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01/06/2007 09:43:22 PM · #1 |
there have been various threads asking for tips on shooting high school basketball in poorly lit gyms. i was lucky enough to get to shoot a couple games this week, and thought it would worth a moment to write it up. here are some of the images
   
more here...
how i do it
first, even though the equipment i'm using helps a lot, if i don't get set up properly, i'm still going to wind up with nothing but garbage. i shoot jpg-large-fine with my WB to fluorescent. at the moment, i'm only shooting with one body and three lenses: a 16-35, a 24-70, and a 70-200. yes, it does make a difference that they're all f/2.8, and that the 70-200 has IS. however, keep in mind, it's all about the exposure; if you get your settings dialed in, you can come away with some decent stuff, regardless of your equipment. i'm not saying that it's automatic--i'm just saying it's possible, with effort.
to get dialed in, i'm looking to get the lowest iso that will give me a shutter of 1/160 or faster and an f-stop of f/3 to f/4.5. if i have to, or if the shot dictates a shallow dof, i'll drop down to f/2.8, but i prefer having a little wiggle room. i can afford the slower shutter, because, for the most part, high school players don't move as fast as college players (yes, some do, but they are the exception). hopefully, my iso will be around 800; probably, it is going to be 1000-1600.
to get these settings, i get to the gym at least 15 minutes before game time, and i shoot all the way around the perimeter. that means all four corners, as well as from mid-court. i also use all three lenses, and make note of what settings i want to go to when i switch lenses. basically, i'm looking for the best average setup--something that will work well most of the time--because i don't want to be making too many adjustments during the action. also, unlike outdoor sports, the lighting in the gym doesn't really change that much during a game; once you're dialed in, you're dialed in.
as for the actual shooting, i'm looking for three things: action shots, candids, and feature shots (feature shots are environmental images that add to the story). what i'm going for and what i'm seeing will dictate the lens i'm using. as for action shots, i'll use the 70-200 to get tight action (even when the action's right under the baseline i'm sitting on), and i'll use the other two lenses to get looser stuff.
there is one key thing i do, though, that i think makes a difference in my shots: i only look through the viewfinder when i'm using the 70-200. when i'm using my 24-70 or 16-35, i hardly ever have the camera up to my eye. instead, i'll prefocus out to about 10' and try to get an aperature of f/5.6 (sometimes settling for a stop down). then, the camera becomes an extension of my arm, going to the floor pointing up, going over my head pointing straight, and just about anywhere in between. i'm chasing the action, and i'm chasing perspective; holding my camera to my eye is almost like trying to shoot from a tripod--it's just too limiting.
afterwards, i weed like a madman. i'm looking for nothing but good, sharp, compelling images. i might not always get what i'm looking for, but i figure if i hold myself to a higher standard, i'll be forced to produce stuff that's a little better than average. i don't mind some blur, as long as there's something absolutely RAZOR sharp in the image. and i don't mind some noise, as long as it doesn't stand out. what i'm really after are images that do more than fill a hole in a paper; i want shots that make people stop and look.
hope this helps; if anyone has any questions, feedback, etc, feel free to let me know.
cheers,
skip |
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01/07/2007 09:47:56 AM · #2 |
| I like this thread very interesting. I would be great to see the camera EXIF data for each of these shots. |
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01/07/2007 09:53:31 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by Elliottjms:
I like this thread very interesting. I would be great to see the camera EXIF data for each of these shots. |
thanks for asking. basically, the exif is iso1250, shutter 1/200, av f/3.2 or f/4. when i have a moment, i'll dig out the actuals. |
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01/07/2007 11:24:22 PM · #4 |
| Thanks for posting, and nice stuff. I've never tried shooting basketball, but I'd like to. Do they mind if you use flashes? I've seen some pictures where the guy had flashes set up on each hoop and a couple to bounce off the ceiling, and the lighting looked pretty good. |
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01/08/2007 10:27:02 AM · #5 |
Thanks Skip, good info.
A few comments:
Not all lighting is fluorescent. I think either the coffee filter trick or an expodisk and setting a custom WB is best. Besides, not all fluorescent lights are the same--cool white is different than warm white deluxe.
Note that if light is coming in the windows, or there is more than one type of lighting, you will get mixed lighting. If this happens, its best to shoot RAW. When you do WB, remember that clothing may not be white (whites have a bit of blue in them to make them look whiter). I found that wall displays (posters, banners, etc) usually had something that was good to click on to select the white balance. Shoes usually have a good white in them. If you do use the uniform, try to click near the face that is most important, and click on an area that is parallel to the plane of the face--that is, the part of the uniform that reflects that light that falls on the face (its easier if you try clicking a couple of places on the uniform and see what happens than it is to try and explain it). White numbers on the uniform are usually a truer white than the white cloth part.
Either high school gyms have better lighting than elementary school gyms, or you got lucky. When I shot BB, I was lucky to get ISO 1600, 1/125 at f/2.8. Since this was a girls 7th & 8th grade game, 1/125 was usually fast enough. (The boy's game was faster, and I believe that high school would be faster also.) Slower speeds sometimes gave me a neat effect, where the face and body were in focus but the hand dribbling the ball showed motion blur.
A 50mm prime let me get a lot faster speed, and gave better IQ, especially at f/2.8.
