Shooting Sports

[PhotomanDCM]

Well i am new to this photography stuff but really what to learn. Took some of my first pic's with my new Nikon D90 with 18-105mm lens at a basketball game Monday night. I had the dial on sports and some well most of my pic's still came out blury. What could be some of my problems? Please help. Thanks in advance.

[mdruziak]

As you are finding out, sports photography is difficult. You first need to understand the fundamentals of photography, things like exposure, lighting and composition. Then you need to keep all of the fundamentals in mind while you try to track an erratically moving object. In many cases, it requires specialized equipment because the court or rink is too dark or the action is too far away from you.

Here are a couple books that I recommend that you take a look at:
Digital Sports Photography by G. Newman Lowrance
Digital Sports Photography : Take Winning Shots Every Time by Serge Timacheff and David Karlins

If you post some of your photos we probably could help you better. But I'm guessing that your problem is one or more of the following: shutter speed too slow to stop the action, camera focusing on the background or other object, not enough light for camera to focus properly, not using continuous focusing.

I'm not a big fan of Sports mode. You should learn to use Manual if you really want to consistently take good sports photos.

[PhotomanDCM]

Thanks for the info. I will try to post some of my photos if possible. I am in the military in Saudi Arabia and our Comm. (Communication) Unit doesnt allow us to upload personal items on goverment computers. But there are ways around that. I will look into the books that you recommended and do some homework on exposure, composition, manuel mode, shutter speeds and lighting. I just ordered a SB600 Flash maybe that will help my lighting problem some. Thanks again mdruziak.

[waffles]

I've moved this thread to Other Technique because there's no image to critique.

Now onto your regularly scheduled reply.....

Sports mode makes a guess. Full manual would work, I go with shutter priority and let the camera pick the aperature for me. I usually don't go below 1/200th of a second, but because of some really poor lighting I've gone as low as 1/160th with acceptable results.

Don't use a flash for sports stuff. Can you imagine that light going into your face while you're playing? If you absolutly have to get some more light use something overhead. But a regular flash on the camera is at best really annoying (and I've seen people kicked out of games when players complained about it) and at worst highly dangerous.

[Chip]

I've got a D90, too. The camera has pretty good high ISO performance. So, I'd recommend turning your ISO up to 3200. That might let you use a fast enough shutter to stop the action.

Also, what focusing mode are you using? If you feel comfortable, get out of sports mode, use shutter priority (as Waffles suggested) and then use the 3-D Tracking option for focusing. To do this, you'll need to learn how to select one of the 11 focus points before you press the shutter. But once you do, and assuming you're able to get the focus point on the player or other moving thing that you want to be your subject, then the camera will do a good job of keeping that player/thing in focus for you.

Shooting indoor sports isn't easy, because there's generally not enough light. Turning up the ISO as mentioned above is one possible work around. Having a faster lens (with a wider aperture that lets in more light) is another work around, but that would require an different lens.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

[mcdeegan]

Hi, I am new to DPS --1st post up in Earning category -- and just figured out I could search; hence finding this thread. I am just a half century mom with a long lens who put up website this year (www.maggiedeeganphotography.com) to try and make a little $ on pics I was giving away for years. I have only been shooting in sports mode -- because I am not a professional photographer -- just a point and shooter who seems to have gotten lucky. I want -- need-- to learn more so I will be following your comments closely. Part of me is afraid to move into manual mode because what I have been doing seems to be working. Anyone else have this fear starting out?

Also, I am thinking of entering a couple local sports photo contests and would love to know if you think I have half a chance or if I am out of my league. I haven't figured out how to upload a photo to the forum so if you could look at the high school 2008 highlights collection on my website and let me know what you think, I would welcome the criticism. Looks like I have a lot to learn by following your posts. Thanks

[mdruziak]

Originally Posted by mcdeegan

art of me is afraid to move into manual mode because what I have been doing seems to be working. Anyone else have this fear starting out?

