September 23, 2009 - Church volleyball

1/500

f2.0

ISO 1600

50mm

RAW

Getting a photo today was a challenge. I was busy all day, and then had a church youth group meeting after dinner. But when I showed up they were getting ready to play volleyball, so I pulled out my camera.

I quickly figured out, however, that the lighting in our church's simple gymnasium was pretty bad. I had to use my 50mm f1.8 lens, open all the way to f2, in order to get enough light (at ISO 1600) for stop action photos.

To make matters worse, this lens doesn't have a quick autofocus, so many of my photos were out of focus.

Here is one of the few acceptable ones I feel I got. It was taken during the serve and I cropped in on it to focus on the concentration on his face and the blur of the ball as it was hit. This blur really helps add a feeling of action to the shot.

Because of the light colored room divider behind him, the camera was fooled and it underexposed the photo a little. That is why it is so grainy. When shooting at high ISO's, it is vitally important to properly expose the photo during the shot. This will help reduce the graininess of the photo. The more you have to fix the exposure after the shot with your photo editing software, the worse the grain will be.

The lighting was also casting a horrible color that was really hard to nail down in post-processing. Due to being so behind in my posts, I didn't spend much time on it.

September 12, 2009 - Emma's first tennis match

1/3200

f2.8

ISO 400

200mm

JPEG

Emma and Leigh Ann got to play in a practice match today. This was the first time for Emma. She is just starting to learn the game, but she does a really good job of hitting the ball. She just needs to keep working on getting into position to hit. She did that here.

I shot in JPEG mode so I could get a bunch of shots (my camera in RAW mode will shoot only six successive photos whereas JPEG mode gets somewhere around 20). I also put the camera in "sunny" white balance mode since most of the tennis court was in full sunlight. Finally, I put the camera on my monopod to help support the weight of my 70-200mm f2.8L lens.

As I followed Emma around with the lens, I kept the zoom a little wide so I wouldn't have any problem keeping her in the lens. I shot horizontally because I feel that works very well for tennis, especially when a player is swinging at the ball (like Emma is).

Because the aperture is set to a wide f2.8, the background is slightly out of focus. Emma was close to the sideline when I got the shot, so that is why the fence isn't more out of focus.

In the final print (which is what you see), I cropped the photo in quite a bit to focus the attention on just Emma and the tennis action. The inside of her forearm was overexposed, so I tried to back off the brightness there. This is one area where shooting RAW would have helped. RAW contains more image data in the bright areas, which allows you to pull back from overblown hightlights when you use something like Adobe Camera Raw (which you can find with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements).

The 1/3200 shutter speed did a great job of freezing the ball on the strings of the racket. One thing I could have done differently is slow the shutter speed down. It can be tricky to do this, but there is a balance where you have a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the player, but slow enough where the ball is still a little bit of a blur. This effect does a great job of conveying the idea of motion in the photo.

The better the skills of the players (and the harder they hit the ball), the easier it is to find a slow enough shutter speed to do this. However, since Emma and her partner are just getting started, the game was very slow and it might have been impossible to achieve this effect.

Photo Tip: Catching the basketball dribble

Time for quick basketball tip. When shooting basketball, it is very important to capture the basketball in the player's hand, especially when the player is dribbling the ball. Consider the following photos:




Which one is better? Obviously the second! The player looks more in control, ready for action, and seems to be starting his move. In the other photo, which was taking immediately after the second, doesn't have the same 'feel' to it. The player doesn't look like he has control of the ball and the overall feel is rather akward.

If you have a SLR camera with a quick motor drive (by quick I mean 3 frames per second or faster), you can just hold the shutter button down and fire away while your player is dribbling the ball. This should get you at least one good shot.

If you have a slow motor drive (or a point and shoot camera), there are two things I would suggest. First, concentrate on getting a photo while your player is holding the ball with both hands. This often happens when inbounding the ball, looking to make a pass, or about to shoot.