Message edited by author 2007-01-08 10:51:17. |
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01/08/2007 10:28:39 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by MadMan2k:
Thanks for posting, and nice stuff. I've never tried shooting basketball, but I'd like to. Do they mind if you use flashes? I've seen some pictures where the guy had flashes set up on each hoop and a couple to bounce off the ceiling, and the lighting looked pretty good. |
YMMV. The schools I shot didn't mind, but the players preferred the shots without flash. The uniforms are synthetic and reflect a lot.
If you do use flash, gell it to match the lighting.
Message edited by author 2007-01-08 10:31:43. |
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01/08/2007 10:41:20 AM · #7 |
I can't work with custom white balance on my stuff like this... I have to shoot with a flash. Without a flash in a lot of the gyms where I'm working, I would not be able to get a decent exposure at all. I keep my shutter speed at 1/320" or above. 1/250" works sometimes but more often than not I can't use it. I shoot at either ISO 800 or 1600. In most gyms I shoot in, I use my 50mm f/1.4 @ f/2.0. I shoot from the baseline and work on things that are closer to me. There are a couple gyms in the conference where I can comfortably use my f/2.8 lenses, but not very many. I recently started putting some published and unpublished photos in my Flickr gallery here:
Some of Setzler's Sports and Others
When I work from the baseline, I sit on the floor where my camera angle is pointed up towards the players...
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01/08/2007 11:01:28 AM · #8 |
I have to go with Johns thinking on this. We have about 3 gyms in the conference I shoot at that will allow the use of 1600 and 2.8 for basketball. I never fall below 1/320 for the games I have shot even at 1/400 on boys basketball I get some blur. I also use flash to fill in. Most times I'm using the 85 1.8 and I'm about 2.0 or 2.2 to keep SS above 1/320th. I'm not disagreeing with Skip he certainly has a ton more experience then I do. This is my first school year shooting for the paper we have a guy who has low end equipment who shoots and his shots have a ton of blur in them and they honestly look like crap even for a hometown paper. You have to do what you have to do to get your exposure right. And if you have great timing 1/160 or 1/250 will work great if you hit the peak of action. My timing isnt all that great as of yet. Thanks for taking the time to post Skip.
MattO
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01/08/2007 11:09:09 AM · #9 |
Thanks for the details - great information.
One question - what does it take to get into the gym to shoot on the floor. I know this isn't college or pro ball, but do you ever get any flack about being down near the action? Do you need special permission? |
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01/08/2007 11:14:06 AM · #10 |
there are a lot of ways to get to a good end result; for the most part, it comes down to caring enough about what you're doing to really learn your equipment, to learn how to use it, and to learn the sport that you're going to be shooting. you can open up any community newspaper (as well as some dailies), and find excellent examples of absolute crap, where it couldn't be more obvious that the paper sent out the wrong person with the wrong equipment, but no one really cares (except for the readers that are stuck with nothing better to look at).
i love john's results. but, for me, i don't think i'll ever use a flash indoors for sports. i'll just push myself harder to get the shots i need without it.
as for WB, i didn't mean to imply that fluorescent was the be-all-end-all; it just happened to be what i typically find. more than likely, i'll get an expodisk and start setting custom WBs.
as for shutter, yes, of course faster is better; however, one of the nice things about basketball is that it does offer a couple nice things for action photography: 1) peaking action, where someone has jumped or where someone is changing direction, and 2) panning action, where you can learn to follow the action close enough freeze your subject.
bottomline: you have options, but none of them are automatic; it takes a committed effort to really getting a handle on it.
Originally posted by mattmow:
Thanks for the details - great information.
One question - what does it take to get into the gym to shoot on the floor. I know this isn't college or pro ball, but do you ever get any flack about being down near the action? Do you need special permission? |
if you're shooting for a media outlet, you can pretty much go where you want, as long as you stay out of the player's and ref's way. if you're a fan, you'll probably be restricted to the first row of the bleachers, or the back corner edge of the baseline wall.
Message edited by author 2007-01-08 11:16:38. |
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01/08/2007 11:26:04 AM · #11 |
I use the flash for several specific reasons. The lighting in the gym comes from directly overhead and it reflects back up from the floor to some degree, usually with the color cast provided by the floor. The color of the light is changed at this point. The direct overhead light creates facial shadows that I don't like so much. I don't worry about the white balance in camera. It's easily corrected by a few simple steps. I generally bring the levels to the proper position and set a white point. Further color correction is usually a very simple task of taking out a little red and adding a little blue via the curves. On some occasions I will desaturate the yellows a little.
Shooting for peak action is always a good idea, but it's not consistently easy to do either. It does come with experience. When action is moving laterally to your lens, shots are easier to get. When action is moving directly towards you, things get a little more complicated, especially with depth of field. Your shot may not be blurry, but your subject will get inside your sharp point in fractions of a second. I also use AI Servo focus in sports for this reason. My results are much more consistent.
When choosing my exposure settings for a particular event, I take great care to NOT underexpose anything by more than one stop. When shooting at higher ISO settings, underexposure will kill you. When you bring it back to a proper exposure level in photoshop, any noise in the image gets multiplied several times. I DO use Noise Ninja to soften the noise in a lot of my sports photography before it goes to press. The great thing about newspaper printing is that the toilet paper we print on absorbs ink and a good bit of noise simply vanishes when it prints.
When using my flash, it is simply for fill rather than being a major light source in the photo. I use my omnibounce on the flash for basketball. It minimized red-eye quite nicely and provides a smooth fill in the photos.
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01/08/2007 03:32:45 PM · #12 |
nice post skip... i was shooting last week at a high school game trying to get used to my new camera. photos didnt come out as i wanted. but i'll try again
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