 BetterPhoto Member |
Gymnastics Pics: Grainy and Dark Hi, I have been shooting gymnastics and cannot figure out why this is happening: When I take a picture, it comes out very grainy and dark and yucky. The film is 800, and the speeds I have tried are 1/90, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, and 1/2000. I don't know the ISO, but these are pretty dimly-lit, fast-moving people. Any help with detailed settings would be MUCH appreciated! I am a dummy when it comes to settings. Please help! Thank you :)
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Dark means underexposed. If 1/90 at your widest aperture doesn't do it, then you use a slower speed. You can add light with flash, bigger aperture, longer shutter speed, or faster film.
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Justin S. |
It sounds to me like you are underexposing all of your shots. If you're indoors and not using flash to stop action, and your images are coming out dark, grainy,and muddy, there is not enough available light from overhead for you to get away with fast-enough shutter speeds to stop the action. What you might want to try is to set your camera in auto mode (if it has one) and try to use a flash or on-camera flash. Another thing, you might want to try to set your aperture (f number) wide open - lower number like 3.5, 4, 5.6, or somewhere along those lines. That should get you faster shutter speeds, so maybe you could get away without using flash. Oh yeah, and your film speed(800) is the same as ISO. If I can, I might suggest looking into a book by Bryan Peterson called Understanding Exposure ... it will help you understand your camera and how it works. Hope I helped you out some ...
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Justin S. |
It's sounds to me like you are under exposing all of your shots. If your indoors not using flash to stop action, and your images are coming out dark,grainy,and muddy there is not enough available light from overhead for you to get away with fast enough shutter speeds to stop action. What you might want to try is to set your camera in auto mode (if it has one) and try to use a flash or on camera flash. Another thing, you might want to try to set your apture (f number) wide open (smaller number) like 3.5 , 4, 5.6 somewhere along those lines. That should get you faster shutter speeds so maybe you could get away without using flash. Oh yeah, and your film speed(800) is the same as ISO. If I can I might suggest looking into a book by Bryan Peterson called UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE and it will help you understand your camera and how it works. Hope I helped you out some....
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Patricia A. Cale |
I shot concerts in dimly lit places for years and had to buy a lens that opened to f/2.8. And, then I shot with the shutter at 1/60. This shutter speed may not be fast enough to stop the action, either. You are shooting in an area where the lights are up high and far away from your subjects, so you need a fast (f/2.8) lens or faster film (higher ISO number like 1600), which still may not help much. Using a flash in this setting may not be allowed as it could interfere with the athlete and they could loose their concentration or balance. If this happens, you may be asked to stop shooting. Before using a flash, I would ask one of the event's coordinators' permission to do so.
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Joe drapeau |
I just went trough the same thing in april ,i shot a baseball game at night using 800 film ,with zoom lens to boot ,wich dint help matter ,in my opinion 800 iso is pretty grainy ,it gets worst if its underexpose .
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Mark Winstead |
Just keep trying, don't be afraid to shoot and make corrections as you go. Another thing is to learn the routines that the gymnasts do, and learn where the "pauses" are and take the shot at thet moment. Good Luck,
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Mark Winstead |
I agree with Pat B. Both my children compete in gymnastics and I had to get a f2.8 lens. What kind of camera are you using? As you are probably aware, in gymnastic competitions you cannot use flash, so you need to have a lens that lets in the light. The other problem is, if you are a spectator, you cannot get close so you also need a pretty good zoom. I use a Nikon D70 with a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens and even with that I need to use a monopod because the shutter speed sometimes is still less than 1/60. Unless you happen to be in a great gym with excellent lighting you won't get many good stop action shots. You may get a few, but most likely there will still be some slight blur. Some gyms that we have been in has allowed the spectators to be a little closer and I'm actually looking at a 85mm f1.8 or f1.4 lens for these gyms. Just keep trying, don't be afraid to shoot and make corrections as you go. Another thing is to learn the routines that the gymnasts do, and learn where the "pauses" are and take the shot at thet moment. Good Luck,
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Airlia J. Smith |
I do have problems still. Maybe someone can clue me in to this. I get great shots, but the white wall is redish on the right side of the gymnast.
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Andrew Laverghetta |
I'm not sure how much this will help with this situation, but when I shoot at concerts, I intentionally underexpose my shots by 1/3 or even 2/3 using (-) exposure componsation. I'm not sure how this will look on your film though. I believe that higher ISO films have a larger lattitude so they will still look pretty good. I was at a basketball game about two months ago and after consulting with a local camera shop (that as experience at in basketball photography) they suggested that I might go with black and white Kodak TMAX 3200. The pictures weren't color of course and they were a bit grainy, but after you wait a little longer to get them developed, I believe you can have regular prints made anywhere.
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Jennifer Hopper |
Airlia, If you are using flash, it may be that when you turn your camera for the vertical shot the flash is on that left side. The right side is dimmer and shows up red.
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Airlia J. Smith |
I don't use a flash since that could make a gymnast get hurt. The only thing I can think of is white balance?
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Jennifer Hopper |
The pictures (which are very nice, even with the red, by the way) didn't look "flash-ed" but that was teeh only thing I could think of. Would white balance affect the whole image evenly--making the whole thing look red? Where are those digital experts on this site when we need them :)
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Christopher A. Vedros |
Airlia, Was there something in the gym that could have been casting a reddish reflection on the wall? Like a scoreboard, or red floor mats?
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Andrew Laverghetta |
I would have to see more of the pictures to make a fair assumption on this, but sometimes in gyms, I see one light that's older or something than another. Instead of the whiter look, it appears more magenta. Also, florescent lights in buildings some lights are more magenta than green. This could mess up the white balance since there would be two different color temperatures in the frame at the same time. I'm not sure though, since the switch from the regular to the reddish is consistant between the left and right.
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Airlia J. Smith |
Thanks! I'll have to look at the gym a little closer next time. I've only been shooting there for a year, so I'm still a little inexperienced with this whole thing. I guess I'm not really shocked that they are grainy and uneven, it is indoors with flouresents after all. But still, I want to someday take really great pictures that make people say "wow!".
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