sport photography advices needed

[Derolade]

Hello everyone
i've always took photos as a hobby,
but this sunday i can test myself doing a volleyball photoshoot as a job (or at least as a test to see how i perform)

i need to take photos before, during, and after the game. so single and group shots with the players and few action shots.

problem is: i have a canon 600D/T3i and the ultra fantastic 18-55 and 55-250 kit lenses along with the 50mm 1.8
(still don't know if it's indoor or outdoor, but it's not going to be a sunny day anyway)

i have an off camera flash for portraits and such. but the only way i can activate it is triggering it with the on camera flash. and i have no assistent. no real reflectors and such. also i've never ever made group shots! what do i do?

i'm here to ask ANY kind of advice to not make a crappy job. or at least, the less crappy possible.

sorry if it's a lot of stuff, and for my english.
thanks.

 

[gsgary]

If it is indoors you are in big trouble you lenses are not fast enough

 

[Derolade]

i know. hopefully they don't seem to need a lot of the action part, but a bit of everything. it's a test run and i can do what i want for now. what about the still photos? i know how to do simple portraits. but still i'm locked with ambient light or frontal flash. or bouncing it from a wall if i'm lucky. what about group photos? i mean, even how to position the team (they are girls if that matter)

 

[JoeW]

I'll be quick b/c I'm supposed to be headed out the door.

1. Shooting volleyball is the toughest team sport I've ever tried to shoot. Good luck. If it's indoors you're talking about lousy light, limited ability to move around, no stationary players for most of the action so difficult to cheat and pre-focus, lots of quick movement so blur is easy.

2. Your 50mm should work for portraits. You can use a narrow DoF to get good bokeh.

3. ASAP, scout out the shooting location. Find a good place pre- and post- match to shoot the portraits you're expected to provide.

4. Find out if you'll have sideline privileges and can move around Or if you're shooting from one stationary spot. Or (gasp) the stands with the common folk.

 

[tirediron]

This is going to be VERY challenging. I find that for indoor court sports I need to be at least ISO 3200, and usually 6400 in order to get a shutter-speed sufficient to stop motion. That will be all but impossible with the kit lenses, and depending on your camera's abilities, perhaps even impractical using the 50mm 1.8. That said, my approach would be to crank the ISO to the highest usuable level, and put on the 50 for the actual game. Fortunately, volleyball is a small court sport, and you can get fairly close. You're going to have to crop, and you're going to have noisy images, but you should be able to get something usable from it.

As for the portraits, do the group out of doors; even if it seems dark, it's probably going to be much brighter than the gym. Just line the players up in 2 rows, tallest in the centre and shortest on the ends; have them incline slightly to the middle and look toward the camera. Easy! The individuals you can do indoors with the speedlight; just move it away from the camera by 20-30 degrees and diffuse it. You can diffuse it nicely by firing it into a piece of white card stock and lighting the subject with the reflection.

 

[Derolade]

thanks a lot all of you hat do you suggest ad good shutter speed 1/500 and up? i guess i'l be locked with iso 6400 i don't really want to use 12800, it's really bad on my camera. but i might need it anyway. i guess a noisy shot is better than a blurred one.. sadly i can't go to the location to scout it. this is bad and i already knew :/

@tirediron you mean tilting the flash while on camera and bounce it? (if so i could use a wall if it's white)

lighting suggestions for groups? better go with natural light or flash? i'm looking for tutorials, but any advice is welcome

 

[tirediron]

...@tirediron you mean tilting the flash while on camera and bounce it? (if so i could use a wall if it's white)

No, I meant have the flash off of the camera, 20-30 degrees off-set and trigger it using your built-in speedlight.

 

[ronlane]

...@tirediron you mean tilting the flash while on camera and bounce it? (if so i could use a wall if it's white)

No, I meant have the flash off of the camera, 20-30 degrees off-set and trigger it using your built-in speedlight.

Exactly. One suggestion on this is to ask a parent that is standing there waiting to hold it for you if necessary.

 

[Derolade]

...@tirediron you mean tilting the flash while on camera and bounce it? (if so i could use a wall if it's white)

No, I meant have the flash off of the camera, 20-30 degrees off-set and trigger it using your built-in speedlight.

i see now. i might need an assistent for that tho. i'll see what i can do. i hope to get some decent shots out of it

 

[tirediron]

...@tirediron you mean tilting the flash while on camera and bounce it? (if so i could use a wall if it's white)

No, I meant have the flash off of the camera, 20-30 degrees off-set and trigger it using your built-in speedlight.

i see now. i might need an assistent for that tho. i'll see what i can do. i hope to get some decent shots out of it

Good luck - please post the results here.

 

[gsgary]

You could always set up your off camera flash near the net, i used to shoot lots of events and print on site, this shot was taken with a studio flash on a stand by my side with a very big reflector aimed at the ceiling, Canon 1Dmk2 and 70-200F4 iso1250 1/250

 

[JoeW]

Just a couple of additional comments.

1. I strongly support the off-camera flash with one caveat--get clearance beforehand that it's okay for you to use it. If you've got the speed light set up court side as you wander around, it's likely to be distracting.

2. If you're shooting serious volleyball athletes than I don't think 1/500th is going to prevent blur. Instead, you cheat. For "action" shots, look for somewhat stationary positions (someone getting ready to serve, two teammates crouching at the net preparing to block, player on the court with ball bouncing--an obviously failed stop, and so on). And give up trying to capture a shot of a spike (unless you want some artistic blur).

 

[Derolade]

Just a couple of additional comments.

1. I strongly support the off-camera flash with one caveat--get clearance beforehand that it's okay for you to use it. If you've got the speed light set up court side as you wander around, it's likely to be distracting.

2. If you're shooting serious volleyball athletes than I don't think 1/500th is going to prevent blur. Instead, you cheat. For "action" shots, look for somewhat stationary positions (someone getting ready to serve, two teammates crouching at the net preparing to block, player on the court with ball bouncing--an obviously failed stop, and so on). And give up trying to capture a shot of a spike (unless you want some artistic blur).

they are italian Serie A players so they will be pretty darn fast. very good advices here. thanks i'll write them down so i wont forget

 

[MichaelHenson]

If you were to do some panning shots (where the background is blurred) you wouldn't have to have as high a shutter speed...but due to the nature of volleyball the bursts of speed might not be linear enough for panning shots?

 

[Derolade]

If you were to do some panning shots (where the background is blurred) you wouldn't have to have as high a shutter speed...but due to the nature of volleyball the bursts of speed might not be linear enough for panning shots?

i guess it will be difficult.. i'll stick with easier stuff for now