First Try at Indoor basketball - My son in a city league

[soliz39]

Thanks for the input Mark. I'll definitely look into that. Right now I'm clueless. The software I currently have is Digital Photo Professional and Neat Image. I guess it's time to start reading the manuals:-)

[Mark1616]

Manuals, what are there???? LOL.

I only use Paintshop Pro X as I can't afford Photoshop but it does the job. I don't profess to be an expert, I have just taken loads of shots and listened to the advice of the really clever people on here.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[SportShotsLive]

Hi soliz39,

Excellent lighting in these shots - especially with the funky light in school gyms. Nice work.

I have a few suggestions as a fellow sports shooter:

1. Try to get the ball in the shot even if it means cropping a lot closer and you only get the players from the waist up.


2. Keep shooting even after the play is "over". You'll get some great reaction shots and if you scan the bench, kids and coaches provide some awesome opportunities for quality pictures.


3. Invest in Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 - it's under $100 and will allow you to make automatic color edits, crop photos and save them in a variety of formats. You can even print specific sizes right from the software itself.


Keep the photos coming & have fun!!


Nick

SportShotsLive
http://www.sportshotslive.com

[soliz39]

Thanks for the tips Sportsshotlive. I learned a lot just finally getting out there and taking some shots. I was a bit discombobulated at first but the more photos i took the more comfrotable i got with the camera. Getting good composition was tough. It was almost as if i was too close to the action (on the baseline). I found myself stepping back quite often. But i do agree with getting the ball in the shot. But I was so focused on watching the camera settings I found myself hurrying to try to capture certain action sequences.

All in all I very much enjoyed taking the 30D out for a test drive. Now i'm hooked. New Hobby. . .wife is watching the bank account closely for new lens purchases. . :G

[SportShotsLive]

Happy to provide a little advice! I've gotten my sports shooter "education" from these forums and also by taking hundreds of pictures per game. I think my "keeper" rate is only 10%, partially due to my picky nature when it comes to selling photos to parents.

I think my wife hides my credit card for the same reason, especially when I wonder aloud how I could get better football & soccer pictures with a 600 mm lens....

I use Picasa also, which is a free application from Google that works like a charm & doesn't take a degree in engineering to figure out. http://picasa.google.com/

Good Luck!


Nick

[soliz39]

I'm definitely looking into that Picasa Thanks for the link

[JohnG]

soliz39 wrote:

Is there anyway to ensure my focus is alwasy on center? I tried tracking the chest on all my shots. But some shots would always focus on an outside player. Also took some across court shots as well. I had no problem with getting a fast shutter speed as the gym was very well lit. Not sure i'll have the same luck in a high school gym.

Not a bad first start. I had to re-read your post to see the comments about focus. That's the toughest part of shooting with such a wide aperture. The good news is: there's an easy solution - select the center focus point only - don't let the camera choose the focus point. Then all you have to do is keep the center point on your subject Actually, it's easier said than done but don't get frustrated - with practice you'll get there. Then when you're consistantly able to keep the focus point on the chest, try to focus on the face - you can even try using one of the other focus points (i.e. a 'top' point depending on your orientation - this way you can focus on the head while most of the camera frame is below rather than half of it being above the head). It's a progression.

Beyond that, everyone elses comments are right on - get some post processing software and learn to use it. Sadly, it's quite necessary for most of us. It is a rare person whose photos don't benefit from post processing - especially in sports.

Keep up the practice!!

[soliz39]

JohnG wrote:

soliz39 wrote:

Not a bad first start. I had to re-read your post to see the comments about focus. That's the toughest part of shooting with such a wide aperture. The good news is: there's an easy solution - select the center focus point only - don't let the camera choose the focus point. Then all you have to do is keep the center point on your subject Actually, it's easier said than done but don't get frustrated - with practice you'll get there. Then when you're consistantly able to keep the focus point on the chest, try to focus on the face - you can even try using one of the other focus points (i.e. a 'top' point depending on your orientation - this way you can focus on the head while most of the camera frame is below rather than half of it being above the head). It's a progression.

Beyond that, everyone elses comments are right on - get some post processing software and learn to use it. Sadly, it's quite necessary for most of us. It is a rare person whose photos don't benefit from post processing - especially in sports.

Keep up the practice!!

Hey John,

I had a blast finally taking some sports shots. I'm definitely going to try to change the focus point as i'd have to say 60% or more of the shots taken focused on an outside point. No biggie, it' sall part of the learning curve. Your tips provided me with an excellent starting point. I'm going to try to hone my skills more tonight at my sons practice. Frustrated? Man just seeing the improvement of the photos over a point and shoot digital Elph is enough to bypass any frustration i may ever feel :GI'm hooked. . . .

Now alleviating my wifes concerns when she's sees me researching more lenses. . .that's a much harder task at hand. . .:lol: