Bragging... - DPChallenge Forums

09/16/2012 09:51:28 PM · #101

Marko,
Yes shoot RAW, but shoot a gray card under the gym lighting conditions. This will do two things for you:
1.) Get you close to the correct white balance than auto
2.) Keep every shot from having a different WB, and thus display differently on the LCD monitor
3.) Allow you to use the gray card shot(s) later to make your RAW processing match the lighting in one click

Oh, that was three things :-)

09/19/2012 12:40:35 PM · #102

I've got women's soccer game tonight. I got access to be inside the fence to shoot (which is awesome). 5:00pm game so the lighting should still be pretty bright so that's good. Any other tips? Tricks? Random cool ideas?

You guys are awesome! :D

P.s. - I did read everything about the WB, I have been swamped with stuff to do for school so I haven't had time to reply to that. I did shoot last night's volleyball game just for my own personal gain (no money involved) so that I can try out different things. I shot RAW so I am waiting to get into the Mac Lab here at school to upload them to those computers. Hopefully everything I tried out won't be a waist of time.

09/19/2012 02:03:13 PM · #103

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

Hopefully everything I tried out won't be a waist of time.

Experimentation is never a waste of time, even if you fail. We tend to learn more effectively from failure than success!

09/19/2012 02:05:23 PM · #104

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
Hopefully everything I tried out won't be a waist of time.

Experimentation is never a waste of time, even if you fail. We tend to learn more effectively from failure than success!

I have learned way more from my failures than from my successes.

09/19/2012 03:33:44 PM · #105

The photos are being imported onto the computer now... I've never really played around with RAW photos all that much so this will be new to me when I bring them up in photoshop.

The rain is trying really hard to stay away from us and hopefully it does because I am not going out in the rain with my camera to get shots of the game.

Hey, Matt... I've noticed that you have taken photos of games in the rain... Do you have a cover for your camera? Or is your camera just weather proof?

Photo of me during a rain day by fellow photog

09/19/2012 03:42:05 PM · #106

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

09/19/2012 03:45:19 PM · #107

Originally posted by MattO:

Photo of me during a rain day by fellow photog

LOL, don't you look enthusiastic! ;-)

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/19/2012 03:46:42 PM · #108

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by MattO:

Photo of me during a rain day by fellow photog

LOL, don't you look enthusiastic! ;-)

Well it was what was left of a Hurricane, I wasn't too thrilled after the second straight day doing that.

Matt

Giles

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

09/19/2012 03:50:50 PM · #109

you need a

hehe

09/19/2012 03:54:33 PM · #110

Originally posted by MattO:

Well it was what was left of a Hurricane...

Man, that blows!

09/19/2012 04:15:54 PM · #111

Okay, so this isn't my best photo (in relevance to catching the right moment) but it's what I thought was the best exposure.

Is this the exposure I am looking for? Or brighter/darker?

Oh yeah, when I have time I will need to be in this stupid Mac lab for hours because I can't freakin use these things. They frustrate me to no end! Grrr...

09/19/2012 04:33:38 PM · #112

I'd say the exposure on that is spot on, as is the white balance, FWIW.

ETA: nice bum too!

Message edited by author 2012-09-19 16:34:01.

09/19/2012 04:36:27 PM · #113

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

The photos are being imported onto the computer now... I've never really played around with RAW photos all that much so this will be new to me when I bring them up in photoshop.

Marko,
Since you are going to regularly be facing the task of culling and developing relatively large numbers of RAW files, I'd suggest that you get hold of a copy of Lightroom and begin learning that. It can be a *huge* time saver, and provides absolutely top-notch RAW conversion quality. You can try it free for 30 days, and the purchase price is really reasonable.

09/19/2012 04:43:20 PM · #114

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

I just want to point something out, and I've said this before.

You need three things in a sport like this to have a good photo beyond the technicals of exposure, focus, and white balance.

Ball, Face, peak action. This photo has none of those. You need to reposition yourself so you aren't shooting bums for Kirbic to look at!

Exposure is much better and wb is as well. Now work on getting a good photo with those settings.

BTW if your lights aren't cycling here is a good idea. Look at your WB setting when you develop those raw files, if it's consistent across your photos in that gym. Set it in camera and go back to jpeg.

Matt

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/19/2012 07:49:38 PM · #115

Here is my favorite shot of the soccer game today. Anything you see I can improve on?

