Making the shot

[Barbara Ponder]

I have spent a good potion of the year learning to photograph sports, here are some of the results. I am hoping to get better for next year so any CC would be greatly appreciated.

[Manfred M]

A general comment, Barbara. Your shots are all too tight.

You've cut off the ball in two of them and the top of the hoop in the third one. Shoot a bit wider to ensure you have space around some of the critical elements and if you have to because there is too much extraneous material, crop in PP.

[Donald]

Your shots are all too tight.

That is my only critical comment as well. Otherwise, these are super images full of energy and action, perfectly exposed.

I think you can go tight, but it's got to look as if that's what your aim is, rather than being tight through not being wide enough when that is what you intended.

[Barbara Ponder]

Manfred and Donald thanks for the comments, definitely need to work on that! I find that I 've done this in a lot of my shots, especially the ones that are coming towards me and I don't react quick enough to zoom out. Switching between the 100-400mm and the 70-200mm canon for these has been a challenge, they work completely differently, one twists, the other is more telescoping. Besides being too tight I am not always sure of where to place my single point focus. I tend to have it at the highest row and over one which makes me loss critical parts of the photo. I am guess back button focusing might help?, but not sure.

[rpcrowe]

Basketball is, to me, the most difficult of team sports to shoot. The action is erratic and extremely fast and the lighting (generally) is pretty poor. The players tend to crowd around under the basket. Your 1DX Mk-ii camera does a wonderful job shooting at ISO 8,000 and ISO 10,000...

For a guy like me who cut his photographic teeth when Kodak Super-XX film at ASA 125 (forerunner of ISO but relatively the same value) was considered pretty speedy; shooting at those ISO levels and getting good imagery is just mind boggling

Doing a YouTube search with the search parameters "Photographing basketball techniques" results in a lot of instructional videos.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...all+techniques

I can't vouch for how good these videos ma be but, it might be worthwhile looking at some of them!

[Donald]

I am guess back button focusing might help?, but not sure.

I'd say a definite 'yes' to that.

I bet you'll find yourself becoming much more able to react quickly enough the more experience you take on board of doing this. As far as I'm concerned, it really is a case of practice, practice, practice. You'll start reading the game far more like a photographer and your anticipatory skills will grow and develop.

[Barbara Ponder]

Thanks for the links Richard and I will check them out. I am finding them all hard to shoot especially as I am getting older and my reaction time is getting slower. I have been really pleased with my 1DXMKII and the way it handles the high ISO's. I talked my husband into getting it for me because the noise in the photos of my son's football games was horrible on my 7DMkII, especially as night came earlier and earlier. I am so glad he let me splurge, it has been a joy to shoot.

[rpcrowe]

Donald is totally correct regarding "reading the game" an intimate knowledge of the sport you are shooting is one of the most important components in some sports. Other sports like various track events (especially ones like the pole vault) are pretty simplistic and can be shot without a detailed knowledge of the sport.

Anticipating the position of the pole vaulter is pretty easy - there is only one place when that athlete will be for the best picture - at the top... However, anticipating the progress of a basketball game requires knowledge of that sport or a higher degree of luck than I ever have.

I believe that the 1DX Mk-ii camera has pretty close to the 7D Mk-ii auto focusing capabilities - perhaps better. There are many ways to customize my 7D2 in order to allow the best captures for various types of moving subjects.

Here is a link to Canon's 51-page guidebook on the 7D2 focusing systems...
http://downloads.canon.com/camera/br...USA_9-2014.pdf

BTW: many of the best basketball shots are done from either a low angle or a very high angle shooting down. You don't usually have the opportunity to shoot down from over the basket but shooting from a low angle should not propose a problem. EXCEPT FOR ME! Because if I get too low, I cannot get up again Having the freedom to wander around the court would also be an aset!

[Mike Buckley]

Barbara,

I rarely shoot action photography of any kind but when I do, I always use multi-point continuous focusing. Be sure to check out some tutorials and see what basketball shooters use. I'd be willing to make a large bet that it's not the single point focusing that you're using.

[rpcrowe]

I think that this Scott Kelby YouTube is a very decent general sports photography video. It doesn't concentrate on one sport but, presents some philosophies that I agree with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAusoSwDHn4


Here is a collection of Sports Illustrated basketball images. Amost all of them were shot from a very low or very high angle...

https://www.si.com/nba/photos/2014/0...best-si-photos

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts, looks like you had the opportunity to shoot from different locations; judging by the jerseys these are different sessions so wonder if you have control over where you can setup? Other comments:

1. Consider changing your angle of view; either shoot from lower or higher position.
2. Consider using different apertures, I know this forces you to up your ISO but you can also add a bit of blur at lower ISO/slower shutter speed and use a panning motion when player is driving towards the basket.

[rpcrowe]

Barbara, looking at these images, I am wondering if you might have been shooting from the stands. The reason I am guessing this is the long focal lengths you used on the two images in which I can read the focal lengths. Am I correct in this assumption?

Shooting from the stands is an almost impossible task in basketball and many other sports. Of course, getting sideline access is pretty difficult....

The one time I like shooting from the stands is when I shoot from the very top of the stands woith a wide angle lens, showing the entire stadium...

