Advice - Taking Volleyball Pictures in Gyms

[Ostinoh]

Hello -

Over the weekend I took some pictures of my daughters volleyball games in different gyms. I was having a time setting the right ISO, Shutter Speed etc... I posted some here for comments and suggestions on how I can take that great action shot. One thing I did notice and was expecting was the grainy look on a high ISO. What am I missing or not doing?



Thank you in-advance,
David

 

[tirediron]

Shooting sports is a very challenging under-taking. As you've seen, gyms, even if they seem bright to us, are actually very dim. Professionals use top-end bodies and fast lenses (constant f2.8 or faster). If you want to really 'do this right', and don't mind spending a little money look for a used 80-200mm lens; you can find them for as little as $650, and while it will be manual focus on your body, it will be a full stop or more faster than your current lens and allow you the extra reach you need to get in tight. Overall, these aren't bad at all; they're a little dim, but you could pull that out in post, and crop a little more tightly.

 

[table1349]

A higher ISO would have helped like 3200. It would have allowed you to keep your shutter speed in the 1/500th range Faster glass would help. F4 is slow for indoor sports even under the best conditions. Get lower to the floor and concentrate more on the action. The players standing around are distracting to the overall image. Try shooting in portrait mode and zooming in on the action if possible.

If you are not comfortable shooting manual then shoot in AV mode and use your ISO to keep you shutter speed up. Yes you may get some noise but that can be helped in post processing. Motion blur can not be corrected. Make sure you are nailing the exposure. A dead on exposure will help with high ISO noise.

 

[shaylou]

Just to add to what the other gentleman have said. I think the shots are soft. I'm not sure what you are focusing on or how you are going about it but that part needs work. I think you could better these shots by positioning yourself in a better place. I found that a dslr will get you pretty much where ever you want to be in situations like these. As long as you are not in the way or distracting anyone move around. Also play with the dof and isolating the players a bit. Like the others said all the people in the background are distracting and it makes the viewer confused on who is the subject. But most of all, keep shooting and asking questions. That's the best way to learn.

 

[Solarflare]

I would use AF-C and 3D tracking on whatever player you want to photograph next, giving the camera a bit of a moment to find focus, then do a couple shots with continous hoping to catch a good frame. Thats about the only tip I can tell you for your current setup, without changing hardware.

Well, Sport/Action is simply the hardest category of photography when it comes to demands on the camera. A D5100 is not really that much up for such a challenge. ISO 1400 is my personal limit with that camera for "clean", noise free shots, and you are already stepping beyond that. Raising the ISO even higher is not much of an option, because over ISO 6400 the camera starts to have really ugly colors as well. Thats when you really love a full frame camera like the D600, because they allow you ISO 6400 with no problem and even ISO 25600 is definitely still possible.

And you seem to use the cheap AF-S 70-200 f4-5.6 VR DX zoom that I own as well. Again, this isnt much of a lens for sports - relatively slow autofocus and all. My new AF-S 70-200mm f4 VR has a lot more punch when it comes to AF, but it was expensive.

You still have it good though. Its kids sport and you dont really need much range, and you have the 1.5 multiplication factor to effective focal length thanks to using an APS-C sized sensor (which Nikon fancies to call "DX"). You could get a fast and relatively (compared to other focal lengths) cheap 50 f/1.4 lens and gain 2 stops even over a hefty f/2.8 zoom for around 400 "bucks". Only problem with this is of course - thats again not the fastest autofocus motor in that. And you no longer have the option to zoom.

Picture #1 has the wrong focus. The people in the background are sharp, the players have a general blurriness that suggests out of focus (instead of just a movement blurr that shows a direction).

Picture #2 is definitely out of focus. Again the camera catched the people in the background that are not of interest but are squeaky clean sharp (at least at this low resolution, anyway).

Picture #3 looks okay-ish, except of course the faces of most players are hidden by the net.

Picture #4 seems pretty good. You have movement blurr because of the low shutter speed. You can either love that for the added dynamic look of the picture, or hate it because you wanted to freeze the action.

 

[toughsamurai]

What’s your gear used to take those pictures?
That will narrow down the options what you need and to do…

 

[The_Traveler]

These are, as they say, soft but also underexposed and flat.

 

[Robbo521]

i shot a lot last year of my daughter playing.most of the time they dont get to play in the same gym as high school or around here they don't and the lighting is very bad.here are a couple i shot last night in our home gym.been shooting in there 4 years and still have problems.the fast lens 2.8 like others have said will be your best friend!the lights in our gym change more than anything i have ever seen.

 

[Ostinoh]

One of the issues with the focus thing is I'm having a time knowing who and where the ball is going to go. Since these are still young players anyones guess on where the ball is going to land is up in the air.

That is why I guess I would not center in on one player hoping to get that shot with maybe two or three of them in the picture.

Does anyone see any issues with getting used lenes and is there a good site to search for them? I'm sure there is the factor of scratches and such.

Thank you to everyone for comments I look forward to everytime I take pictures to improve and learn.

Regards,
David

 

[Robbo521]

i get used lens from local shop or B&H sometimes off crags list.i am the type i want to try before i buy if i can.

 

[ToddnTN2 1]

Adorama has a 30 day return policy for their used lenses. I have had very good luck buying used lenses from them.

 

[imagemaker46]

Higher iso a more grain/noise is the trade off you will have to make to keep your shutter speed at around 500th. Being as these are younger players the speed of the ball and action is slower than at the higher levels of volleyball. You could probably get away with 320-400th sec, lens open as wide as you have. It is a tough sport ot shoot at the best of times. Concentrate on the player you really want shots of and try working with only one player until you feel comfortable being able to follow that player around the court.