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09/17/2008 12:56:55 PM · #1 |
| im trying to do pictures of sports at night, they are intramural so there are lights but not like a stadium. all my shots are blurry or dark.. what should i do? |
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09/17/2008 01:00:01 PM · #2 |
| Large aperture opening (what lens are you using?) like 4.5 or 5/6; high ISO will get you faster shutter speeds. Tripod will help as well. |
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09/17/2008 01:01:40 PM · #3 |
| i dont have many options. i have 3 lenses total and i was trying to use my 70-300 sigma lens (i have a nikon) |
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09/17/2008 01:10:50 PM · #4 |
Put your ISO at it's highest setting and shoot in RAW as when you convert from RAW you should be able to recover data from the dark areas so long as its not too under exposed.
Probably best to shoot in shutter priority to get the shutter speed you need and if you can shoot with the f/1.8 then that is going to allow you the fastest shutter speed. |
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09/17/2008 01:23:05 PM · #5 |
| thanks.. ill try it out again :) |
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09/17/2008 08:45:30 PM · #6 |
Having used the D80 for quite a while in theatre and concert work, I'll offer some camera-specific suggestions --
On the D80, you'll begin to see uncorrectable noise starting at iso 800 (not obnoxious, but visible at 1:1). Tread carefully into higher iso, and consider how much noise you are willing to tolerate. That being said, with your Sigma 70-300, that f/4-5.6 is going to hurt a bit. To keep your shutter speed down, your only other choice will be to up your iso, or shoot underexposed and bump up EV in post. Depending on your subject, I've found I can recover up to 2 EV in post from my D80 shots -- in the BEST case -- I've found I can reliably recover up to around 1 1/3 EV on most subjects.
So, given your body and lens, I'd recommend:
Start at iso 640, and see what your meter is telling you. Tread into 800+ territory carefully.
Shoot manual; spot meter a neutral area on your primary subject; EV comp -1.0; open aperture as wide as possible (4 to 5.6 in your case); start around 1/250 sec and see what your meter tells you. If you're still underexposed more than 1 EV, you'll just to suck up the noise and bump up the iso. If your overexposed (hopefully), shorten your shutter speed to get proper exposure. In sports/action, you're going to want to target the 1/200 range to minimize blur, down to 1/125 for slower action -- here again, you'll want to experiment for your own taste. I expect you'll end up leaving your aperture wide open and bumping around your shutter speed.
Other random thoughts -
Make heavy use of your histogram and check it often while shooting. I don't trust any camera's metering system in lower light conditions -- theatre and concert are much more extreme than outdoor sports, but I would still stick to ballparking with the spot meter, then checking your histograms. While you won't have the rapidly changing light conditions present at a concert, you *will* have issues with players moving in and out of lit areas, and the appropriate exposure based on your position on the side-lines vs. their position down field (and how the lighting changes across the field). You can use that last point to your advantage, though -- if you find a "good spot" on the field for a short shutter speed, wait for the action to move to that spot and shoot there as much as you can. Try moving yourself vs. using your zoom to keep the shots interesting, but remember where those "good spots" are.
Shoot raw, for goodness sake -- exposure correction, WB correction, etc -- all so much easier starting from raw.
WB will be a pain, and will likely change over the course of the event, as the lights heat up and "take over" for the remaining natural light. Use (and reuse) an Expodisc or similar to set (and adjust) your WB as the night goes on. If you don't have one, take a WhiBal card (or other neutral card) and shoot it under the stadium lights so you can fix WB in post later.
Is this a one-or-two-time thing, or will you be doing this on a regular basis? I'd strongly recommend renting a 70-200/2.8 VR or similar lens if you can. My 17-55/2.8 and 70-200/2.8VR are my concert and theatre workhorses. I'll carry my 50/1.8, but use it seldom compared to the others.
If you can rent a body, I'd recommend a D300 in lieu of the D80 (must less noise at higher iso) -- then crank up your iso as needed.
Sorry this got long -- I guess I'm in a verbose mood. ;)
ETA - Learn from your mistakes. You said you've already taken some shots that were blurry and dark. What shutter, aperture and iso were those shots taken at? Find the best and the worst of what you have, and compare the settings. Crank out the numbers -- what could you have adjusted to improve the shot? Take a shot that is underexposed, correct the exposure and post and figure out how many stops you would have needed to bump your shutter, aperture or iso to get the right exposure. See if you can do that with your body and lens (before you are too noisy, wide open, or too slow to stop action). Run the numbers and figure out better settings for next time, *especially* if you'll be returning to that field to shoot again -- the lights will probably be the same, and you can't change that -- so figure out what you *can* change to get better shots under the same conditions.
Message edited by author 2008-09-17 20:59:16. |
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09/21/2008 12:12:28 AM · #7 |
I killed another thread, didn't I?
I gotta stop doing that. [ sulk ]
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09/21/2008 12:37:36 AM · #8 |
My 2 cents are:
1. High ISO, 800 or higher is fine (see step 2 for my reason behind this)
2. Use Noise Ninja or another Noise Reducer. It will make those noisy pictures look tons better.
You'll need the high ISO to keep your shutter speed up. I had a Nikon 70-300 f/4-5.6 and it was alright, now I use the 70-200 f/2.8 and it's TONS better...seriously, night and day difference. |
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09/21/2008 12:40:32 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by cdrice:
I killed another thread, didn't I?
I gotta stop doing that. [ sulk ] |
It happens. Some types of photography require certain types of gear. Night action is tough. It's whey they make 1.2, 1.8 and 2.8 lense, VR/IS and and bodies like the canon 1Dmk3 that can get clean shots at 3200 and even 6400 with a bit of NR software. I've seen raw images at 6400 from a D3 - WOW!
So 800 and a slow aperature lens - at 300mm that lens will be 5.6. A 2.8 lens is two stops faster. 3200 is also 2 stops better than 800. Overall a 4 stop gain - 1/30 is now 1/250! Use a 2.0 lens and a D3 at 6400 and you've got 1/1000 under the same lighting conditions. It's a HUGE difference.
The other alternative is to put a couple of AB's in the stands synced with PW/s and shoot with flash. I've read about it being done so it's possible. I don't know the details though.
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09/21/2008 01:27:52 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by CEJ:
Large aperture opening (what lens are you using?) like 4.5 or 5/6; high ISO will get you faster shutter speeds. Tripod will help as well. |
I have seen you offer this advice a couple of times, and I still wonder, how is a tripod going to help action shots at night? Its going to hinder tracking, and offer no amount of stabilizaton that will help stop action.
Back to the topic, you have to have fast glass, usable ISO, and a knowledge of what you are shooting. Also use flash, but for fill. Remember you can work with noise in post processing, you cant fix motion blur. I'd rather deal with noise then with blur I cant fix.
As an Alternative here is a way to stop action in nearly dark conditions while using a good flash. Please note this will give you harsh shadows and usually alot of redeye, but gets rid of the nasty blur.
ISO 400 or 800 Lens wide open(preferably 2.8) manual flash(to prevent pre-flash from causing ghosting) and set manual power for flash to required power, Set your Shutter speed to whatever your sync on the camera is and fire away. Even at 200 shutter speed you will stop the action because the flash will be providing all of the light and it only remains light a very short time.
Matt
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