First Basketball Shots (C&C)

[cmhbob]

A week or so ago, my daughter played in a middle-school girls homeschool basketball game. I figured it would be a good opportunity to get some practice shooting done.

I walked out of there with over 500 shots. I'm SO glad I'm not learning on film! As you might expect, a lot of those 500 are junk: way out of focus; dark; not centered on the action, and not croppable; etc. But I've found a couple that might be salvageable. Here's one shot, with a couple of crop ideas. I can't decide if I want the backboard in the shot or not.

I know I need to work on my focusing. Can't recall what i had the metering set to. ISO 2000, f5.8, 1/125 was about the best I found. White balance set to cool white. Other than cropping, I haven't tweaked these. I'm mainly looking for composition and general shooting thoughts.

Original

DSC_8229 by Raven's Beak, on Flickr

Crop 1

DSC_8229 crop 1 by Raven's Beak, on Flickr

Crop 2

DSC_8229 crop 2 by Raven's Beak, on Flickr

 

[spacefuzz]

I would say with backboard, provides context. What equipment are you using, indoor shooting like this is really lens/camera dependant for crisp bright shots unfortunately. If you can freeze the action more and make them a bit brighter, and zoom in a little closer......

 

[weepete]

Hi Bob,

The first thing I notice is your shutter speed is way too slow mate, motion blur is one thing but you can see blur on the backboard, particularly the writing which should be sharp and clear. Your only at ISO 2000 so you should have enough room to bump it up by a few stops.

Composition wise they are ok, but all three shots are shots of the backs of the players which is less interesting that a front shot. Though it's very tempting to try and shoot every basket I find my own shots more interesting if I'm shooting across court with the players coming towards me. I try and capture the steals and conflicts that happen on the court. Try not to crop the subjects feet or limbs off too.

When I'm shooting, I try and err on the side of too wide than too tight and I can always crop in post. Basketball moves fast, but you can sometimes use the slow times to move your focal point and give the player a bit of room but that will lead to missed shots, I tend to use the centre focal point if I feel like I'm missing too many.

 

[cmhbob]

Equipment is in my sig. I ran without flash since I was right on the court. It was a late afternoon game, so there was still plenty of light coming through the window.

I hadn't realized how much work it would be to shoot basketball, but I'd catch myself really looking forward to timeouts so I could take the camera down for a moment or two.

There's one more game next week. I'll see if I can get there and try some of the tips here.

 

[Derrel]

I shot a few basketball games in junior high school with an old Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super with a 45mm f/2.8 Pantar lens and ASA 400 Tri-X. It was very difficult. MOST middle school and H.S. gyms have poor lighting, and so, advanced, expensive FAST lenses really do help a lot. Your gear is borderline, as long as you use it to its strengths, which is on the wider end of its focal length range.

I see you have an 18-270mm lens that ranges from f/3.5 to f/6.3 at the long end. My thought is that it would be best to go right to ISO 2,000 OR HIGHER, and try and shoot the "near" end of the court, from off to the side, so that first off, the lens will be down in the 24-30mm end of its range and STILL AT f/3.5 or f/4, so as to do two things: get a wider aperture, and also so that the action is more or less the same distance, by way of the players moving mostly right to left, from the half-court line, down to the key, and to the lane. That way your slowish-aperture lens will not need to shift focus very much. You should be able to get layups and jump shots pretty easily. If you sit in the stands about 5 to 7 rows up, you ought o have a pretty good view over the kids that often walk in front of the bleachers, and also visibility over players in the foreground. On one side, you will probably have a clean wall as background, on the other side, you'll likely have the bleachers and fans as background, which can be distracting with a short focal length lens that has a lot of depth of field.

IN the shot above, that shutter speed of 1/125 second is leading to a lot of motion blurring.

I would try some panning shots as the players bring the ball across the mid-court line. Pan right along with the player.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I'd think about straightening and cropping the first one (unless you need #45) enough to get rid of that edge of wall on the left side of the photo and that might clean up the composition. I'd think about the framing, if you want the basket in the shot maybe try vertical so the entire players' bodies are in the image, or if players aren't completely in the photo then think about where you're cutting them off.

I did some youth bball several years ago and local gym lighting is the worst. I've managed to make 1/125 work but it took me time and practice to get the timing down for that to work at all, had to get shots just when the play was getting ready to turn and go the other way, or a stoppage, etc. Even 1/250 would be a better option if you can adjust accordingly.

I'd usually try to look around and see where the lighting looked the best and after a test run I could see where I got the best shots from (best vantage points, avoiding the dark corners). I don't use zooms, so I'd find a spot, get set and wait til the action comes to me, into my viewfinder. Try going early and take test shots if you can, you can get set and focus on lines etc. that are where the players will be coming to, then adjust focus and framing as they come into view. I'd spend some time just watching thru the viewfinder, maybe catch some of the previous game to be thinking of how you'd frame shots once your daughter's game starts.

I still shoot film and have done sports on film, that's how I learned, so I'd say slow down a little, quantity isn't getting you the quality, think about your framing and keep getting lots of practice and you'll get there.

 

[striving4mediocrity]

I agree with Derrel. Shoot at 3.5 and sit on the baseline. I've had success with a 50mm 1.8 doing the same. I had to adjust to manual focus but after a few quarters you get the hang of it.