Nice job with the photos!

But here is an example of how Sports Mode messes you up:

http://www.maggiedeeganphotography.c...ca36#h3fe78f58

In this photo if you used Manual mode and set the exposure so it was correct for the players face, the player would have been exposed correctly and you would have had a great shot.

The metering in your camera tries to make everything neutral grey. (if you don't believe me, put your camera in Av, and point it at a white ceiling and take a picture) Because there was more bright background area and less darker subject area in this photo, (because you were more or less shooting into the sun) the camera tried to do take an average between the center and the background. Because of the brightness difference, it over exposed the background and under exposed the subject. Remember, it tries to make the photo a neutral grey.

If you set the exposure for correct skin tones, yes the background would have been blown out (very bright), but the players face would have been exposed properly.

So here are some tricks that I use when shooting into the sun. Point your camera at the grass in the direction you are shooting and take an exposure reading. Get in close to a players or coaches face so it fills the frame and take an exposure reading off of flesh tones. If you have a nice blue sky, point the camera at the blue sky in the opposite direction of the sun and take a reading.

If your camera has a spot meter, learn how to use it. It works great especially for back lit situations.

Outdoors, Sports Mode can work ok because there is a lot of light. It doesn't know if it is the light you want to photograph, but if there is enough of it, it will boost the shutter speed enough to stop action.

Ok while I am rambling....

In this photo:

http://www.maggiedeeganphotography.c...aca36#h9f253f0

I think, if you were using Manual and had your camera set to the largest aperture, (smallest f-stop number) the background would have been more out of focus and less distracting.

[mcdeegan]

Great comments. Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my photos and to give me specific feedback. Obviously I have a lot to learn. I have a couple questions:
1. How do you know when to be in manual mode versus program mode?
2. I see lots of links to tutorials -- are there any good visual video tutorials specific to a camera? I am more a visual learner than a reader. I have a Sony a100 and a Sony a350. I shoot mostly with a sigma 50-500 lens and a tameron 200-500 lens, although I do have some shorter lenses.

[mdruziak]

Originally Posted by mcdeegan

1. How do you know when to be in manual mode versus program mode?

For sports I am always in Manual mode. When shooting action, I want the shallowest depth of field and the fastest shutter speed possible. So I force both of those to happen.

You can use Av mode when you need to set a specific depth of field and the shutter speed really doesn't matter. But you need to be careful here so the camera doesn't pick a shutter speed so slow that camera shake is a factor. The shutter speed should be greater than 1/focal length. So if you are shooting at 500mm the slowest shutter speed you should use is 1/500.

I use Av and Tv modes when I need to grab a quick shot and I don't have time to set up both shutter speed and aperture.

Once you get used to using manual mode and fully understand the benefits, you will use it the most.

[Creekside Canuck]

Originally Posted by mdruziak

For sports I am always in Manual mode. When shooting action, I want the shallowest depth of field and the fastest shutter speed possible. So I force both of those to happen.

You can use Av mode when you need to set a specific depth of field and the shutter speed really doesn't matter. But you need to be careful here so the camera doesn't pick a shutter speed so slow that camera shake is a factor. The shutter speed should be greater than 1/focal length. So if you are shooting at 500mm the slowest shutter speed you should use is 1/500.

I use Av and Tv modes when I need to grab a quick shot and I don't have time to set up both shutter speed and aperture.

Once you get used to using manual mode and fully understand the benefits, you will use it the most.

Hi mdruziak -- i am also seeking advice on shooting sports photos- I am going to an NHL hockey game on sunday - I will be using my pentax k100d, 70-300 f4-5.6 zoom - and by what I understand, I should definitely try manual with an ISO800, f4, and shutter speed around 1/200 - I am so used to using program modes - just because I want to get at least a somewhat decent shot. but time to venture out into the manual mode I guess. Any other suggestions??? thanks in advance, I really do appreciate your detailed explanations.