Even more pictures from the Cave Spring game

[BigD4VT 11]

Just a handful from my Flickr page.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlowephotography/sets/72157625493986622/

[ruann23 12]

Great shots!!!!!

[Lance 228]

you always have great pics lol.

 

what kind of deal is it with basketball pics? I have not tried that yet...easier to get better pics indoors with gym lights?

[BigD4VT 11]

Depends on the gym. Tazewell County recently installed high efficiency fluorescents in all the gyms. It's clean with no flicker and bright enough to get 1/400-1/500 @ f/2.8 and 3200. All the others I've shot at are much darker than that so I try to stay in the county as much as possible. Grundy is fairly bright but the flicker is bad. Honaker is horrible. Abingdon is ok. Marion is bad. Carroll Co. has new lights but I wish they were brighter. VHS has the nicest high school arena you will find but the lights suck.

 

As far as the photography, you won't be able to do much with your lens. Spend $100 at adorama.com and get a 50mm f/1.8. It's cheap because it's mostly plastic but it's still sharp and will do a much better job than what you have. You could spend a couply hundred more and get the f/1.4 version which is better and much faster (focus.) Or even better an 85mm f/1.8 so you can get a little closer. Those are the two lenses I started shooting basketball with when I shot Canon. The 70-200 is also a great lens for basketball but a lot more expensive and will give you a stop less shutter speed than the primes. I use a 70-200 for basketball though.

 

As far as difficulty, basketball ain't easy. You will probably be a little overcome by the speed of the game in relation to your close shooting position. It will slow down once you get used to it though.

 

It's one of the hardest sports for autofocus. Expect you percentage of out of focus shots to be high.

[Lance 228]

I have this lens also...guessing that it would not be of much good for basketball though?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-18-55mm-3-5-5-6-Lens/dp/B000V5K3FG

[BigD4VT 11]

Not for action. f/2.8 is really the minimum for nightime and indoor sports if you want to freeze action.

[Lance 228]

so...for the price...you think this is the way to go for basketball/wrestling?

 

http://www.adorama.com/CA5018AFU.html

 

 

also...with this lens, how close to the action are you going to have to get to pull in some good shots? I can't be standing on the foul line during the game you know lol.

[BigD4VT 11]

Yeah it would be great for either. You will be limited to action on your end of the court in basketball, but you should be able to get plenty close enough in wrestling. Canon and Nikon both make a version of that lens. I've heard that it's a little soft wide open (f/1.8) but is very sharp stopped down. Try it at f/2 and if that isn't sharp enough go to f/2.8. That will still be two stops faster than what you have. Example: If you're getting 1/60 @ f/5.6 and iso 3200 you will get 1/250 @ f/2.8 or 1/500 @ f/2 with the same iso. The only downside is you can't get in tight (zoom.)

[BigD4VT 11]

By the way, you can sit on the floor at the edge of the paint in basketball. As long as you aren't in the paint (and in the officials way,) or directly behind the basket where players might crash into you you will be fine.

[Lance 228]

I'm going to get some new stuff soon and then sell off the other one i used for football this year...will probably keep that 18-55mm just to take pics of the kids when we go on trips and stuff like that...its not very heavy and does great for outdoor shots on sunny days.

 

thanks for the info...i'll go ahead and order one of those 50mm and check it out...if i don't like it i can probably recover most if not all of my money back on that since it's cheap...not much to lose really.

[BigD4VT 11]

You could always get it from Amazon and return it if you need to. Adorama takes returns too but Amazon is much easier.

[ruann23 12]

I have a Nikon D3000....which lens is best to use for football and soccer shots? I LOVE taking pictures (for personal use only) but feel that my pics sometimes looks good and other times looks bad! When I use the action button, I feel they look worse. I think the "children" feature makes the action shots look better. Also, should I get an extra flash b/c I usually have to adjust the exposure of my pictures when I get home.

 

I hope you don't mind me asking questions, I paid good money for my camera....would like to be able to use correctly.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Lance 228]

You could always get it from Amazon and return it if you need to. Adorama takes returns too but Amazon is much easier.

 

I would probably use it for a few months...takes me a while to decide sometimes.

 

Thanks for the info here...much appreciated.

[BigD4VT 11]

I have a Nikon D3000....which lens is best to use for football and soccer shots? I LOVE taking pictures (for personal use only) but feel that my pics sometimes looks good and other times looks bad! When I use the action button, I feel they look worse. I think the "children" feature makes the action shots look better. Also, should I get an extra flash b/c I usually have to adjust the exposure of my pictures when I get home.

 

I hope you don't mind me asking questions, I paid good money for my camera....would like to be able to use correctly.

 

Thanks in advance!

Depends on how much you want to spend. You can do fine with soccer during the day with a 70-300 f/4.5-5.6. I think the cheap one is about $150. A better one is something over $500. Anything beyond that and you start adding a lot of dollar signs. Ignore all the camera's "modes" and use either "M", "A", or "S." M is for manual and you can learn how to use it from a basic photography book. Otherwise just use "A" which will allow you to set the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed. For sports you want the widest possible aperture in order to get the fastest possible shutter speed.

 

It's probably best to forget about night time football unless you are serious and prepared to spend a lot of money. One of the most difficult things to do in photography is get usuable pictures of high school football. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of expensive equipment.