Boys HS Basketball

[JohnG]

Forgot how dim the lights are in this place. ISO 6400, 1/400 f2.8. C&C welcome as always:

1.



2. Just making sure you're paying attention



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9.

[Frisky]

#3 and#5 are my favourites, you can almost feel th speed of the move.

Lighting looks good to me (though you know what I am used to!)

[k1par]

John,

Good shots as always. What do you do to control noise?

[JohnG]

Thanks guys. Yeah, Frisky I realize lighting is relative. You shoot in some real caves :-)

As for controlling noise - the biggest key is proper exposure. None of these shots had any levels, curves or any other type of brightness correction done to them. They're a bit on the bright side I'll admit. But that's how I keep noise under control at 6400. Typically I'll shoot 1/3 stop over when I jump to 6400.

Then I use Noiseware pro to batch process. I also keep in-camera noise reduction turned off. But it helps that some of the newer high end DSLRs - Nikon D3, D700, D300, Canon 1dmkIII, 1dsmkIII, 5dmkII and even 50d have fantastic high ISO performance. Even Pentax and Oly are getting better high ISO performance now - so everyone is stepping up their game.

[jschoenr]

Hi John, great new basketball series..

The lighting in your pictures is fantastic - in fact, it seems like it is probably much better than what was there in reality. Is that true? My local gym has lights that cycle between purple and yellow, it is very dark as well.. Even using custom wb, i have trouble getting such pure colors as you have.. If I had such bright and good colors, people probably wouldn't recognize it as our home gym...

Thanks for posting!

[JohnG]

Thanks. It's one of those places that doesn't look dark to the eye but I consider ISO 6400 1/400 f2.8 to be kind of dark. Not like Frisky's gyms, but still one of the darker ones. In reality it's just the area around the basket that's dim because they have a catwalk up there so it blocks light. The middle of the gym is only about 1/3 stop worse than other gyms. So volleyball isn't bad. But basketball is about 2/3 to full stop worse. But at least the lights overlap enough that the cycling is kept to a minimum. I get some variation but not the wide swings you get with those widely spaced lights some gyms have.

[airbrushjohn]

johng, your shots are amazing as usual! thank you for sharing, man if i could get just one to look like that i would be so happy!
i have a few questions,
this may sound dumb, i understand setting the exposure makes the photos
either lighter or darker, but will the exposure help with shutter speed? and will setting the exposure 1/3 -2/3 of a stop depending on the situation help keep down the noise or make it less noticeable? i know the darker a background the more you see the noise, and the lighter the background the less you notice it. thank you, john

[JohnG]

airbrushjohn wrote:

this may sound dumb, i understand setting the exposure makes the photos
either lighter or darker, but will the exposure help with shutter speed? and will setting the exposure 1/3 -2/3 of a stop depending on the situation help keep down the noise or make it less noticeable?

John I'm not sure I understand your question. "setting the exposure 1/3 - 2/3" - not sure what that means. I said the gym was 1/3 stop worse at center and 2/3 to full stop worse by the hoop. So if my normal settings for other gyms are 1/400 f2.0 ISO 1600. In this gym the center is about 1/320 and the hoop area about 1/250- 1/200.

As to exposure helping shutter speed - again I'm confused. Shutter speed is one of the variables in exposure. Shutter speed, aperture and ISO determine the exposure. So I'm not sure I understand the question.

Now, as to OVER exposure helping noise - yes it will. By exposing "to the right" you end up with less noise. These shots are more 'High key' exposed this way - bright subject, bright background. You get less noise - not just in the background but more importantly in the players. That's why exposing for faces is so important. Too many people underexpose their shots indoors and that creates a lot of shadows in the face and uniform - that's where noise breeds. I'd love to shoot at 1/500 or 1/640 - you can still see motion blur in these shots. But I'd rather have a LITTLE blur and not have noise issues.

[airbrushjohn]

hi johng,
sorry i didn't get back with you sooner, what i meant was on my 40d when i'm shooting in aperture mode and lets say i'm using f2.8(or any ap) i can move the wheel on the back of the camera and either go plus or minus exposure and it doesn't move the shutter setting or the ap setting, but it does make the photo lighter or darker. thats what i was asking i just didn't word it correctly. so will that help inside a low lit gym to help with the noise? in the exif its called exposure bias. i haven't had a chance to try it yet. thank you, john

[JohnG]

John,

Unless the40D works differently than my mkIII or my 20d when you use the wheel in AV mode you're adjusting the shutter speed. The only other possibility is that it is somehow configured to adjust the ISO. With a fixed aperture the only way to get a brighter exposure is to decrease shutter speed or increase ISO. There's no other magical means.