. Seems to make for a better color balance on the finished shots.

Good luck and keep getting those good 'action' shots!

dave

Good tips, and yes I wasn't sure about basketball horizons as much as I am with my hockey and football stuff so was difficult for me to figure out how to edit these but I definitely see what you are saying.

Thank you very much for the help and C&C!

What ISO and shutter speed did you use?

Published congrats

I actually thought the one that was published was the worst one LOL. No face means no publish but maybe it was the only one you had of him. Good stuff for first time and like has already been said, horizon needs to be straightened out a bit in the last few.

Travelingman wrote in post #13445291
What ISO and shutter speed did you use?

If you click them and go to my flickr all the EXIF info is intact for you to see but I believe they were all shot around ISO 4000 and 1/500 shutter speed

NY Irish wrote in post #13445321
Published congrats

Thank you!

elrey2375 wrote in post #13446549
I actually thought the one that was published was the worst one LOL. No face means no publish but maybe it was the only one you had of him. Good stuff for first time and like has already been said, horizon needs to be straightened out a bit in the last few.

I agree, I have learned over the years that sports photography is all about faces and action. I had numerous photo's of him and all of them had the ball and action but again I am not the one who picks the photo's so I have no control over which one they pick, I just get paid for it!

I see your EXIF data as ISO 4000 and 1/500. Try to get at LEAST 1/640 on the shutter. The HS kids show blur at 1/500 and even at 1/640 sometimes. A second review of the shots look like you chose an aperture setting of maybe f/4 or higher? If you're shooting with a lens that goes wider, by all means, open it up! Your ISO number will go down accordingly.

The standard settings for most shooting ambient light basketball is f/2, 1/640 and raise ISO until good exposure is achieved. Shooting at f/2 will give much nicer backgrounds. Here's an example:

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Thanks for the example dave. All of these were shot with the 18-135 60D kit lens as I am trying to get faster glass to be able to shoot faster but so I didn't have to deal with the variable aperture and worrying about changing everything to make up for it. So yes all these were shot f/5.6 I believe and will be getting a f/2.8 lens to hopefully start shooting bball a little better.

Thank you for the example and I promise I am working my way towards faster glass =P

Wow, I think they look great for such high ISO. I think the composition is great for just starting out as well! Makes me wish I could get a 60D!

If you want to see what an 85mm 1.8 can do here is one I took yesterday. Was sitting about 10 feet from the net on the floor.
This is my 2nd game I shoot for HS a lot faster than 7th grade girls basketball. My first goal is focus and exposure then work on the other stuff. Thanks for starting this thread I am learning a lot. I too suffer from the horizon issue.
Very close to getting a 60D the T2i fps is making me miss too many shots.
1/400 f2 1600 ISO

HLxDrummer wrote in post #13447553
Wow, I think they look great for such high ISO. I think the composition is great for just starting out as well! Makes me wish I could get a 60D!

You should do it!

Honestly, the paper as usual picked the weakest shot of the bunch, but may have matched the story the best. Backs of players never really are that appealing in my ever humble opinion. My only other nit is your first shot would be a lot better ball in hand driving than ball on floor. It is just one of those standard sports things.

Otherwise, for a first outing.... very nice. As you shoot more, you will get the feel even more for the flow of the college game and the standard shots will come easier.

I think you did a terrific job for your first time shooting basketball. Impressive results for shooting with a 'slow' lens.

C & C

1 and 5. These are very similar shots. In shot #1, you have two faces and the ball (plus, both eyes visible on your subject and defender). That is a good start. Unfortunately in #1, as was mentioned, the ball is on the floor. The ball position (in the hand) is much better in shot #5.

2 and 3. These are both very athletic moments but you are on the wrong side of the floor to capture them---I should say that you are on the wrong side of the floor to capture their faces at those moments. Some right handed players will tend strongly to go right and if that is the case, it is best to adjust your position to be on the other side of the hoop. Eventually, players must face the basket in order to shoot. You just play the percentages and realize that sometimes you will be out of position to get the best shot on a play. Do the best you can.

4. Not much action but the shot is fine.

6. Croasdail is right. Right about the shot, right about editors, and right about your doing a nice job and that it will get easier.

All of your shots are full body shots. Mix in a few tighter shots that are perhaps just from the waist up.