Advice please - Been asked to photograph a basketball game!

Prophet

Prophet

Prophet

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Notts
A friend of mine has asked me to take some photograph of the basketball team he plays for. They want to update the website and get some action shots from a game. I'll be using my 350D with either the kit lens or my friends Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

What tips should I follow to get the best possible shots? It will be an indoor event with the typical overhead lighting etc.

Any help and advice is really appreciated as I think it will be a great learning experience for me :)
 
Might be a good idea to check out the venue before the day/night your shooting the team (i presume a pre-aranged normal match)

As the light levels and position could be your main issues. If the light is horrible the 24-105mm f/4L IS USM will come in really handy, but you might want to consider borrowing a f/2.8 lens or hiring one. I've photograpghed a Netball team indoors before and i needed a 2.8 zoom lens to pull it off.

Hopefully the indoor lighting is Metal Halide (white) lighting rather than nasty orange Sodium.
 
The venue is newly built so should 'hopefully' have good lighting. I've only got the two lenses listed at my disposal as its a favour for a friend, so hiring a 2.8 wouldnt really be an option at this stage.

I'll get some info on the venue and report back :)
 
great stuff
colour will be paramount
shoot in raw if you can to tweak the white balance or custom set it by taking a piece of a4 paper with you.
IS will be very handy but it sounds like ISO800+ will be called for
experiment with wide aperture and then go manual I think so you know what the camera is going to do
remember to post your shots!
 
Thanks for the tips guys :)

I'll get the results posted as soon as I've been. Just waiting for a date of the shoot, which I'm guessing will be within the next two weeks!
 
I'm going to differ from others here and say IS won't really help you at all, it's great for stationary subjects but not for folk running around and jumping and stuff. I think you'll be better off with something like an 85mm 1.8 or 100mm f2, and a quick shutter.

RG is your man for basketball photography, and I'm sure he'll be here to help soon.

Col.
 
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:) cheers for the heads up Dfhaii

Out of interest where is the location? I also play basketball at national / international level too so know most of the venues in the UK =]

Basically, DEFINITELY borrow the L, but you're STILL going to be struggling a LOT. You want shutter speed of 1/600th or faster ideally. Even at arenas such as the manchester evening news, I find myself on iso1600 with my 85mm F1.8 (iso1600 gets me f2.2 and 1/600-1/650th). I play regularily and photograph regularily at a basketball centre in manchester called the amaechi centre. It's only a few years old, and one of the best in the country and i find myself on iso3200 with a 70-200 F2.8L and struggling for shutter speed, and i'm more comfortable at iso3200 F2.2 on my 85mm.

ISO3200 here, at the amaechi centre in Manchester:
4.jpg

3.jpg


ISO1600 at the Manchester Evening News Arena:

024.jpg

037.jpg


I've still got a lot to learn when it comes to basketball photography, but I know most of it technically =]

Tom.
 
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Oh yea, don't get disheartened if you don't get anything decent. It's a VERY hard sport to photograph even if you know it inside out. This was a picture from the first game i ever shot, and i was an england international at the time of shooting so knew the game as well as can be:

firstbasketballgame.jpg


That's with Kit lens, and a none custom whitebalance at the amaechi centre ;)

Tom.

EDIT: oh yea, tips. Since you're gonna be lagging on the shutter speed, try panning with action to minimise the motion blur. Keep the camera locked into AI servo, and just try and anticipate play, easier said than done if you don't know the teams / players / game. Not much more i can say other than just give it your best shot fella :)
 
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I'm just waiting for my mate to get back to me with a date. Should be within the next two weeks :)

Thanks for all the info guys. Hopefully if I use all of my memory the law of averages say I should get a couple of half decent shots lol.
 
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