How to shoot indoors

joepence · Nov 22, 2008

I took some pictures at my daughters basketball game and most of them came out blurry. I tried different settings with not much luck. I have a cannon rebel xt. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to take action pictures indoors?

stsinner · Nov 22, 2008

Big distance, big flash!!

joepence · Nov 22, 2008

Does that mean that without a bigger flash, I won't be able to get any action shots?

reg · Nov 22, 2008

Wider aperture, or use flash.

joepence · Nov 22, 2008

What setting do I put it on to get a wider aperture?

reg · Nov 22, 2008

You put a different lens on.

icassell · Nov 22, 2008

joepence said:
I took some pictures at my daughters basketball game and most of them came out blurry. I tried different settings with not much luck. I have a cannon rebel xt. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to take action pictures indoors?

What lens are you using? Remember to use a fast enough shutter speed (Use Tv or Manual, not auto). If your lens doesn't have a large enough aperture (small f#) you might not be able to get the images you need unless you add more light. Unfortunately, fast lenses (small f#) tend to be more pricey.

TwoRails · Nov 22, 2008

You will also have to jack up the ISO on it.

Ecas32 · Nov 22, 2008

faster shutter speed and higher ISO

Dao · Nov 22, 2008

First of all, in order to freeze an action, you need to use a fast shutter speed setting. With fast shutter speed, less light is allow to enter the camera. If it is a outdoor events, usually it is not going to be a big problem because there are plenty of light. The problem is with indoor events.

Lightning inside the stadium usually is not as bright as outdoor. In order to take a proper exposed photos with your camera, you need to set a wider aperture (lower aperture number in your camera) so that it allow more light to go in.

The maximum aperture of your setup depends on the lens you use with your camera. If the lens you current cannot set to a lower number such as F/2.8, F/1.8, F/1.4 or F/1.2 ... then you may need to get a different lens. The wide aperture lens is usually refereed as fast lens.

Beside using a wide aperture lens, change the ISO settings to a higher number may also help.

As for the flash, you will need to very powerful one, I doubt the build-in camera flash can do the job.

joepence · Nov 24, 2008

Thank you for the advice. Any ideas on a lens for me to buy?

impressme · Nov 24, 2008

reg- short, almost rude, answers aren't helping anyone- If you're going to respond atleast give more than what you seem to think is a "dumb answer to a dumb question"- REMEMBER- this is a beginners forum for a reason- so BEGINNERS can post and receive HELPFUL advice!

Joepence- thanks for asking the question, I'm pretty new to this whole photography thing and this is a situation I have yet to shoot in!

aadhils · Nov 24, 2008

A faster shutter speed would cure the blurryness but that would make the picture darker. You could increase the ISO to get more light in but it would make the picture more grainy.

An ideal situation would be to use a lens with an F stop of 2.8 or lower.

if you don't have access to such a lens then yea a faster shutter speed and higher ISO is the way to go.

as for lenses, you might want to look into the Canon 50mm F1.8 or maybe even F1.4. Only downfall would be that it requires you to get quite close to the subject in order to get a decent close up shot.

skieur · Nov 24, 2008

I have shot basketball, even with a pocket camera when I did not have my regular cameras available.

Lighting usually means shooting at ISO 400 to 1600, with an fstop of 2.8 to 4 without flash and a shutterspeed of 1/125 to 1/250. Location is important and I am usually near the net at one end. Action toward the camera is easier to stop, than action perpendicular to the camera. Timing is also important when you are trying to work with less than adequate shutterspeeds and fast action. Players are often still or slower at certain times such as just after they let go of a penalty shot, or at the top of a jump. You need to anticipate those times and be ready to shoot.

As to choice of lens, the longer the lens, the harder it is to point and frame the shot when the action is very fast. A mid range lens 70mm to 200mm f. 2.8 would be ideal for a lot of amateur shooters. Flash would be helpful but it adds another variable into the mix. If you are not used to working with flash, then I would not suggest it.

There is a lot to learn for any beginner trying to shoot even an acceptable sports shot and the conditions are never ideal.

skieur