Sports Photo's

Blazing Angel · Nov 8, 2008

I wonder if anyone can help me. I have just started photography and I'm still finding my way around my camera. I have been asked to take photo's of my girlfriends touch rugby team and some action shots this week for a website. I tried using "sports scene" mode and all sorts of different settings but all my pictures came out blurred. The games are in the evening so they play under flood lights but they aren't the normal white light. They are yellow and alot of my players are see through. Could this be because of the lights or are my settings all wrong? If anyone can tell me how to work around this I'll be very greatful. I have a panasonic DMC-FZ50.

Thanks a million

rubbertree · Nov 8, 2008

forget the sports scene mode and use all manual.

45mphK9 · Nov 8, 2008

Sorry, I can't help you much with lighting. But for composion . . .As best you can, shoot from in front of them, not from the side lines. I've seen a lot of photographers at the soccer games shooting from the sides or as the players are going away from them. Also, don't forget the side lines -- you'll probably get a lot of good shots of players showing emotion for their teammates. As for framing, if the player is moving, it looks best to leave room in the frame for them to move. In other words, you want to see where they're running.

RyanMTaylor · Nov 9, 2008

45mphK9 said:
Sorry, I can't help you much with lighting. But for composion . . .As best you can, shoot from in front of them, not from the side lines. I've seen a lot of photographers at the soccer games shooting from the sides or as the players are going away from them. Also, don't forget the side lines -- you'll probably get a lot of good shots of players showing emotion for their teammates. As for framing, if the player is moving, it looks best to leave room in the frame for them to move. In other words, you want to see where they're running.

Expanding on that a little, this works well even for non-action shots. If you have a portrait of someone you would more than likely want the negative space in the direction of their view. So you can see where they are looking to. Same idea. At least that's what I've been taught and what I find pleasing.

But what rubbertree said, manual settings all the way. You're going to need full control of your camera, especially in low(or weird)-light situations. I'm still trying to figure out all the buttons, settings, relationships between them all and composition crap too. It'll be a good learning experience no matter what.

Kind of sucks there's some pressure on it though when you're still trying to find your way around the camera.

A4Effort · Nov 9, 2008

Don't shoot in burst mode. I know a lot of beginners tend to do this because they can catch the action easier. This is a bad idea because your pictures will be blurry. Also try to focus your camera on a sport where you think the player(s) will go.

Ex: Soccer: focus on the ball before the player kicks it.

gsgary · Nov 9, 2008

I'm afraid your equipment is not really upto shooting this sport at night, you will need a 200mm Lens minimum at F2.8 and then you have to let the action come very close and probably use iso1600 and higher to stop the action. I shoot lots of rugby and my 300mmF2.8L is sometimes too short

reg · Nov 9, 2008

gsgary said:
I'm afraid your equipment is not really upto shooting this sport at night, you will need a 200mm Lens minimum at F2.8 and then you have to let the action come very close and probably use iso1600 and higher to stop the action. I shoot lots of rugby and my 300mmF2.8L is sometimes too short

Finally, someone says it!!

OP's Lumix isn't a DSLR. Even if they're right on the sidelines, they won't be close enough. The high ISO is no doubt terrible. The lens likely isn't f/2.8 and even if they use the tiny on-board flash they still won't even be able to get close enough for it to work.

Ejazzle · Nov 9, 2008

set the camera to manual.

and set your shutter speed to NO LOWER THAN 1/125 and your aperature to the lowest number possible. then you should be okay. Good luck

gsgary · Nov 10, 2008

Ejazzle said:
set the camera to manual.

and set your shutter speed to NO LOWER THAN 1/125 and your aperature to the lowest number possible. then you should be okay. Good luck

1/125 will not work with rugby

Blazing Angel · Nov 10, 2008

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will try do the best I can with my camera for now till I can afford the proper equipment. I will try get them to have a training session during the day so at least I don't have bad light against me. :wink:

Dao · Nov 10, 2008

I agree that your camera is not capable of what you are trying to do. (low light with fast action shots).

You maybe able to capture some good shots during the day. In order to capture, or freeze the action, you need to take the picture in a "Fast shutter speed". But the problem is the faster the shutter speed, the lesser the light that hit the camera sensor.

So in a low light situation, it is not going to work on your camera. However, during the bright sunny day, it is possible because you have enough light hitting the camera sensor even with the fast shutter speed to create a proper exposed pictures.

table1349 · Nov 10, 2008

A4Effort said:
Don't shoot in burst mode. I know a lot of beginners tend to do this because they can catch the action easier. This is a bad idea because your pictures will be blurry. Also try to focus your camera on a sport where you think the player(s) will go.

Ex: Soccer: focus on the ball before the player kicks it.

Burst mode is not a problem getting sharp photos. Knowing how to focus in the first place or the lack of knowledge of how to focus for sports is the problem. If you see a shot you think would be cool it is already too late to focus and get the shot.

Burst mode is fine if you are in a continues focus mode. For Canon it is AI Servo. I can usually get two complete games on my batteries as I am focusing all the time. That is the key. Following the action through the viewfinder constantly and focusing all the time. If the body allows it get the focus control off of the shutter release to a different button and track track track.

A4Effort · Nov 10, 2008

^ You are right but the OP stated that he was a beginner and as a beginner I would not recommend the burst mode because of the blurriness. Once a beginner gets better at it then I would try it. Thats all I tried to say.

Blazing Angel · Nov 11, 2008

Yes SHE is a beginner

. I find burst mode quite fun but you are right, most of my pictures are blurred, I definately need to get used to my camera before I can handle that kind of thing. Can anybody recommend what camera I should look into getting. I will be doing photography full time so weddings and studio work. I have a passion for sport though so I'd like to get involved in that as much as I can too. What would be the best camera to cover all these fields, and more importantly which ones are more affordable

Thanks

Dao · Nov 11, 2008

If you are using a DSLR type camera, continuous shooting mode with AI Servo type Autofocus will work a lot better. As described above, the camera will autofocus continuously as the shutter button is pressed and held.

I believe most of the entry level DSLR cameras will do that. But some of the prosumer type DSLR can shoot faster with the faster Frame Per Second (FPS) rate. i.e. Entry Level 3 fps, prosumer 5-6 fps, professional 10+ fps.

However, lens is also very important to capture sharp, clear and properly exposed photos. In your case mentioned above, Fast Action with Low Light situation. A fast telephoto lens maybe needed. A fast lens mean a lens has a wide maximum aperture so that it allow the camera to shoot at FASTER shutter speed and still able to obtain a poperly exposed photo.

Usually Fast, sharp telephoto lens = expensive lens

As for the recommendation, you may want to start checking out some Entry Level DSLR type cameras and learn more about them. You maybe able to find some information about the cameras from dpreview.com. Once you step into the DSLR or SLR type area and start learning, you will find a big different between the camera you currently have and the DSLR/SLR type camera. (At least for the money you need to spend around the camera .. lol)