new to Shooting Sports How to set up my camera? please help

[laxman]

Hi, Im new to photography and on here and would like to ask for help setting up my camera for sports. I have a Canon Rebel XS. Also i am using a Canon 70-300 lens. Im going to be shooting lacrosse a real fast pace game. Any help on how to set up my camera would be greatly appreciated thank you

[Dave Humphries]

Hi, Im new to photography and on here and would like to ask for help setting up my camera for sports. I have a Canon Rebel XS. Also i am using a Canon 70-300 lens. Im going to be shooting lacrosse a real fast pace game. Any help on how to set up my camera would be greatly appreciated thank you

Hi Laxman,

Firstly welcome to the CiC forums from me.

Secondly; could you give us a first name please?

Now to business (sorta).

Pardon my ignorance, Lacrosse - that's a kind of hockey isn't it?
Is that played indoors or outdoors?
If outdoors; daytime or floodlit? - I ask because it will make a difference to the advice we/I offer.

The main thing to say is don't under-expose if low light.

What you want is probably shutter priority (Tv) and choose a high-ish speed; at least 1/500, more if possible.
To achieve this, you may need to 'up the iso' to say 800 or more.

There are others more experienced than I that may help more, and I can if you can answer those questions.

Cheers for now,

[laxman]

hey thanks alot my name is Josh and yea its like hockey its outside daytime usually round 12 yea and i can go moer then 1/500 .

[Jim B.]

Hi Josh,
Welcome to CiC.I'm not a sports shooter,but this might help with some basics.
http://www.astropix.com/SPORTSPIX/NSC/TIPS08.HTM

Jim

[Dave Humphries]

hey thanks alot my name is Josh and yea its like hockey its outside daytime usually round 12 yea and i can go moer then 1/500 .

Hi Josh,

Ok that's good, won't need 800 iso then (unless a really dull day), but I might suggest 200 or 400 to give yourself more speed. Try 1/640 - 1/1000.

The next major thing that'll determine how good the results look is what's in the background of them.
If there's lots of detail, a crowd or trash cans, you'll want a wider aperture (f5.6) to give less Depth of Field (DoF) so the background blurs out more.

If plain and distant; e.g. just more grass, you might get away with a smaller aperture (f8 - f11) to save on focus headaches.

Have you got any shots from the place already?
Also, I'm not a Canon chap, so I can't advise on detail settings for that camera in terms of AF, etc. like I could if you had a Nikon D3000 or D5000.

Cheers,

[laxman]

Hey Dave, thanks yea i know where ill be taking shots from. ill be at end of field at a lil angle beacuse of the goal. I wanting to shoot the people that are scoring the goal no crowd will be in the way only the players. No i havnt got a any shots there but there were people taking shots same place last week and i couldnt talk to him because i was coaching lol. and im hoping to get pics of my goalie whn he is other end of field. ill be in the endline of the endzone cuz we play on a football field.

[Geoff F]

You may find that setting the auto focus the AI focus or AI servo instead of One shot then following, and anticipating, the action will be helpful.

Not that we have lacrosse or anything like it here.

[rick55]

I agree with Geoff, you're likely to want AI Servo: just don't worry when it doesn't beep at you. Also continuous drive mode. When the player is making the shot, don't be afraid to hold down the button and fire as many frames as the camera will allow.

And per Dave's suggestion, if you can find time to go out at take some test shots, it will definitely repay you. Take a stuffed animal onto the field, or better yet, an assistant. See how big things are (like the other goal). Try ISO 800 and 1600, and see if the noise is acceptable to you when you look at it on your computer. If your assistant has a lacrosse stick, have him/her fire some shots at the goal, and see what it looks like.

Cheers,
Rick

[Michael Bailey]

In another thread I was just lamenting my horrible sports photography skills. Luckily I don't have to embarrass myself by shooting it anymore. I do remember, however, that lacrosse is the hardest thing I ever shot. Anyway laxman, you know how fast lacrosse is and you know how fast the ball moves. In addition to the focus advice others have given, I also suggest that you try to step away from the field a little if you can, and shoot at the longer focal lengths. Yes, the lens will be a little slower, but the action will be easier to follow if you're not right at the end line. Put it this way: If you're on the end line and a player thirty feet away from you is moving up for a score, he likely will suddenly be too close for you to focus, zoom out and recompose by the time he shoots. Back off a few feet and the relative changes in the players' distances will diminish, even though they are a little farther away overall. Plus you'll be less likely to get hit by a missed shot. (You also know how hard lacrosse balls are.) When following action through a viewfinder, your peripheral vision is lost (until you learn to shoot with both eyes open--also mentioned on the other thread: is it OK to take photo with the left eye ? ) and you run a high risk of getting hit.

After you've shot a few games you'll probably be able to ignore my advice, because you'll have a better feel for your equipment, you'll anticipate the action better, and you'll have a better sense of when to duck.