Sports photography Discussion and Q&A

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

08/07/2014 12:13:11 AM · #1

The school year is about to begin, and I begin my 9th year with the local Newspaper. I have been going back through some of the early stuff I shot for the newspaper and compared it to what I currently shoot. The progress is just amazing, sure the equipment has gotten better, the bills to pay for them steeper, but the results are worth it. I thought I'd share some of my recent stuff, and if any of you who have athletes and are the local PWAC had any questions I can try to answer them to help you improve your child's scrapbook.

Matt

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

08/07/2014 02:09:24 AM · #2

Some really great shots there, Matt! I unofficially shot my son's Little League Team for the second year in a row. Over 3,500 shots. I made a slideshow DVD for their end of season party and offered the parents all the (good) shots of their kid on disc for $25 - ridiculously cheap, I know, but the last two years I just gave them away. The difference was that this year I had not kept up with processing the photos shortly after each game (except for tagging the players), so I had a sh*tload of processing to do, but decided I am only going to do the ones that parents were willing to a pay a little for.

My real dilemma is that I like to shoot these, but I just end up with way too many and I can never make it worth the time it takes to go through them all over the course of the season and then most of them just go to waste anyway. It's also harder to enjoy the game if I am looking for good shots. All that said, I get a few that make me smile. Feel free to critique / give tips on any of those shots.

08/07/2014 10:16:17 AM · #3

Hi Ken,

I won't get into your pricing, but I will go over your gallery you linked in a bit. The great thing for me, is I don't have a vested interest in the kids playing so it's easy for me to stay focused without worrying about not enjoying the game. Shooting it is my joy, and of course getting "The shot"

Matt

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

08/08/2014 11:37:33 AM · #4

Ken I left you some comments. If anyone else has some questions or want some sports related help just let me know.

colorcarnival

Olympus 45mm f1.8 M.Zuiko Digital Micro Four Thirds

08/08/2014 02:26:40 PM · #5

Oh Matt - sports related commentary from you would be awesome. (Aside from what you have told me about getting rid of my Oly lol)

I have a lot of sports albums on FB. Should I pick one and maybe you can look and see what really needs work?

Thanks for the offer!

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/08/2014 02:52:30 PM · #6

On the rare occasions I get to go to a live sporting event I try to practice the craft "just for practice," though I'm usually seated pretty far from the action. I saw this play developing early (runner trying to score from first on a hit down the right-field line) and I thought my timing was pretty good, though my upper-deck location past third base blocked the best view of the outcome ...

Handheld, Program mode. FL 432mm (35m EQ) � f/4.00 � ISO 80 � 1/501 seconds
Original:

Edited versions:

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

08/08/2014 04:58:58 PM · #7

Originally posted by MattO:

Ken I left you some comments. If anyone else has some questions or want some sports related help just let me know.

Muchas gracias, Matt! Very gracious and very helpful.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

08/08/2014 05:23:52 PM · #8

I'd like to know what you think of the need for new bodies these days.

Frankly, it looks to me as though the work you presented here is mostly technique (peak action) and the awesome capabilities of that 400 f/2.8 lens.

So, honest opinion, could you get pretty much the same results with a 400 f/2.8 and essentially any body? (say, something like your old 1D mkII that I have in my possession now)

Obviously this question would not be applicable to indoor sports, or anything at night, clearly there you have no option but to boost the heck out of the ISO.

I suppose partially I'm trying to justify a 1Dx mk II when it drops, but more than that I'm just curious.

Also, great work, you've been good at this for a while, but the progression is obvious to my eye.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/08/2014 05:26:06 PM · #9

Originally posted by Cory:

I'd like to know what you think of the need for new bodies these days.

I could use one -- even with artificial hips my mobility is limited ... however, donors are currently out of my price range, even with Obamacare subsidies ... ;-)

Message edited by author 2014-08-08 17:26:57.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

08/08/2014 05:27:50 PM · #10

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by Cory:
I'd like to know what you think of the need for new bodies these days.

I could use one -- even with artificial hips my mobility is limited ... however, donors are currently out of my price range, even with Obamacare subsidies ... ;-)

"Old Man's War" by John Scalzi - Great book, I think you'd enjoy it. ;)

ETA: Wow! They just announced that SyFy is making a series out of that one.

Also, "Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan is a good choice. :D

Message edited by author 2014-08-08 17:29:30.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/08/2014 05:37:11 PM · #11

Originally posted by Cory:

"Old Man's War" by John Scalzi - Great book, I think you'd enjoy it. ;)

Just put it on hold at the library ... :-)

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

08/08/2014 07:07:06 PM · #12

Michelle if it's not too much trouble bring some of what you think are your best ones and put in a folder on here. Link it in this thread that way if anyone is watching they might learn from the comments or from your shots.

Paul, I believe I've commented on that image in another thread once before. I'm not much of a fan of the edits. The original image is either a touch late(tag and slide already peaked) or early if you were looking for the safe/out call by the ump. Not much you can do about the angle given it was done from your seats, but ideally I want as low of an angle as possible.