I would love to shoot the University of Southern California (USC) vs. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) game at the Coliseum in Los Angeles that way. The USC fans would be decked out in crimson and gold while the UCLA fans would be dressed in light blue and yellow. Since the Coliseum is "almost" a home game for UCLA, there are usually equal numbers of fans. I would really like to do this with a night game...

[Manfred M]

Another "trick" from the manual focus, film camera days was to prefocus the image and wait for the action to happen. If you use the basketball net, you can be assured of plenty of action happening there. Just set up the shot (disengage the autofocus after focusing) and wait for the event to happen.

[Barbara Ponder]

Thank you for the suggestions John! I will definitely try them. BTW these were at 2 different schools, one jr. college level and the other was a high school game at my son's school.

Richard, I had the freedom to be on the court with both games and move pretty freely at both locations. I did not however feel like I could crouch down and get up with out face planting so I was standing most if not all the time. Occasionally I would sit on the bottom row of the bleachers. I hope you will get the chance to shoot that game. It is very exciting, found myself lost in the play from time to time.

[rpcrowe]

I have a similar situation... People often ask me why I shoot from eye level so often. I answer, that's all I can often manage If I want to keep shooting that is

[William W]

I have spent a good potion of the year learning to photograph sports, here are some of the results. I am hoping to get better for next year so any CC would be greatly appreciated. . . .

Good timing on your shots.

Not detracting from that comment in any manner: were you using the continuous shooting mode?


*

. . . I think you can go tight, but it's got to look as if that's what your aim is, rather than being tight through not being wide enough when that is what you intended.

I concur. Excellent point.

***

. . . I had the freedom to be on the court with both games and move pretty freely at both locations . . .

and

. . . Switching between the 100-400mm and the 70-200mm canon for these has been a challenge . . . besides being too tight I am not always sure of where to place my single point focus.

Considering the freedom of Photographer’s movement on a 1DX MkII those are incorrect lens choices for the task.

EF24 to 70 F/2.8 (any variant) would be a more suitable and also a more appropriate choice.

There are several reasons, not limited to:

> (alluded to by Manfred and subsequently commented by Donald) The shooting technique: especially with a camera (1F-X MkII) capable of severe cropping, is: FRAME wide and CROP in post production. This firstly almost ensures that all critical elements will be in the shot and secondly allows for a suitable (tight) crop and often more than one crop option, for the FINAL IMAGE

> Subject Distance relationship to the unencumbered/obscured shot: the closer the Subject Distance the less distance the Photographer has to move to avoid any obstruction. For Team Sports such as floor sports or small court sports (e.g. some gymnastics, basketball, netball, volleyball, indoor soccer) it is a good idea to chose an action spot as close as possible to the action (in BBall near the ring) and then wait for the action to come to you.

> Framing wide and Subject Distance: at FL = 70mm on a 1D-X MkII you can just frame a 7’ bloke at about SD = 15’. If one arm is outstretched (say 6’6” span) then you have to zoom back to about FL = 50mm to get that all in frame. Sure you might not want to be at SD = 15’ because that close to the action may be impossible or uncomfortable – however, if you have the freedom to roam, you really do need to exploit that advantage and consequently I do think that you should be aiming to get somewhere in the vicinity of your Subject Distance being SD = 20’ at the maximum.

> Subject Distance and intimacy of the shot / The PERSPECTIVE: Subject Distance is one of the elements of PERSPECTIVE of The Shot. In most circumstances, the closer the SD the more intimate will be the shot. The more intimate the more powerful. Considering the (value and impact of) the Perspective of the shot; there is much relevance in the comments pertaining to the low and high camera angles (i.e. the Camera Elevation relative to the Subject) used in some excellent BBall Images.

My advice is that once you are settled with FRAMING WIDE and shooting at a closer SD and with a STANDARD ZOOM LENS, then control the AF and interrogate what system works best for you. I would use BB Focus on that camera, but there are (I assume) nuances of the AF located inside the Custom Functions and the camera is designed specifically for nailing fast action sports accurately.

I have used various Canon EOS 1 Series Cameras, but I have not used the 1D-X variants, so I cannot comment accurately on the breadth of options for the AF functionality of your camera.

The specific area of precisely setting the AF requires detailed investigation and (importantly) detailed understanding of the AF functionality and then each individual photographer will then choose what nuances are best suited for their own shooting techniques for any individual sport. (I cannot stress this point too much)

Understanding the flow of the game is just as integral to BBall photography as understanding the choreography of the dance or the lighting and actors' positions of a play or the rhythm of the stroke in swimming.

WW

Definitions as used in the commentary:

Frame / Framing is what is done in camera - the total of what is seen in the viewfinder, assuming 100% viewfinder

Crop / Cropping is what is done in the darkroom or digital darkroom

Perspective (of The Shot) is determined by the Distance of the Camera to the Subject and the Elevation of the Camera relative to the Subject

[William W]

BTW: your Watermark appears to be assigning the copyright, out of date.

[IzzieK]

I was about to comment when I read what Manfred posted. +1 to him. Overall, I like the sharpness and the focus. They are verey good considering you are in an enclosed area.