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Photography Question 

Joseph Payne 		 

How to shoot action shots in the evening


 
 
I just picked up a nikon D70 w/80-200mm.f/2.8 lens. I have been taking pictures of my sons football games , I'm new to digital and was hoping to get some tips. Also would you recommend a class?


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September 14, 2005

 

IAN J. TENNANT 		  I shoot a lot of high school football under the friday night lights. I get my best results with an ISO of 1600 and shutter speed of 250 (top flash sync for the canon 20d)to stop the action.
I believe the the D70 has a top flash sync speed of 500, if so set the shutter speed to 500. All you need to do now is start shooting and have some fun, remember action shooting is practice, practice, practice.

Hope this helps

Ian


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September 14, 2005

 

IAN J. TENNANT 		  forgot to mention you will need a decent flash unit, but I know nothing about nikon flashes.

Ian


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September 14, 2005

 

Andrew Laverghetta 		  Are your flashes actually showing up in the pictures? I would think that they're light would fall off before they got to any of the players. Stuff behind the players would still be dark if the flash did happen to make it.

If this were me, I would use a monopod and a tripod collar. I know Canon's 70-200mm f/2.8 comes with a tripod collar. Monopods don't cost all that much and it will really help steady you. You could also use a tripod with only one leg extended. I've taken pictures with my 20D and 200mm f/2.8 lens with a tripod used as a monopod at shutter speeds around 1/50 second. This would probably not stop motion from wherever you are at the football game, but hopefully the lights will be bright enough.

Also, football Jersey's are often pretty dark or bright depending on home or away players. Make sure to check your lcd after a few shots to make sure that your meter isn't thinking the subject is really bright with a white jersey or too dark with possibly a black one.


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September 14, 2005

 

IAN J. TENNANT 		  Andrew
It's been a long day, I also forgot to mention that I use a momopod plus I am also positioned right on the sidelines. So yes the flash does reach the players and their surrounding enviroments, I will hopefully upload some images when I get home from the office.
Ian


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September 14, 2005

 

Joseph Payne 		  Hey Thanks, for your feedback. I do use a monopod that seems to be a must.
I shot my son's scrimmage last night and got a few good pics, the season starts this saturday and all the games are during the day,lucky for me, but I will practice your suggestions during practice. Ian and Andrew thanks alot.
Joe


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September 15, 2005

 

IAN J. TENNANT 		  Joe
If you are shooting during daylight hours you afford to drop yout ISO to 800(you can also get away with using sports mode if the D70 has it, but in the long haul you better using ISO and shutter speed controls in the Tv mode)
and experiment with high shutter speeds(you don't have to worry about flash sync speeds).
Practice with any kind of motion during warm ups, then you should be set by the time scrimage starts.
Good luck I have found that anticipation of a play is half the battle when it comes to shooting football.
Ian


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September 15, 2005

 

Forrest C. Wilkinson 		 
 
  The Thrill of Victory
The Thrill of Victory
f/5.6, 1/100, Sigma 70-300mm, National Champion Carroll Dragon's cornerback, Arius Ford.

Forrest C. Wilkinson

  
  The Kick
The Kick
f/5.6, 1/250, Sigma 70-300mm, Texas Stadium, National Champion Carroll Dragons.

Forrest C. Wilkinson

  
  The Catch
The Catch
f/5.6, 1/320, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L, Texas Stadium, National Champion Carroll Dragons.

Forrest C. Wilkinson

  
  Into the Endzone
Into the Endzone
f/3.5, 1/400, Canon 28mm, Texas Stadium, National Champion Carroll Dragons.

Forrest C. Wilkinson

  
 
Being a well-rounded professional at taking Football pictures for professional football (mostly in the day) and high-school football (in the night); I have to say, that using the flash will normally ruin the balance of light in your picture. Yes, your forground will be light, but the overall picture will turn out worse in most cases. Your best bet with a f/2.8 lens (which is a wide aperature and allows much light) is to forget the flash as sometimes sync-speeds cause problems, and it is a hassle setting up the shot for flash use; and again, you loose the aspect of taking a nicely balanced photo. I would reccomend that you crank up the ISO to about 1600, and shoot at a shutter around 1/320, this normally captures the action of pre-high-school football; if your son is in high school, 1/320 is normally suffiecient, maybe you could try 1/400 and see what looks the best and allows the best light. Then after you take the pictures, download a free program called Neat Image from http://www.neatimage.com/, then learn how to use the program effectively. What Neat Image does is it uses a blurring method to remove the noise from high-ISO speeds. After running it through Neat Image, you will most likely have to lighten it up a little bit in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements 3.0 runs for about $75 now-a-days. You can use Photoshop to lighten up the picture using the histogram levels (CTRL+L) and moving the right-most arrow to the left. You will see the picture will begin to lighten, after playing around with the three arrows until your get a desired result, you will have a nicely balanced, well lit picture that freezes the action.

In short, I would avoid the expensive flash units as they are a hassle and lead to the imbalance of your photos.


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September 15, 2005

 
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