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09/25/2004 01:48:01 PM · #1 |
help! - a friend of mine has asked if I could take a series of team photos for wall mounted displays of a local Rugby Union football team. He also wants a good selection of action shots as well. This would be my first attempt at action shots - Any advice on how best to succeed will be much appreciacted and show me to any of your favourite action images.
I have a D70 with 28-200 af Nikkor lense - will I get decent results with this?
thanks in advance
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09/25/2004 04:52:03 PM · #2 |
First thing I would do is look through these results and check there camera settings. Team Sport Challenge
I would try and place myself at an angle where they are running toward you so you can see their faces and set up some kind of running sheet on who you have captured (If this is the same one where you need to capture every player)
As for camera settings well you will need to have the fastest shutter speed that you can use so I would use shutter priority as try and use 1/800-1000.
You will probable need a tele lens as well so that you can get in close to the action. Remember though that you can always crop so don't zoom in to close so that you have half a head missing or something from an otherwise great shot.
Good luck with it!
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09/25/2004 05:05:45 PM · #3 |
I took this shot on a recent rugby shoot:
and have also shot rugby on a number of occasions.
Personally I would use aperture priority, for two reasons:
1) You want to make sure a reasonable number of players are all in focus
2) You want to stop down the lens to improve sharpness
For the shot above I used f/5.6. This gave me a pretty good DOF without slowing down the shutter too much.
Like Gurilla said, you'll also want reasonably fast shutters 1/800 - 1/1000 would be reasonable for freezing the action. To make sure I get a shutter in that sort of range I adjust ISO accordingly. In the case of the shot above I was using ISO 400, which will be fine for overcast weather.
Normally I've shot from the fairly low stand on the sidelines. Firstly this helps to remove distractions in the background because you're pointing down towards the grass and I find with rugby a lot of action happens across the field - due to the passing back of the ball. Also, it makes it very easy to take shoot lineouts - easy pickings for the sports photog.
I think understanding a little of how the game works will help too - especially how players positions themselves and how the ball is passed. I know nothing about sports myself, but I fairly quickly realised that anticipating play helps a lot.
If I think of anything else I'll let you know!
Edit: Not exactly stunning work because they were shot quite a while ago, but here's some early rugby shots of mine:
Gallery 1
Gallery 2
Message edited by author 2004-09-25 17:09:43.
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09/25/2004 08:11:30 PM · #4 |
Have a look here.... Ok it's Rugby League but basicly the same...
//www.lightbox.simplexitydesigns.com.au
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09/26/2004 07:03:22 AM · #5 |
Not to hijack the thread, but I could use some advice also. Yesterday was my first attempt at shooting a game, and I ended up deleting half the shots. This was Toledo versus Traverse City. Toledo prevailed 21-13.
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09/26/2004 07:15:37 AM · #6 |
Practice, practice, practice. Take a lot of shots. Keep your camera on and ready at all times. Pay close attention to the game and predict where the really good action is going to occur.
Take a look at //www.sportsshooter.com for some great examples.
//www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=2018 |
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09/26/2004 07:26:38 AM · #7 |
Another thing is sit behind the goal post to one side. So that the strongest team is running toward you (or the team that you want the best photos of) Take the longest lens you can 300mm is fine. Be sure to show faces cos the expressions are great. Stop motion is great I use Tv 1/1000 on a sunny day for the best results 200 ISO will help. Kicking in general play either off the boot or just before the catch is a good capture. Goal shots are good too. The important thing is to snap snap snap!
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09/26/2004 03:18:17 PM · #8 |
Thanks all for the advice, I'm eager now to get started and will try to post my results in due course.
Thanks,
Neil. |
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09/26/2004 04:01:59 PM · #9 |
I'm a novice at sports action photography, but I have learned a few things that have been beneficial to me so far...
1. Frame the photos a little more loosely than you would a normal shot. This will help keep you from 'clipping' arms and legs when you don't want to.
2. Use your AI Servo focus mode and let the focus automatically follow your moving subjects. When the subject is moving towards or away from you, it can very quickly get out of your depth of field and produce an out of focus image.
3. Your 28-200 lens should be a great lens for daytime sports action. When the action moves close to you with a longer lens, you can't get 'wide' enough to encompass it all. I would probably shoot in aperture priority mode (already mentioned here somewhere) and stay at f/5.6. Keep an eye on your shutter speeds. Try low ISO settings first and see if they will produce shutter speeds faster than 1/250". If not, bump the iso up until u can get this level.
4. If you are doing daytime photos in the sun, a flash will be very beneficial. Dial it down about 1 stop and use it to fill shadows. You will see that your best sports action photos will include faces. The intensity of their facial expressions usually contribute to the 'action' in the image. Harsh shadows on the faces could diminish this.
5. Fire in burst mode. Shoot a minimum of 3-4 shots each time you shoot. These 'sequences' will help you identify players who may not have numbers or faces visible in any particular image. The sequence of images will likely give you that identification that you may need. The identity of the people in the photo is more important if you plan to write about the shots, as in a sports section of the newspaper or something like that.
6. Backgrounds are important, just as in any other type of photo. Look for angles where you can shoot to have the LEAST number of distracting and contrasting elements in the background. This has been one of the more difficult things for me so far...
I can't think of anything else at the moment. I'm so new to this type of photography that I'm absorbing new techniques as I go. |
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