Newbie to sports photography

[loveebugg3]

Hey guys, I'm going to a baseball game tomorrow night and I need some help with just getting basics down. I know you need the shutter speed to be pretty high to make sure you freeze it in action but what I'm worried about the aperture and iso. I mostly shoot macro shots during mid-day with natural lighting and well this game is going to be at night. Basically what I'm asking is about how high would I need to keep the aperture and iso to make sure I get the proper exposure?

 

[CdTSnap]

What body are you using?

Depending on what style you want you should be ok with 1/250 to freeze most things 1/320 maybe or 1/500 should be perfect if you can get the ISO high enough.

Get low when you shoot, it looks better.

My D7100 or D7000 for that matter would be fine with ISO 3200 and still get nice clean shots but it depends alot on your sensor.

 

[curtyoungblood]

What type of baseball game are you shooting (high school, college, MLB)?

I would treat 1/500th as a minimum, any slower and you're going to start seeing blur in the shots. Use the widest aperture you can and whatever ISO is necessary to get there.

 

[tevo]

Sports is one of the more difficult areas of photography because it is very fast paced, and super demanding on gear. It would be very helpful for you to tell us what gear you are shooting with, as it will allow us to offer better advice. However, there are a few rules of thumb for sports you need to know (I will explain each one briefly):

-Fast Shutter
-Large Aperture
-High ISO (as a result of the two above...)
-Continuous Autofocus (back button if your camera allows for it)

Why?

A fast shutter (anywhere from 1/320-1/1000 in most cases) will, as you said, freeze action. For baseball 1/500 should be fine, unless you are trying to capture the pitch or the batter, in which case you'll need closer to 1/1000. A fast shutter lets in less light, so in order to compensate for this you also need a large aperture. Having the large aperture will also separate your subject from the background. Your shutter and aperture will remain fixed since it is a night game and the lighting will be constant (and mostly consistent, there may be some dark spots) which leaves your ISO as the only variable. Set your ISO to as high as possible without having too much grain or being too underexposed (too dark). You *will* underexpose slightly to allow for a faster shutter and there *will* be image noise, it's about finding a happy medium. You can compromise freezing action by going to a slower shutter (no slower than 1/250, realistically 1/320 if you want to use them seriously) to compensate for having a lens f/4 or slower, or for a lower ISO.

As for the backbutton focus I mentioned, some cameras have the option to set a button on the rear of the camera to turn on the AF, rather than your shutter button. That allows for you to control when the camera autofocuses, so if something runs in front of your subject the camera will not refocus. Check your camera manual, or let us know what you are shooting with and someone will know.

Good luck! Post pictures and let us know how it went

 

[loveebugg3]

Sports is one of the more difficult areas of photography because it is very fast paced, and super demanding on gear. It would be very helpful for you to tell us what gear you are shooting with, as it will allow us to offer better advice. However, there are a few rules of thumb for sports you need to know (I will explain each one briefly):

-Fast Shutter
-Large Aperture
-High ISO (as a result of the two above...)
-Continuous Autofocus (back button if your camera allows for it)

Why?

A fast shutter (anywhere from 1/320-1/1000 in most cases) will, as you said, freeze action. For baseball 1/500 should be fine, unless you are trying to capture the pitch or the batter, in which case you'll need closer to 1/1000. A fast shutter lets in less light, so in order to compensate for this you also need a large aperture. Having the large aperture will also separate your subject from the background. Your shutter and aperture will remain fixed since it is a night game and the lighting will be constant (and mostly consistent, there may be some dark spots) which leaves your ISO as the only variable. Set your ISO to as high as possible without having too much grain or being too underexposed (too dark). You *will* underexpose slightly to allow for a faster shutter and there *will* be image noise, it's about finding a happy medium. You can compromise freezing action by going to a slower shutter (no slower than 1/250, realistically 1/320 if you want to use them seriously) to compensate for having a lens f/4 or slower, or for a lower ISO.

As for the backbutton focus I mentioned, some cameras have the option to set a button on the rear of the camera to turn on the AF, rather than your shutter button. That allows for you to control when the camera autofocuses, so if something runs in front of your subject the camera will not refocus. Check your camera manual, or let us know what you are shooting with and someone will know.

Good luck! Post pictures and let us know how it went

Thank you everyone who posted! I'm actually using a Nikon D3100 body and a 1[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif normal]8-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens. I know that isn't the ideal lens for sports photography but it is all I have at the moment. And to curtyoundblood its just a simple 8-year old park baseball game. I'm shooting for a family member but I decided I could learn more in a process. I definitely will post pictures (though I'm sure they won't be all that great).[/FONT]

 

[Rosy]

Hey guys, I'm going to a baseball game tomorrow night and I need some help with just getting basics down. I know you need the shutter speed to be pretty high to make sure you freeze it in action but what I'm worried about the aperture and iso. I mostly shoot macro shots during mid-day with natural lighting and well this game is going to be at night. Basically what I'm asking is about how high would I need to keep the aperture and iso to make sure I get the proper exposure?

