Sports Photography

[sister822]

I use a point and shoot camera which also has a manual mode. Last night I tried my first crack at sports photography and it was not a total failure. I read up some articles on shutter speed, ISO settings, etc. to make sure I was using the best settings.

I shot photos at an indoor volleyball game and came across some challenges. First I was told I could not use flash photography. I had to reduce my shutter speed to 1/100 to get somewhat decent lighting in my shots, but I consequently couldn't get any clear fast action shots with that slow of a speed. There was of course some blur for objects in motion.

Any suggestions on how I can achieve that in a similar situation? Or am I just screwed until I upgrade to a SLR camera?

Thanks!

[Drkranger]

To get a higher shutter speed you'll need a bigger aperture (lower f-stop) and/or a higher ISO. Those settings will depend on your camera. I typically shoot volleyball at 1/500, f/2.8, ISO 2000+ So, if you have a shutter priority, or can completely set the 3 settings manually, set the aperture to it's lowest setting, the ISO to it's highest setting and see what kind of shutter speed you get. If it's fast enough to work for you then you're good.

By the way, my 8 year old HP point and shoot could hit ISOs of 1600 and apertures as open as 3.2. It still suffered from shutter lag which might be another issue with your camera.

Good luck.