More HS Basketball

I shot three games this past weekend from a JV tournament hosted by Jesuit High School. As I set up my camera, I found I was able to shoot at a lower ISO (2500 instead of 3200 or 4000) than I have been able to get in our home gym. I also tried to shoot w/ f/3.2 and a 1/640ss. I feel like I was able to get some decent photos. What do you think?

#1 1/640 SS, 2500 ISO, f2.8

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Good action. They would be better with more exposure. So 1/500th or ISO 3200 with N.R. may give you a brighter pic.

Next thing is the rotation and cropping of the photo. Get the verticals straight for basketball. That will make the horizontals make sense as well. So compare #3 (good) and #4 (not good). #6 (good) #7 (not good)

Finally, when you crop do not just look at the main subject of your pic. Look all around the edges and do not leave turds on the background walls (#1 at 11 o'clock; #2 at 11 o'clock) or people sliced in half (#1 7 o'clock; #5 & #6 5 o'clock; #7 right edge, etc).

When you take the photo, pay attention to the background with that cropping and verticals in mind. Try not to crop through words, letters, numbers or logos that would leave only part of the letter, word, number or logo in the pic. Our brains want to fill automatically the missing part and that distracts us from the main focus of the pic. You did a good job of that, but take a look at "Br" in #5 on the right edge. That guy should be cropped away anways, but see how you are thinking is that "B-r-o" or "B-r-what?" Also see the chairs. See how "Jesuit" is cut in image #1 and #3. I'd try to crop out the entire chair. That is try to crop between chairs and people in the background.

In #6-8 is there a green cast to the whole photo or am I just seeing things?

Wow. I just got back from shooting a game at f2.8 1/400 ISO3200, and hardly of mine came out that sharp (motion blur). Guess I need to kick it up a notch (Shutter speed). Unfortunately, the gym I shoot in is just too dimly lit. Less than a year old too - guess they don't care a whole lot about us photgraphers.

Morlow wrote in post #9219531
In #6-8 is there a green cast to the whole photo or am I just seeing things?

I tried to use a custom WB for this game. When I looked the difference between custom and flourescent WB on the LCD the custom looked better. When I got home and put it on the computer the WB was definately off.

40Dude

Thanks for the comments. I see what you are talking about. I try to crop tight in order to isolate the play, but I can see the advantage of not cutting people in half. As far as the horizon goes that is an issue I am trying to work on. I usually shoot from the corner so I think that accounts for some of the angles you see. Maybe I will try to adjust my position and see what happens.

I know what you mean. When I left this gym after the 1st game, I was happy with the lighting especially for an older gym. In our home gym I am usually shooting at f2.8 1/500 or 1/640 @ ISO 3200 or 4000. The blue and gray walls in the home gym really does havoc on the lighting.

Were you shooting in auto or manual focus? Your shots are focused well and usually when I'm shooting it's in burst mode and hope to get one clean picture. Looks like you have good lighting to work with. The gym I usually shoot in requires me to shoot at iso 3200 f2.8 300-400 shutter spd. Not the best conditions.

lalvidrez wrote in post #9220688
Were you shooting in auto or manual focus? Your shots are focused well and usually when I'm shooting it's in burst mode and hope to get one clean picture. Looks like you have good lighting to work with. The gym I usually shoot in requires me to shoot at iso 3200 f2.8 300-400 shutter spd. Not the best conditions.

I am shooting with Auto focus. I am not fast enough to use manual focus and get the shots I want. Plus I really like the AF system on my 7D. It does a great job tracking who I am shooting.

I shot a College game last weekend to see how much better the lighting was than the home gyms. It was much better, but I only shot from the stands.

It's funny how all the things I read on here were going through my head when taking the pictures, especially getting the "horizon" straight. Very noticeable if you're looking for/at it through the viewfinder with bleachers.

I also paid close attention to the crops in PP and I gotta say, that took almost as long as shooting the pictures. I had no vested interest in the game so I didn't bother getting courtside. My wife got a ton of free tickets so we took our 3 daughters and three of their friends. I didn't think it wise to leave her with 6 kids in the stands while I took pics from the baseline

I think yours turned out WAY better than mine (sharpness and such) and I'm not even going to post anything I have for shame. The 10D at ISO1600 with a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 lens doesn't produce the sharpest images without some help from strobes (I have none).

I think it's great that people can post what they shoot and get useful feedback on this board. It has helped me a TON so far and I look forward to many more years of reading threads like this and gleaning as much useful info as possible so I can put it into practice.

Good job with what you have so far and you can only get better, right?

I couldn't agree more. I have leared a lot from reading posts on this site. There is a wealth of information here and this is where I have learned most of what I know.

Thank you for the comments. I tried using my Xs with a 55-250 f4-5.6 before I got my 7D. I had no luck at all and it was very irritating. That's why I upgraded by camera and lens.