The other is to try timing the shot when he or she is dribbling. This is much harder to do, however, and requires timing and practice. You have to press the shutter button before the ball reaches their hand. How much before depends on the particular amount of lag your camera has between pushing the button and capturing the picture. SLRs have a short lag, while point and shoots (especially digitals) can have a lag nearly up to a second.

Tomorrow I will talk about pre-focusing to help those who have a long lag.

Photo Tip: Shoot vertically for sports action

When shooting sports action, the best way to get the photo is to shoot vertically. Unless your sport involves someone laying down (like wrestling or swimming), shooting vertically will almost always give you the best composition.

Look at these two photos. Which one is better?





The horizontal one has too much wasted space on the sides. Even if I zoomed in to fill the frame from head to toe of the ballcarrier, there would still be plenty of wasted space. But the one shot vertically uses much more of the frame.

Sure, you could crop the horizontal photo, but unless you have a camera that shoots 10 megapixels or more, you will not get enough image information in a tight crop to make good prints. It may look fine on the web, but never framed and on your wall.

Photo Tip: Shooting through the fence

Even if you get access to the field, sometimes the best angle for capturing a great photo will have a fence between you and your subject. A lot of people will stand a few feet away from the fence and take the shot, but that results in a bad photo.


Instead, take advantage of your lens hood and put your lens right up against the fence. The lens hood will prevent the glass element from getting scratched, and your lens will be close enough to the fence that it will focus right through it. Be sure to line the lens up with one of the diamond-shaped gaps.

If you are not using a SLR with a telephoto lens, then the lens on your point and shoot camera will likely be small enough to actually fit through the gaps in the fence.

You can get some pretty amazing shots this way. For instance, in baseball and softball games, I will line up behind home plate and get a lot of great shots of the pitcher going through their complete windup and pitch. I have also shot batters and catchers this way.

All of these were shot through the fence.








Try it and you'll see -- it's not as hard as you think!

Photo Tip: Always ask for permission before stepping onto the field

In yesterday's tip I said you should always ask for permission from the umpire before you set a foot inside the fence to take pictures. Why? The umpire is like the owner of the field. What he says goes. He has complete authority over everyone at the game, on the field and off.

What that also means is he has complete responsibility, too. If there is something dangerous going on during a game, like a toddler walking into the field of play, he is responsible if that child gets hurt. Umpires take a great deal upon their shoulders, and most of us don't realize it.

If you, as a photographer, ever get the ire of the umpire, you will likely get tossed out of the game immediately, even if all you are doing is taking photos from outside of the fence.

Try to do all you can to make sure the umpire is comfortable with you taking photos. Be professional and to the point. Introduce yourself as a photographer. Say why you are there.* Explain you understand the rules of the game. Then ask for permission to shoot inside the fence. You may want to add that you will stay far away from fair territory.

I use these guidelines all the time. I have been turned down only once, and that was at a tournament where the tournament director overturned the umpire's decision to let me in.

* I would suggest saying something other than, "I would like to get some photos of my kid." Instead, don't acknowledge you are a parent and say instead something like "The team (or some parents) have asked me to get pictures of their players." Of course, if you don't have professionally looking camera gear, like a SLR and a long telephoto lens, then expect to get turned down.

Photo Tip: Best way to catch a catcher

Most people won't think about it, but one of the hardest positions in baseball (or softball) to photograph is the catcher. Most of the time you are watching the ball, the batter, the pitcher, or the fielders. It's easy to forget about the catcher. And when you do remember, you also have a batter and an umpire crowding the photo.

I have found the best time to get photos of the catcher is during the first inning warmups. This is when the pitcher goes out and finishes warming up his arm and throws up to a dozen pitches at game speed. There is no batter, no umpire. Just the pitcher and his catcher.

There are three specific things I look for when taking pictures of the catcher during warmups. First, I want to get close enough to get a good, tight shot of just his upper body and extended glove while he waits for a pitch. This should give a pretty good view of his face through the face mask, and isolates the photo to just him. Like this shot.