I just came back from my son's baseball game
I had it set on continuous mode
Shutter Priority...500
Started the night 7pm with iso 400 and gradually increased ending at 6400. I shoot with a Nikon d700 so the high iso gives out acceptable images

What lens will you be using

 

[tevo]

Sports is one of the more difficult areas of photography because it is very fast paced, and super demanding on gear. It would be very helpful for you to tell us what gear you are shooting with, as it will allow us to offer better advice. However, there are a few rules of thumb for sports you need to know (I will explain each one briefly):

-Fast Shutter
-Large Aperture
-High ISO (as a result of the two above...)
-Continuous Autofocus (back button if your camera allows for it)

Why?

A fast shutter (anywhere from 1/320-1/1000 in most cases) will, as you said, freeze action. For baseball 1/500 should be fine, unless you are trying to capture the pitch or the batter, in which case you'll need closer to 1/1000. A fast shutter lets in less light, so in order to compensate for this you also need a large aperture. Having the large aperture will also separate your subject from the background. Your shutter and aperture will remain fixed since it is a night game and the lighting will be constant (and mostly consistent, there may be some dark spots) which leaves your ISO as the only variable. Set your ISO to as high as possible without having too much grain or being too underexposed (too dark). You *will* underexpose slightly to allow for a faster shutter and there *will* be image noise, it's about finding a happy medium. You can compromise freezing action by going to a slower shutter (no slower than 1/250, realistically 1/320 if you want to use them seriously) to compensate for having a lens f/4 or slower, or for a lower ISO.

As for the backbutton focus I mentioned, some cameras have the option to set a button on the rear of the camera to turn on the AF, rather than your shutter button. That allows for you to control when the camera autofocuses, so if something runs in front of your subject the camera will not refocus. Check your camera manual, or let us know what you are shooting with and someone will know.

Good luck! Post pictures and let us know how it went

Thank you everyone who posted! I'm actually using a Nikon D3100 body and a18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens. I know that isn't the ideal lens for sports photography but it is all I have at the moment. And to curtyoundblood its just a simple 8-year old park baseball game. I'm shooting for a family member but I decided I could learn more in a process. I definitely will post pictures (though I'm sure they won't be all that great).

Okay, considering your lens and the level of the athletes your best bet will be to hangout right behind first or third base and get pictures of slides / catches. You could also stay inside the dugout (if there is one) and shoot the batter. Photos of the pitcher or any outfielders will obviously be difficult.

 

[loveebugg3]

I just came back from my son's baseball game
I had it set on continuous mode
Shutter Priority...500
Started the night 7pm with iso 400 and gradually increased ending at 6400. I shoot with a Nikon d700 so the high iso gives out acceptable images

What lens will you be using

Like I said above I will be using the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens. I know that isn't the ideal lens but it is all I have at the moment.

Okay, considering your lens and the level of the athletes your best bet will be to hangout right behind first or third base and get pictures of slides / catches. You could also stay inside the dugout (if there is one) and shoot the batter. Photos of the pitcher or any outfielders will obviously be difficult.

I understand, if they let me, I'll probably sit in the dugout most of the game. I'm looking for a better lens but I'm not sure which one would be best because of how inexperienced I am with my camera. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

 

[tevo]

I just came back from my son's baseball game
I had it set on continuous mode
Shutter Priority...500
Started the night 7pm with iso 400 and gradually increased ending at 6400. I shoot with a Nikon d700 so the high iso gives out acceptable images

What lens will you be using

Like I said above I will be using the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens. I know that isn't the ideal lens but it is all I have at the moment.

Okay, considering your lens and the level of the athletes your best bet will be to hangout right behind first or third base and get pictures of slides / catches. You could also stay inside the dugout (if there is one) and shoot the batter. Photos of the pitcher or any outfielders will obviously be difficult.

I understand, if they let me, I'll probably sit in the dugout most of the game. I'm looking for a better lens but I'm not sure which one would be best because of how inexperienced I am with my camera. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

The Nikon 70-300 4.5-5.6 VR would be a great addition to your bag, as it is a quality zoom lens that could stay with you even after (or if) you upgrade to full frame. I've shot it extensively for daytime sports and it is a great all purpose zoom. I have one I'm thinking about selling if you're interested, feel free to PM me. I'll give you a good price on it.

 

[hirejn]

I would shoot in manual at about f/4 to f/5.6 at whatever ISO gave me 1/500 shutter speed. With a good high ISO camera I can do that. With a first- or second-generation DSLR, the high ISOs are not clean. Baseball is not exactly a high action sport. Shutter speeds of 1/500 should be enough to freeze most of it for your purposes. The lower the f-number, the more light comes through the lens, but the trade-off is less depth of field, or distance between the nearest and farthest objects in good focus.

 

[aaronquirke]

If you are photographing the motion of a pitcher or the swing of a batter use a shutter speed of 1/1000. Following this example you need to use a large aperture to make up for the quickness of the shutter. For any still shots, shutter speed and be brought down significantly.