Sports photography feedback

quackal · Jan 30, 2011

First time doing this so any feedback will be helpful.

I would love any feedback on some indoor basketball shots recently taken.

Message ....click on "Basketball" album.
Poorly lit gymnasium so I did have to post-process a bit and remove some noise.

Canon 7D, 70-200mm f/2.8, ISO 2000, 1/500th

If you're so inclined, take a look at the "Sports" album which is all outdoors.

Any feedback is appreciated; I've been shooting for a year, and would like to get better.

Thanks!

Canon 7D, Canon XSi, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6, Canon 55-250mm kit lens.

Kenny32 · Jan 31, 2011

Are you shooting RAW?

If so, every time I edit my RAW photos from basketball, I always brighten them up a little bit using the exposure slider...Move to the "Blacks" slider, and then depending on the image I might also tweak saturation and clarity. It just seems like you need a bit more post-processing to make these quality images...But you are on the right track with your settings...You just need a little more effort in photoshop, lightroom, or whatever you use.

oldmacman · Jan 31, 2011

I agree with Kenny. The exposure looks ok but they need a level adjustment and noise reduction. A couple could benefit from selective sharpening as well. You are definitely on the right track, you just need some pp practice.

quackal · Feb 1, 2011

Thanks very much for the replies

These are all JPGs and I actually processed all of them in PSE...levels, brightness, saturation and noise reducation (Noiseware).

I was going to try shooting RAW next time I shoot indoors, to see how much better I can get them and have a little more control.

I appreciate any and all comments....keep it coming

Kethean · Feb 1, 2011

These look pretty good, but as I'm a fan a basketball photos, I would really suggest getting a nifty fifty. You may not be a fan of the primes, but that fast aperture is great for indoor sports like basketball and volleyball.

Looking at your photos, they look good. I'd also try using the high continuous...on a 7D you can just hold the button down and with the 2.8 you're using, the one shot focus should give you faster burst speed. Like I said, I like your photos, but agree with the others in dropping the noise and brightening exposure....try lowering your ISO and set the camera to high noise reduction while shooting...this should all help!

D-B-J · Feb 1, 2011

You should definatley shoot in RAW next time. However, they look rather good for being edited jpeg's.

Regards,
Jake

sierramister · Feb 1, 2011

I think there is something to be said about shooting jpeg's. If you burst the game winning shot and fill up the buffer, then you might miss the game winning rebound. I usually take 800+ shots of a basketball game, and I could never do that shooting in raw.

CNCO · Feb 1, 2011

i think they are blurry

quackal · Feb 2, 2011

Thanks for the replies....I appreciate all the feedback & suggestions!

bigtwinky · Feb 2, 2011

sierramister said:
I think there is something to be said about shooting jpeg's. If you burst the game winning shot and fill up the buffer, then you might miss the game winning rebound. I usually take 800+ shots of a basketball game, and I could never do that shooting in raw.

There is a reason why pro shooters have 1D bodies. 1.3 crop factor for extended range, 10 fps shooting speed. And they use pro level cards with fast buffers... so they can shoot in RAW and burst.

The importance of knowing the game (or any subject you are shooting) is huge... you have to anticipate what will happen and be ready to shoot. Shoot a bit before and a bit after.

Knowing your gear is also important so that you know approx when you are getting close to the buffer filling, knowing when to stop and what to capture

With my 7D in RAW using Sandisc Extreme 16GB cards, I can shoot I believe 18 continuous shots before the buffer starts to slow. Thats alot of coverage for a shot.

I think I did over 100 jpgs in continous shooting. But really, I'm not interested in doing stop motion of an entire game and then finding the one frame I like. I'll shoot video for that.

quackal · Feb 2, 2011

...so what is your workflow after shooting a game in RAW?
can you tell which you want to keep and tweak and which you won't waste time on?

this is typically what I have been following, after shooting RAW pictures
Beginning RAW processing

bigtwinky · Feb 2, 2011

Same as with any other process.

I use Lightroom for sorting and most processing. So after moving the images into Lightroom, I go through the images quickly and flag some to delete and 4 star the ones that I want to keep.

I typically walk away from the keyboard for a bit and then head back and look through it again to ensure I have a good selection of keepers. I'll 5 star the portfolio ones.

I then work on the keepers in lightroom, doing some exposure, clarity, levels and whatever else needs to be done. I'm then pretty much good to go.

Select to show only 4 star or more, export as JPG in web, export as JPG in full.

Voila

Kenny32 · Feb 3, 2011

bigtwinky said:
Same as with any other process.

I use Lightroom for sorting and most processing. So after moving the images into Lightroom, I go through the images quickly and flag some to delete and 4 star the ones that I want to keep.

I typically walk away from the keyboard for a bit and then head back and look through it again to ensure I have a good selection of keepers. I'll 5 star the portfolio ones.

I then work on the keepers in lightroom, doing some exposure, clarity, levels and whatever else needs to be done. I'm then pretty much good to go.

Select to show only 4 star or more, export as JPG in web, export as JPG in full.

Voila

I'm very similar. If you are shooting RAW, be sure to buy more CF/SD cards...I know for a D300 my RAW files average about 12 MB per file.

So after they upload, I go image by image...but instead of flagging for later editing, I edit the photo, and "Add to quick collection" so I have a set collection where all of my "keepers" are located. As I said before, my favorite sliders, for basketball and really all sports are your obvious exposure (Always use exposure, never use brightness, it adds a visible amount of noise in my opinion), contrast, and temperature/tint (White Balance) adjustments. Also I find a lot that blacks, clarity, and saturation.

If I'm using flash I might have to play around with shadows/highlights, but that's a little advanced...Don't be afraid to look up some lightroom tutorials online, there's some good ones out there.

Damadsetta · Aug 1, 2011

Just invested in lots of SD cards for my 1d Mk III, good advice =)

Assassin · Aug 4, 2011

Damadsetta said:
Just invested in lots of SD cards for my 1d Mk III, good advice =)

Make sure all the cards are UDMA. You can buy the Sandisk Extreme, but the fastest ones are 600x, which are bloody expensive. I use Lexar as well, but generally the SD cards for your MkIII won't be fast enough for sport. You can always shoot Raw (to CF) + JPeg (to SD), but I think shooting bursts of RAW to SD won't be fast enough unless they are UDMA cards... Don't go cheap if you can help it...

For the indoor sports such as basket ball I generally shoot in Manual mode unless the lighting is uneven across the court. Take a few frames without anyone on the court looking at the histogram, set your shutter speed as fast as you can and lock in your aperture. Sometimes the bright uniforms will upset the lightmeter, so auto is never good. Don't be afraid of using higher ISO either, remember a sharp noisy photo is always better than a blurry one with less noise. You can always deal with noise in PP, but you can't fix unsharp photos... I use LR to deselect and select same work flow as bigtwinky more or less...
I'm not a pro, but a serious enthusiast..

Know the game, but use good L series lenses. I doubt whether the 'nifty fifty' mentioned about would focus fast enough, but in saying that I use the 85/1.2 sometimes, which isn't the fastest focusing lens in the world either, but it has a beautiful sweet bokeh...