Basketball season! Help with shooting ideas

[mpphoto12]

Ok, so im a student working for my yearbook as well as MSG Varsity network websites. I have credentials from them to shoot and i can easily say i dont shoot basketball much. The main problem: i dont have strobes like i have seen most basketball shooters with. My gear is below and if i could get as much advice on shooting basketball using what i have that would be so great! thanks !


Canon 1D MK III


Canon 50 1.8 II, 70-200 2.8 L


Canon rebel XT


Canon 18-55 3.5-5.6 II kit lens


Sigma 500 Dg ST Super Flash (ETTLII)


Gitzo tripod, manfroto monopod


Thanks!

[freelanceshots]

You can't get a better camera for what you're shooting (1D MK III). The only thing you are missing is a 70-200mm lens perfect for basketball. The standard setting that you will want to start out with depending on the amount of light is ISO 800 to 1600 with a shutter around 300 to 400 maybe 500 of a second. You will definitely want to choose center focus point manually and make sure you can control focus separately from exposure. The back focus button on the MKIII is there for just that. Use your thumb to track focus and your index finger to activate the shutter. Also manual exposure is a big help as the exposure around the scoring part of the court won't change where you can compensate from there. As far as aperture I try and not shoot at f/2.8 as much as possible as the DOF is very shallow where if your focus is off just a bit then the important part of the subject will be out of focus rendering the image useless. I was shooting with a 40D so the Mark III should be more accurate. The good thing about f2.8 is if your focus is spot on the background will be more blurred which makes for some really nice shots. I like to hover around f/4 if possible but if its not possible due to light then you can always go closer to 2.8. From all the photos I've seen from the newspaper where I used to work and from the ones I've shot you will be sitting basically under or to the side of the hoop where you will be required to sit.


You will also want the camera set to capture 10 images per a sec usually in High quality JPEG and have the focus tracking set to AI-servo.


I have experimented using wide angle lenses here and there but most of the time you will want to condense the action with a telephoto lens and focus on certain points where you have the ball in the shot of course. Extreme facial expressions with the ball near by make great shots where the most popular are the ones of the players jumping up towards the hoop.


Depending on the basketball game I've been allowed to use flash before but if I remember correctly it was at the high school level. If you do get to use flash you usually want it turned down in manual mode to maybe 1/32 power as more light will give you a deer in the headlight look. At this point its basically used like a fill flash.





Here is one wide angle shot that I did while shooting at the NCAA championships playoffs here in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

[Richard Lane]

Hi MP,


Freelance gave you some great advice. So, I'll hopefully try and and some more.


You have a nice setup with the 1D MKIII and the 50/1.8 so that's what you should use. You wont need a monopd or tripod. The goal would be to get the fastest shutter speed at the lowest ISO setting, so keep that in mind when making changes during the game. If you're underexposed, raise the ISO, because a noisy shot can be fixed and a blurry one can not.


Shoot in Manual Mode, AI Servo, Continuous High speed, Autofocus should be switched to the AF On button in the back. Custom WB, or a gray card would be preferable.


Below would be a good starting point depending on the lighting in the gym, so you should probably write this down. Use f/2.8 if the lighting permits it to get sharper pictures. Don't use f/1.8 because the DOF is too narrow.


1/500sec, f/2.0, ISO 1600 or higher


1/1000 sec f/2.0, ISO 3200 or higher


<span style="font-size: 11.6667px;"]1/500sec, f/2.8 ISO 3200 or higher


1/640sec, f/2.8 ISO 4000 or higher (some people don't like 1/3 ISO's, but it works)


1/1000sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 or higher


1/1000sec, f/3.2, ISO 8000


Make sure that your shot has the ball in it, unless you're shooting for a reaction. You should try to get the face of the person with the ball. Shoot low down on your knees. You should position yourself along the baseline behind the basket, and then from the mid-baseline and the corner of the baseline. Shoot from both sides of the basket, be aware if a superstar is right-handed or left-hande to get their face in the approach shot towards the basket. Choose a spot with a more pleasing background if possible. The teams will switch directions at half-time, so if the background is pleasing at both ends of the court, then you may want to switch ends after each quarter to get a different perspective, while shooting the opposing team.


Shoot most of your scoring shots, layups, dunks, blocked shots in VERTICAL orientation since Basketball is more of a vertical game, except when the point guard is dribbling low and bringing up the ball and has a defender on him. The 50mm would be good around the basket that your shooting at, some people have a 2nd body with a long telephoto so that they can shoot at the opposite basket at the other end of the court. Crop tightly when your done.


Flash is usually not allowed in High School Sports, however before you even try you must ask the Athletic Director and/or coaches and/or ref or you could be asked to stop shooting. That's why people aim high powered strobes down onto the court from high above in the stands or they bounce them off the back walls behind the baskets. But you should do fine with your equipment.


Don't forget to shoot the tip-off, coaches, bench player reaction, cheerleaders, and the arena.


http://markhancock.blogspot.com/2004/11/how-to-shoot-basketball.html





Rich

[mpphoto12]

Thanks everyone I MADE A HORRIBLE MISTAKE! haha i do have a 70-200 2.8 L(non IS) so now i think i have all the information i need to start shooting tonight. Also as far as white balance goes? In my gym its usually very off and shouldi just wait to fix it in Post? Thanks !

[freelanceshots]

Just try throwing the WB into color temp and just shoot a few pics before hand and adjust where you're happy. A white or gray card works too but the less stuff I have to keep up with the better. Photoshop CS4 or 5 will get you the rest of the way.

[Richard Lane]

That's another good reason to shot in RAW. Thats a pretty good trick to just fine a 70-200mm lying around. I would bring the 50mm too and try to shoot at f/2 under the basket.


mp, do you know how to set custom WB or do you want me to walk you through it?


Rich

[mpphoto12]

yeah i dont know how to do custom white balance. i figure a preset one gets pretty close usualy inside a gym. my gym looks really yellow otherwise

[Richard Lane]

yeah i dont know how to do custom white balance. i figure a preset one gets pretty close usualy inside a gym. my gym looks really yellow otherwise

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<span style="font-size: small;"]You need a gray card or medium gray colored object Then take a picture of the card at the venue, in your case at court-side with the camera meter facing the court. You can use Program Mode, (Auto ISO, AWB) to take the picture. Then go into the cameras menu and choose "Custom WB regist." it should be beneath White Balance in the Menu, and there should be something that says register the image on the card, scroll down and choose "register image on card" then you should see the picture that you just took and press set, then OK. Then scroll down a a little more in this menu and select set as white balance.


<span style="font-size: small;"]Now go and look at the "White balance" setting and make sure custom is selected, until you get comfortable with it. The choices will be AWB, Clouds, Shade and so forth.., Custom WB is the weird looking icon that looks like a head wearing a bow-tie. Ok.., so I have a vivid imagination.


<span style="font-size: small;"]You can take pictures around the house using tungsten or AWB and then take the same pictures using Custom WB that you set for your home lighting, and you will be amazed at how much more accurate the custom WB is, compared to AWB. I'm usually pretty happy with AWB outside when there is plenty of light. Keep in mind that Custom WB is the most accurate, however the most accurate does not always look the best.


<span style="font-size: small;"]Rich
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