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

09/19/2012 08:15:21 PM · #116

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

Here is my favorite shot of the soccer game today. Anything you see I can improve on?

let's see...ball? check. faces? check. peak action? check. just do this a few thousand times and you'll be ok.

one thing to keep in mind, marko, is capturing what your client needs you to capture. sports photography is weird, especially at the collegiate level. it's one thing if you are shooting for a newspaper. papers are really looking for high-impact action or high-drama.

on the other hand, athletic departments are looking for images that only tell their side of the story. sure, they like good action photos, but they also need clean, isolated shots of their athletes. they need photos that make a losing team look like a winning team (and that's not always easy to do). they need lots of generic, wide shots that they can use for story banners. they need stuff for marketing collateral, stuff they can use to appeal to donors and to fill the seats.

and don't forget the parents. they want to see their kid in a uniform. they don't really care how great a photo it is, as long as they can tell their kid is in the photo.

it's a real challenge, especially if you are shooting for all three constituents. sometimes, it's easier to just pick one and go with that.

good luck! keep it up!

09/19/2012 08:44:23 PM · #117

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

Here is my favorite shot of the soccer game today. Anything you see I can improve on?

A couple of things I can see bring exposure up 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop. I want to see faces with proper exposure not uniforms. That shot could easily be brought up in exposure a bit and make it go from good shot to great shot. I'd also consider losing the vignette.

Action wise it's very good maybe 1/2 second later but pretty good. And as Skip says, do that 100 more times a game and you are on your way.

Matt

09/20/2012 02:52:54 PM · #118

Very encouraging to hear that it is a step in the right direction! :)

Still having a little trouble with the indoor shots but I think I will be sorta stuck until I get a fast long lens.

You guys have NOOOO idea how much I appreciate everything you've taught me! I've learned more about this in the last few weeks than you can probably imagine!

09/20/2012 02:55:32 PM · #119

Originally posted by MattO:

bring exposure up 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop

If I use exposure compensation, will this work good?

I have been using aperture priority mode for these shots if that helps with anything.

09/20/2012 02:57:46 PM · #120

And one more question, I have been trying to figure out the best auto focusing technique for sports.

Manual for me is hit or miss with my eyes so I would much much rather not use that. But I seem to miss focus sometimes when shooting in bursts. Should I be doing something different than what I have already been doing?

09/20/2012 03:05:00 PM · #121

use AF-C and center point.

As far as the adjustment on your shot you posted. You can do it in post. Don't fret too much if you blow some whites on the uniforms, unless you are selling the photos to the uniform company. Expose for faces. You could do a quick levels adjustment to that shot and have it looking good.

Focusing for me is simple. Put the AF point on your target half press the shutter and let it track the subject, when you see the shot finish pushing the shutter. I track action constantly even if I'm not shooting. Don't ever rely on hitting the button and making it focus and take the photo at the same time.

Tracking will be slower on certain lenses and cameras just by design. Your D7000 isn't going to track as good as my D4 and your consumer lens isn't going to track as fast as my 400MM F2.8. There are trade offs. All in time.

Matt

09/20/2012 03:12:44 PM · #122

I learned from a Scott Kelby video that aperture priority is the way to go. Assuming this is right, I've gotten a few dark photos randomly in my burts... Is this the camera thinking too much or am I doing something wrong?

09/20/2012 03:19:44 PM · #123

Originally posted by mbrutus2009:

That's a risk with Av mode. The camera wants to make whatever it's metering on a nice mid-gray. So if it is metering on something that is bright white, it will result in an underexposed shot. If metering on something that is very dark, it will result in overexposure.
One way to counter this is to shoot in full manual after you have scoped out what is the proper exposure. That will work, but only if the lighting conditions are consistent... which they aren't always. So your best strategy may be different, depending on the situation.
I'm sure Matt & Skip may have something to say here, they have forgotten more about shooting sports than I ever knew!

09/20/2012 03:21:15 PM · #124

Aperture priority works good on fields where you have varied light, or shadows in spots and sun in the other. Dark backgrounds(tree lines) or bright backgrounds(bleachers in the sun) will fool your camera.

Myself I am a manual shooter. When I set my camera exposure and have light and dark spots in the field of play, I just keep one finger on the shutter and the other on the wheel to move the shutter speed. I know how many clicks up or down to get what I need depending on where I am shooting on the field.

You have to know your camera like another hand.