Noob with D3100 & angry wife...HELP!

[LungFish]

Now let me ask you: Why would you leave the elbow and distracting background?

I agree with cropping some of the background but the lack of an elbow is itself distracting, so it doesn't really help.

Plus with the head already being cropped, cropping the elbow put it in balance w/ the cropped head, making the composition seem intentional rather than accidental.

I think thats kind of a lot cause.

Also, I spent less time cropping and adjusting he exposure than I just spent typing about it. My point was for the OP to get a free editing program and do some of this himself. To his own taste. As in whatever crop and adjustments I made were more for illustration, and not the "best I could do".

Fair enough

 

[LungFish]

To add something more helpful to the OP, if you know you are going to crop in post you can shoot a little wider and make sure everything you want in the photo is there. That gives you more options.

 

[nycphotography]

Also, when shooting sports, make sure you're at the max aperture. Always.

That usually means A (aperture priority) mode.

 

[JodieM]

Also, when shooting sports, make sure you're at the max aperture. Always.

That usually means A (aperture priority) mode.

NYCphotography, I disagree and agree. Wide open ap is great for sports photography, however, if the shooter were to use A (aperture priority mode) he could possibly get super slow, awful shutter speeds and ruin the whole shoot. It would be better to work in S (shutter priority mode). Set a motion stopping shutter speed and let the aperture fall where it may. Zoom your telephoto lens and get depth of field with the zoom and not the aperture.

 

[nycphotography]

Also, when shooting sports, make sure you're at the max aperture. Always.

That usually means A (aperture priority) mode.

NYCphotography, I disagree and agree. Wide open ap is great for sports photography, however, if the shooter were to use A (aperture priority mode) he could possibly get super slow, awful shutter speeds and ruin the whole shoot. It would be better to work in S (shutter priority mode). Set a motion stopping shutter speed and let the aperture fall where it may. Zoom your telephoto lens and get depth of field with the zoom and not the aperture.

In that scenario, I'd meter the darkest shot I expect to encounter, and set the ISO so I'm shooting 1/125 at f2.8. That may mean 1600, 3200 or even 6400 ISO. Yes that may be noisy, but I can "remove noise (various filters) -> add blur -> downres -> sharpen" in post to fix that. It may also mean the addition of a monopod for camera stability. I find that high ISO works fine when you know you're going to downres for display. But I'd really have to be there in the venue in order to figure it out. What I think I'm going to do doesn't always work in the real world, so it's good to have a plan B or C.

I guess we both get to the same place, just each do it in our own way. And it's good to know all the ways possible.

 

[Buckster]

Also, when shooting sports, make sure you're at the max aperture. Always.

That usually means A (aperture priority) mode.

NYCphotography, I disagree and agree. Wide open ap is great for sports photography, however, if the shooter were to use A (aperture priority mode) he could possibly get super slow, awful shutter speeds and ruin the whole shoot. It would be better to work in S (shutter priority mode). Set a motion stopping shutter speed and let the aperture fall where it may. Zoom your telephoto lens and get depth of field with the zoom and not the aperture.

In that scenario, I'd meter the darkest shot I expect to encounter, and set the ISO so I'm shooting 1/125 at f2.8.

With which lens?

 

[nycphotography]

Another way (in fairly consistent lighting) is to get an exposure that works, then put the camera in M mode and shoot JPG+RAW.
Every so often, review the results and adjust the exposure accordingly.

For shots where the JPG is too over or under exposed to fix in Lightroom, adjust +/- up to 3EV when rendering a new JPG from the RAW file.

 

[nycphotography]

With the 80-200. As a starting point. If I don't think A mode is going to work. Or maybe I bump the ISO and leave it in A mode.

 

[gryffinwings]

This is what I would do:

Shoot RAW
High ISO
1/125th shutter speed.
Aperture at lowest f-number
Post process in Lightroom 4
---Noise Reduction, sharpen, etc.
---crop picture for better composition.

