NCAA basketball

iAstonish · Feb 12, 2010

I Sophomore photographer at West Virginia University. Still having trouble with color balance and dealing with the lighting, but these are a few of my recent shots.

WVU/Villanova game: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xsnalex/sets/72157623261120437/
WVU/Pitt game: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xsnalex/sets/72157623354884882/

Tips, critiques, compliments, all welcome.

TheGenericusername · Feb 13, 2010

what are the shoes in your avatar? cause im droolin over here. and your photos are really well composed, are you using any flash?

iAstonish · Feb 14, 2010

Nike Flight Condor High's. They are so clean, I have a pair.

And I don't use any flash, not allowed to at the games.

Thanks for the feedback!

schumionbike · Feb 15, 2010

neat shots, if you can get slightly better court positions so more of your photos show the faces of the athletes, than you'll be golden. I noticed that some shots of the players dunking on the basket, you were to his right rather than right below him which would make a better perspective I think. If possible, you should get a f2.8 lens too

iAstonish · Feb 15, 2010

These last games were pretty big, so of course I got stuck sitting wherever I could find a spot on the baseline lol

I missed a few shots because the ref was directly in front of the action : p

I have a 1.8 lens, but its a 35mm prime and I had to sacrifice that speed for the large variety of ranges my 18-250mm offers.

Thanks for the tips though, I'm going to try to get better positioning next game. Any advice on the lighting? I found it to be a little bit dark and sometimes there is a yellow tint to some of the pictures do to the lighting and the colors.

Most of these were shot at 3200 ISO, 500 shutter speed, and 4.5 stop

schumionbike · Feb 15, 2010

I thought these shots were pretty well exposed for the most part. Some are a little dark but there isn't much to do about it when 1/500 and at 3200 ISO. I tend to put my camera on auto ISO so it'll compensate for the slight different lighting in different area of the field. I shot a wedding recently and my ISO was on auto and sometimes in just one given area, my ISO would vary between 1250-1600. The reason I mention this is because I noticed your exif was always at 1/500 3200 ISO and sometimes the pictures are a little overexposed, auto ISO would have help and the lower ISO would help with noise too.

iAstonish · Feb 15, 2010

Okay, thank you for the advice. I will test out a few different settings next game.

CNCO · Feb 15, 2010

what camera are you using? try adjusting your exposure setting.

iAstonish · Feb 16, 2010

D5000

Sam6644 · Feb 16, 2010

first off, as a UC student I have to say BOOO WVU. :greenpbl:

second, I'll say those are some nice shots.. they look pretty good. Sorta hard to suggest what setting to use since all arenas are pretty different.

I shoot for out paper here at Cincinnati and have done a handful of basketball games this season. Our arena calls for a white balance around 3700K and 1600 ISO.

If there is anything I'd say you NEED to do if you plan to continue to do is invest in a 70(80 for nikon I guess)-200mm f/2.8 lens. Don't worry about a lens with VR, since it doesn't stop motion and adds a ton of cost to the lens. It will make all the difference in shooting basketball.

Like I said, your shots are really nice. Just remember that when it comes to sports- especially basketball TIGHT is right. Keep your shots tight and don't cut limbs off.

Another thing that comes in really handy is shooting with two bodies. One with a long lens and one with a short. The set up I see all the pros (Associated Press, ESPN, Cincinnati Enquirer, etc.) on the baseline when I shoot games is a 70-200mm f/2.8 and 25-70 f/2.8 (they all use Canon cameras, nikon offerings may vary a little)

I shot all these games with a Nikon D50 and D90 (except one I used a Canon 50D)
here are some of my shots from UC basketball this year.
Collection: The News Record

Keep up the good work! Woo Big East!

iAstonish · Feb 16, 2010

haha that means a lot coming from a UC student/fan.

But seriously thanks for the advice, I will look into the lens you suggested. One question I have for you is how do you find the proper white balance for your arena? I put it at custom and shot at the lights, but the colors afterward had too much of a fake yellow tint. I just have my white balance on auto most of the time, because I'm unsure of what to do with it.