High School Sports Photography

[TSLevin95]

I'm going to be shooting a lot of outdoor sports for my high school for spring sports. I wanted to know how I can get the best picture quality for sport photography for high school games. Most games will be under the lights, which aren't too bad, but aren't the best. My shooting location is right on the side lines (lacrosse/soccer) or very close (baseball). My set up right now is a Nikon D600 body and I have a few lenses: nikon 70-200 f/2.8, nikon 80-400 f/4.5-5.6, and sigma 150-500 f/5-6.3. I also have a nikon 1.7x teleconverter and monopod.

What I need help with is what settings and equipment should I use to get the best quality, best sharpness, and overall best professional-like pictures with my current setup.

Thanks!

 

[Ballistics]

What I need help with is what settings and equipment should I use to get the best quality, best sharpness, and overall best professional-like pictures with my current setup.

This sentence is going to get you verbally abused here.

It's also impossible to answer. There are thousands if not millions of combinations of scenarios to not give you an exact answer.

Instead, why not link a few examples of what you are trying to achieve, so we can help you understand what you need to know when going to shoot.

 

[Derrel]

Well...sports pics look best when the action is sharp, and stopped, and not out of focus or motion-blurred, so, with those two concepts as a starting point for what you want to come away with, keep a few things in mind:

1) do NOT waste your time shooting at base ISO. START at ISO 400, and work up from there, fast. The D600 has a FF sensor, and fantastic higher-ISO performance, so do not waste it!!!

2) keep the shutter speeds on the higher end of the continuum...think 1/500 as an absolute min-i-mum. The closer the action, and the more parallel the movement is to the lens axis, the faster the speeds must be. The higher the magnification, the faster the speeds must be. So, generally, try for 1/1000 second on most frames. A little faster is better. Depends on the sport, and the exact subject. Depends on the kind of movement, you know?

3) Wide-open, meaning f/2.8 with the 70-200 f/2.8 zoom is "okay", but stopped down just a wee bit, and using higher ISO to compensate, is what I would do under normal circumstances with a modern FF Nikon. A little tiny bit of stopping down, such as from f/2.8 to f/3.2 or f/3.5 will give you better optical quality, and a tiny bit of extra depth of field to make up for slight mis-focusing errors.

4)With a high-quality image to start with, meaning 1)in-FOCUS and 2)with motion STOPPED, you can crop-in later for most sports uses. Yearbook or newsprint or web images do not need to be full-frame, 24 megapixel sized to look good from a modern camera. So, stick with the 70-200/2.8 and use it where it's at its best. The "old" 80-400 VR is pretty slow on AF, but I have used it for soccer a few times...it's kind of sketchy in terms of focusing...an AF-S lens is a better bet.

5) Pay attention to what's going on when you're at the events. On night football, the lights at every HS field I have ever been to sucked. Meaning you'll need ISO 3200, or 6400, around f/2.8 at 1/400, if you are fortunate. MANY field have terible fall-off in the endzones, due to having not really enough lights....it's not like NCAA football...high school fields are often pretty dim. GO for sheer lens speed, and high ISO. Use the 70-200 with NO converter at night.

 

[imagemaker46]

Derrel sumed it all up. It's really difficult to give you absolutely perfect setting without knowing what the light is like. Take everything Derrel said and when you get to the venue, try a few different exposures until you find the ones that work best. Like he said, you will need to keep the shutter speeds at or above 500th second for the action.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I went to a sports photography workshop a few years ago at the NCAA headquarters and one of the things I remember is the photographer discussing preparation that he does (he shoots the Olympics etc. for major publications). He would go early/stay late, check out a new venue ahead of time, etc.

I haven't done lacrosse in bad outdoor lighting but have done plenty of hockey with bad indoor lighting and worse glass, and when going to a new arena if possible I'd go ahead of time to a practice/game and take practice shots to review. I usually try to notice where the lighting appears better; I often seem to end up with a favorite corner etc. where I seem to get the best photos. If you can, you might think about trying to find an opportunity to go before the season starts when the field might be lighted for a practice/scrimmage and do some test shots.

It seems in sports there are plenty of posts, lines, signage, etc. so I think it helps to notice your backgrounds and check your framing to make sure the camera's straight and that horizon lines look straight. I usually try to keep posts etc. out of my photo when possible, or check that signs etc. aren't cut off so just an edge shows (I think that can help eliminate distractions in photos so the viewers' attention is drawn to the subject).

I think much of shooting sports is knowing the sport and the timing, when the action will turn and pause for a split second before going the other way, or after a stoppage getting a player photo when they're set for a faceoff, etc. For hockey one thing I've done is to get positioned near the blueline and get set and focused on the net, then wait for the action to come to me and adjust the focus as needed as the play comes into the crease.

Sounds like it will be a great opportunity, hope you have fun with it.

 

[KmH]

Don't be surprised if your f/4.5-5.6 and f/5-6.3 lenses fail to allow sufficient shutter speeds under the lights to avoid high ISO settings.
Be sure you understand how to utilize ETTR to minimize image noise - Optimizing Exposure
ETTR
Exposing to the right - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1.7x TC also changes the effective aperture of your f/2.8 to f/5 (1.7 EV).

If the 1.7x TC works on your 80-400, it efectively becomes f/8-11