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Sports photography.
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Hi,
Shooting an under 14 hurling blitz on saturday in Croke park.
totally unofficial (nephew playing)
I have a Nikon d60 with 18-55 lens also sigma 70-300mm
any hints or tips for some good photos plus any ideas for unique photos are much apprecited.Lens speed is a critical factor and the Sigma 70-300 is not excellent in this matter. Correct me if I am wrong but I think that the max aperture at 300mm is a f/5.6. I don’t know what camera are you using but you will have to bump up the ISO as much you can in order to keep the shutter speed at a reasonable value. Don’t forget that your shutter speed should be 1/ focal distance of your lens, in your case min 1/300. A monopod or a tripod would be a good idea. Dont forget to check the white balance also. I always recommend shooting in Raw but sport photography is a case where, unless you have a D3 or D1, Jpeg is a better option. Dont know if you allowed a flashgun but bring one if you have it.
I forgot to mention. Auto-focus is an important element so dont forget to set the camera on Continuous-servo AF.
photOvidiu wrote:
I forgot to mention. Auto-focus is an important element so dont forget to set the camera on Continuous-servo AF.
photOvidiu, I had my first commercial rugby match last Saturday. I had the camera on servo AF but wasn’t sure what focusing point/s to use. I started with centre spot focusing but found that occasionally I was getting the fence and spectators way in the background in focus with all the players blurred.
I switched to 9 point focusing which seemed to work much better. I was still disappointed to find the focus on the wrong players some of the time though, especially as some of them looked great apart from the wrong focus point. It’s a bit luck of the draw. Should I just stick with centre focusing and try to be faster at getting the right shot. Not very easy at 400mm though.
Any help much appreciated. The next game is 18th October.
Thanks
MarkTry manual focus. It’s a lot less hit and miss than auto focus and you’re in total control.
Thorsten. Manual focus? on a long focus lens? Shooting sport?? You will end up with carpal tunnel injuries :). And dont forget that the aperture will be wide open thus shallow hyperfocal distance.
MGphoto. Set the camera to servo AF, and then set the focus point on one of the three quarters of the frame. Compositionally you don’t want someone who’s running with a ball, bang in the middle of the picture. It is always nice to allow for a bit of space in front of the subject. Adjust the position of the focus point depending on what side are they coming from. Running from the left of your frame, set the focus point to the left of the frame. They come from the right, set the focus point to the right. Pan with the subject and you should be able to get some sharp shots.
I dont know what camera are you using but some cameras ( the real ones..like lets say Nikon D700 :lol: ) will predict the trajectory of your subject.
Cheers, I’ll give that a go at the next game then.
It’s OK I have a real camera, EOS 5D. 8)
photOvidiu wrote:
Thorsten. Manual focus? on a long focus lens? Shooting sport?? You will end up with carpal tunnel injuries :). And dont forget that the aperture will be wide open thus shallow hyperfocal distance.
Well, it’s how we used to do things in the days before AF :) And it really isn’t that difficult. Your brain tracks the direction the subject is tracking in and if you know your lens you will know which way to turn the focus ring to follow-focus. Alternatively if your shooting something like motor sport, you can trap-focus (or pre-focus) on a specific point and then shoot when the subject enters that zone. It helps to have a large aperture lens so that you have a nice crisp viewfinder and it’s easier to do this on a full frame camera with it’s brighter viewfinder.
When shooting sports, I shoot in Shutter Priority mode, setting the fastest speed I can get (above 1/400), trying to get a low aperture (f/2.8). I would select the centre point focus point only and use the camera AF, with AI Servo (focus tracking). I tend to shoot in short bursts (2-3 frames per burst), and try to get peak action.
If you have only one camera body, use your longest lens. Bump up your ISO as much as you are comfortable with.
I’ve never shot hurling, but frequently shoot rugby and football. I’ve actually put some sports photo tips on my website.
I hope this is of some use.
Thanks for the advice. No problem with lighting, shooting at ISO 1600 on the 5D gives good results. I was using aperture priority to keep it close to wide open getting 1600th – 2000th of a second. It was the first time I tried out my new lens, most of my work would be product shots or new property interiors (not much of that now though). The lens isn’t the best, SIGMA 120-400 mm F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM but not worth my while splashing out in a big way until after this season. First thing I need is a monopod, my arms were in bits afterwards. It made it hard to zoom quickly too which meant cropping some pics more than I’m comfortable with.
Here a few samples from my first outing. My favourite shots are the ones with the most strained expressions.
Really nice 3rd image there.
Just a matter of practice, practice, practice. :D
For a nice DOF, and a faster lens, the 70-200mm f/2.8 is a brilliant lens, and well worth considering.
Had a look at your Leinster shots Paul. Some beautifully captured images and definitely inspiration there for my next game on the 18th. Thanks for the link.
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