Cory I'm not going to lie, in Sports photography great gear helps, and helps a lot. Can you get these shots with a lesser body, sure you can. The chances of getting them every time you need them drops. The AF and tracking of a pro body compared to a non pro body, the FPS is also a plus, not so much that I can shoot a burst of 20 images in 2 seconds, but it's that 3-4 shot burst that I do trying to hit the peak of the play. The ISO on the new pro bodies is just ridiculous. I routinely shoot 12,800 ISO and even at times 25,600. One of the shots I posted is 8000ISO and even another at 25,600.

Message edited by author 2014-08-08 19:07:48.

FromDaRock

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

08/09/2014 09:25:09 AM · #13

I have been shooting a fair bit of gymnastics over the last couple of years, and would appreciate any comments or advice. For anyone that hasn't shot gymnastics, I have to say, it is some of the worst shooting conditions for sports. Poor lighting, fast action, and difficult to get a good vantage point (much better if you are the official photographer). I am guessing that shooting basketball or volleyball without benefit of a flash would be similar.

I find I have improved quite a deal over that time frame due to both more experience on my part and improvement in equipment. Moving from a Rebel XT to a 7D and better lenses a few years ago made a HUGE difference. I typically borrow or rent a 70-200 2.8 now, although sometimes I use my 85 1.8 as well, very fast but not as versatile.

A few things I have learned.

Noise: You can't control your shooting conditions. No flash, low light, high speed action. Suck it up and bump up the ISO as high as you need to get the shutter speed you want. You can do your best to handle noise in post (Topaz DeNoise is my friend). I typically shoot everything at ISO 3200-6400. There is much talk of the noise issues on a 7D, but I get plenty of acceptable images on mine at these ISO's, although I wouldn't mind a 5D III or a 1D X for the better low light performance. Equipment can definitely give you a huge advantage in this regard. I used to try to keep the ISO as low as possible, I have many blurry images from that time.
Burst Mode: I am always shooting in High speed burst mode. The 7D gets about 8fps, which is very useful in this use case. Typically, I only expect one or two keepers out of a 1-2 second sequence. The downside is that makes a lot of images to browse through, I took just over a 1000 and the last competition my daughter was in, and I only posted 129 on Flickr. Those 1000 shots were only shooting members of my daughters club.
Know the sport: After awhile, you get to know when to expect the action shots. This helps alot to anticipate when to wait and when to shoot. You don't want your framerate to slow due to the buffer being full just when the best action occurs. It also helps to know that many of the best shots might not be action at all. For instance, in gymnastics there are plenty of good shots to be had during floor and beam routines during poses with minimal movement.

Auto Focus: This one is heavily dependent on your equipment. I shoot in AI Servo with the middle grouping at all times. This might vary for some depending on the sport, as I would guess the center point would work well for some sports, but I certainly can't keep a single focus point on target when they are doing handsprings and backflips. The 7D is really good in this regard for focus speed, but I certainly do get quite a few missed focus shots as well (of course, I have good detail on the wall far behind my subject in those cases). I also shoot wide open, but I only have a single person in my shot in my case, so DOF is not an issue.

A few samples I have copied to DPChallenge, more in my portfolio here, and the complete sets are on Flickr.

My apologies if that was a bit long winded.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

08/09/2014 11:17:15 AM · #14

Robin thank you for your input. I'll go through some of your images and post some comments, there are certainly some that I could help you with trying to improve based on my knowledge of Gymnastics. However a friend of mine is an amazing Gymnastics photographer and does it with one of the best teams in the nation. I'll post a link to his blog here which will help you I think.

Russ Isabella Photography

Matt

FromDaRock

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

08/09/2014 12:57:51 PM · #15

Originally posted by MattO:

Thanks Matt, I look forward to you comments.

Revecca

Nikon D5000

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

08/09/2014 02:06:58 PM · #16

Good info here, thanks!

I'll be shooting a sibling's karate tournament soon and I'm hoping for some good action shots.

Thank you!

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

08/10/2014 08:52:13 PM · #17

Originally posted by Revecca:

Good info here, thanks!

I'll be shooting a sibling's karate tournament soon and I'm hoping for some good action shots.

Thank you!

You are welcome. If you have any specific questions please post them, if I don't know the answer maybe someone else does or we can point you in the right direction.

Matt

Revecca

Nikon D5000

08/17/2014 05:02:03 PM · #18

So after shooting the tournament I have learned several things...

-I should've bumped up the ISO even more so than I did. I have quite a few shots that came out blurry despite the ISO being set at 1600. I was just scared of having "focused" shots that were in turn too grainy.

-The lighting was awful (Elementary School Cafeteria/Basketball Court, yes the school has double purpose to this room) so several shots are still fairly dark and I'll have to try to salvage them through PP.

-I grew increasingly frustrated with the fact that there's never a "good" background. I'm sure locations are much better during professional sports, but the setting in my case was an ugly court with boxes, trash cans, kids picking their nose etc. in the background of the pictures. Oh well.

All in all, it was a good learning experience. Now I have to peruse through the 700+ shots and see what's usable. Thankfully, this wasn't a paid gig so if the images don't turn out to their liking, I can't feel too bad!