 

[Nikmal]

not useful

What a stupid responce he is just telling the truth my guess is there will not be 1 reasonable shot with that gear and my gear did cost that much more

The OP was asking for advice with the equipment he/she has.. not what they should have. So the above "not useful" was a good response and not stupid. The OP was looking to get a shot of his kid playing basketball. He was NOT looking for a professional quality photo for a magazine. The equipment he has is not perfect, granted but it is good enough for a candid for a family album. So yes he will (did) get a half way decent shot and while not perfect is adequate.
If I wanted to spend 15k on a lens just so I can get a PERFECT shot during a sporting event then I am sorry, as I know I can do fairly well with good shooting skills without said lens.
I do photography because I enjoy it and has many have said.. don't do photography to make money.. do it because it is fun! I express my feelings and thoughts and even save memories through capturing images on my camera.. I am told they are great pictures and I even have some good photos of a sporting event and without said 15k lens.
So while you might think they could not even get a 1 reasonable shot from it.. then you might want to consider a forum more to your skill set like a professional grade one where everyone there is a perfectionist such as yourself.

 

[jwbryson1]

Pro photographers use lenses that cost $15,000+

Wow I have got to tell my wife about this. I only spent $7000 on my 400mm f 2.8 & $6000 on my 300mm f2.8. I need to spend more the next time.:lmao:

:er: Dude, I was making a point. But, you are so funny!! HAHAHAHAHA.....WHAT A RIOT! HAHAHAHAHA......

 

[Buckster]

With the 80-200. As a starting point. If I don't think A mode is going to work. Or maybe I bump the ISO and leave it in A mode.

200mm @ 1/125 for sports and the aperture wide open, eh? Uh huh...

 

[table1349]

It all depends on whether you are interested in sports photography or sports snapshots. As a sports photographer I tell budding sports photographers to shot in aperture priority mode not shutter priorty mode if they do not feel comfortable in full manual. The reason for this is actually quite simple. A good sports photograph isolates action. Action is isolated by using the shallowest acceptable DOF thereby capturing the action/individuals in sharp focus while all secondary people out of focus.

To freeze motion you keep your shutter speed up via your ISO. ISO adjustment on most cameras is very quick and easy to do without ever having to take the camera away from your face thus allowing you to keeping that shutter speed at 1/250th or faster.

If you shoot in shutter priority mode only worrying about shutter speed you can end up with photographs with so much DOF that virtually everything and everyone is in focus. That is a sports snapshot not a sports photograph.


When shooting indoors or under the lights it is virtually impossible not to be shooting wide open and bumping your ISO up. If you are used to shooting in aperture priority mode you don't have to worry about shooting a 1:00 game under bright sunlight or under the lights/indoors since the procedure is all the same.

 

[nycphotography]

With the 80-200. As a starting point. If I don't think A mode is going to work. Or maybe I bump the ISO and leave it in A mode.

200mm @ 1/125 for sports and the aperture wide open, eh? Uh huh...

Yeah because I'm clearly not smart enough to look at the results I'm getting and make adjustments based on what I'm finding, nor is anyone else.

Was the act of failing to notice the "as a starting point" intentional as opposed accidental? Is this all you do? Nitpick pedantic crap details that are almost but not quite completely peripheral to the point?

See, here's the problem... while we can scrum over these details forever, none of it is of any use to the OP who just wants some suggestions to take better pictures at the basketball game. We can argue over what the best recipe is... but really the best way to help people is to present the concepts they need so they can adjust their own recipes as needed.

Did you even both to explain WHY you think 1/125 on a 80-200 at a youth basketball game is laughable? Of course not. That would have been far too helpful. The 1/focal length guideline is just that, a guideline. If I can shoot 1/1000, I will. If I can't then I'll have to start compromising. Bump the ISO. Slow the exposure. But, the last thing I'm going to do is stop down.

Do you always know exactly how you're going to shoot everything before you even get there, and you never have to adjust your plan of attack in the field? So yes, I would in fact START at 1/125 and see what I'm getting before making adjustments / compromises.

So how exactly is it helpful to post a sarcastic "uh huh" without any further explanation?

 

[Mully]

^^^^^^ Seems you are running into problems with all the photographer who know what they are doing....why is that, maybe misinformation on your part.