Second, I also look for a shot of him making the throw to second base, as if a runner was trying to steal. This throw is usually announced before the pitch by the catcher yelling out "Coming down!"


Third, I try to get any shot of him with his helmet and mask in his hand and his face exposed. These can be unpredictable and hard to catch, so be on the lookout at all times for these when shooting catchers. Mothers just love that kind of shot because it shows their favorite player in a position that definitely speaks 'catcher' but the face is easy to see, like this.


Finally, just a few more pointers about shooting catchers.

1. Position yourself so his body opens up to you when catching and throwing. That means shoot from the first base line for a right-handed catcher, and vice-versa for a lefty.


2. In youth sports, using a 70-200mm lens (or something similar) will give you enough range to shoot from the dugout area or near the coach's box. High school and higher level baseball will usually need something with more reach, like a 300mm lens.


3. Get down on their level. If they are crouching, then you need to crouch. If they are standing up to make a throw, then you can stand up.


4. And the most important thing is to always ask the umpires for permission to step out onto the field of play. This applies for foul territory, too! What I usually do is show up before the game starts and ask the umpires while the two teams are warming up. I will talk more about this tomorrow.

Photo Tip: Protect your camera gear from high-humidity

Today I ran into a common problem which can not only ruin your photos, but also ruin your sensitive camera equipment. It was very humid when I got to the park this morning. What's wrong with that? Well, when you pull your camera from your dry, air-conditioned car into a moist, humid environment it will cause water to condense around and inside your camera.

When this happens, if you look through your camera's eyepiece, it will look like your camera is filled with fog. All of your photos will be affected until the condensation evaporates.

Worst yet, the condensation may also form on the electronic circuits inside your camera, which may damage it. And there is no worse feeling for a photographer than to have your camera break on you. I have had a camera break on me twice, and I don't ever want it to happen again!

So how do you prevent the condensation? The easiest way is to keep your camera in its closed bag and let it naturally adjust to the humidity. The warmer, moister air will seep through the bag slowly and the camera will adjust naturally over the next 30 minutes to an hour.

But what if you don't have that long? As a freelancer, I often find myself without that much time, showing up to a location and having to take pictures soon afterwards. Under these circumstances, I unzip my bag partially, but don't open it up. In other words, I make it a little easier for the humid air to get inside and the adjustment to take place.

Usually after 10 or 15 minutes I will take my camera out. If there is no condensation on the lens, then I will turn it on try using it. But if there is condensation, then I wait for it to disappear before turning on the camera. Wiping it off my help the outside of your lens, but doesn't do anything for what may be inside.

What if you don't have camera bag to keep your gear in? For most of you I expect this will be the case. I suggest you wrap your camera with a shirt or a towel, or put it in a purse, handbag, or duffel bag instead before heading out into the humid air. Then follow the same steps as before.

Take care to use these same procedures when going from the moist, humid outdoors into a cool, dry house or building.

Cold weather can also cause problems, especially when going from temperatures below freezing into a warm house, and vice versa. Be sure to follow these same instructions, and be prepared to wait longer before pulling your camera out. The more extreme the different temperatures are the longer your camera will take to adjust.

Let's get this started right!

I have always loved my family and sports, but I stumbled upon my love of photography by accident. The desire to take better photos of my kids led me to where I am today -- a freelance photographer with a love of family and sports photography.

Friends always ask me how they can take better photos, and this blog is one way I hope to help. For things about my wife and kids, see my other blog, The d'Aquin Clan. But for tips about creating better photos, please come here!

For those of you who are sticklers, let me give a little more background. Currently, I am a member of Sportsshooter.com, an online community of professional sports and photojournalists. When I had my own full-time photography business, I was also a member of the Professional Photographers of America. Now, I have a 9-to-5 job that comfortably pays the bills and I do freelance work for fun!