3rd BB game, new lens, honest C&C please....

[Flea77]

My third basketball game ever, and in the worst possible lighting enviroment. Two different types of lights, no flash allowed, and darker at one end of the court than the other. I am shooting some shots at iso 3200, f 1.8, 1/640. I couldn't pull things out with an f 2.8 lens, tried that, and with my D90, failed misserably. Bought a 85mm 1.8 and it works MUCH better!

So what do you think? Honest C&C appreciated, always looking to see what I did wrong so I can get it better next time....

















Thanks for looking!

Allan

[78novacaine]

3 and 7 are FTW. What noise reduction program are you using? I have a d90 as well and if I can get shots that clean at 3200 that will open up some possibilities...

[garykohs]

Nice shots! The lens is excellent.

[John Godwin]

The lens is working for you. Now all you have to do is learn to adjust the white balance in post processing. The cycling lights have the color all over the place.

[TxPhotoShooter]

Being the first time shooting with the 1.8, I think overall you did well. The shots are not quite as saturated. As well as noted about the white balance, finding the sweet focus spot for basketball shots is a challenge. For instance, #4 and #5 are just a touch off. I know with my 1.8, I tend to shoot at 2.2. But as you stated, the lighting could dictate my settings. I will be shooting Sam on the 11th. I will have my 1.8 but I also want to try side shots with the 70-200mm.

Again nice job and I think you will like the ability the 1.8 gives you in that facility.

[Tom]

1.
Your WB is a bit green. Also, try to position yourself so that the ref isn't in front like that. Good timing. I would crop it to square just above the ref's head. They aren't impressively far off the ground. All that matters is the faces, arms and ball.

2.
Good timing, but all the other players in the frame make it look snapshooty. The optimal timing would have been right around when the ball was on his hand or just left. Crop tighter, the bottom of the frame should be just below the white dude's elbow, the left should be his back, the top should be the ball and the right should be the black dude's back.

3.
Very nice shot. Crop tighter. Bring the top down to their heads and the right up to #1's elbow.

4.
Meh. Busy background. Uninteresting. No room under his shoe. Hate the goal there and the dude leaning on the trash can. Crop horizontal to his waist. His hands should be the left and right ends of the shot.

5.
Too busy and looks to be focused on the white dude in red. Since you cut off feet, crop square at the ball carrier's waist. But I would probably delete.

6.
Good capture. Looks a little green still. Crop tighter. Top should be the top of the bench's head. Bottom should be bottom of the play. Right should be the black dude on the bench in red's shoulder. Left should be white dude in red on bench's shoulder.

7.
Great capture. Just crop in a little tighter.

8.
Good timing. His face being partially blocked isn't my favorite. Crop tighter. Bottom should be 34's waist, top should be the ball.

[Flea77]

@David, I use Topaz DeNoise 5, although only two of the shots I posted are at 3200. In my experience the exposure is the most important thing to being able to get something usable at high ISO.

@Gary, yep, I think I am going to like it!

@John, Not only are the lights cycling, but there are two different types of lights so depending on where the action is you may get orange tint on one guy and green on the guy standing six inches away. It's just maddening! I do need to work on getting them to match a little better though.

@David, Thanks! Hope to see you there on the 11th. I am still working on the sweet spot, I tried a few at f2 and am looking at how that worked. Tomorrow I may try something a little higher and see what that does. That place is so horrible though it is a tough balancing act.

@Thomas, I always love it when you C&C my shots, no BS, right to the point! That really helps, thanks! Of course I could have guessed the "crop tighter" comments, heh. I swear if I posted a picture of the player's eye you would gripe and want it cropped to just his pupil, LOL! I will definately play with the crops you suggested tonight when I get to the house. Thanks again and always keep em coming!

Allan

[gvaughn]

I really like #7 from this group. Your best shots in b-ball will always be when you can get a sharp focus on 1 or 2 players. The other shots with several players get too cluttered. Thomas really covers it for you here though . . .. what a great resource! I learned a lot just from going over the comments.

[Comanche]

Allan - I don't know if you are shooting RAW or JPG, but as others have mentioned, you have a color balance problem and there is not a thing you can do about the pulsed lighting. I suggest you shoot RAW simply because you can adjust the WB easier in post. As to noise, I also like Lightroom as the noise reduction is excellent.

As to focus points, I'm not sure what single focus points you can select from using the D90. (I'm a Canon shooter.) If you have it while shooting in portrait mode, select a focus point just below center and keep that on the face. That might solve some of your ever-so-slightly-out-of-focus problems.

Over all, so very good shots.

[John Godwin]

If you have it while shooter in portrait mode, select a focus point just below center and keep that on the face. That might solve some of your ever-so-slightly-out-of-focus problems.

Interesting aspect Doug. Personally I select a focus point above the center. More body less dead air for me anyway.

[Flea77]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, you can see the next game where I took a lot of what was said and tried it out at http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...ving-85mm.html

Allan

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by John Godwin

Interesting aspect Doug. Personally I select a focus point above the center. More body less dead air for me anyway.

Good point, John. As you say, whatever works best. I use the one just below center simply because that keeps the ball and hands in the frame if the subject jumps suddenly. I don't have a problem tracking a guard driving towards the basket - I know he will go up and I just follow him. Its the rebounds and the super quick jump shots (that often entail a foul) that I'm not always fast enough to react to.

So many different ways to get good shots, and maybe that's what a newer shooter should work on - keep notes and figure out what works for you.

[TxPhotoShooter]

Originally Posted by Comanche

Allan - I don't know if you are shooting RAW or JPG, but as others have mentioned, you have a color balance problem and there is not a thing you can do about the pulsed lighting. I suggest you shoot RAW simply because you can adjust the WB easier in post. As to noise, I also like Lightroom as the noise reduction is excellent.

As to focus points, I'm not sure what single focus points you can select from using the D90. (I'm a Canon shooter.) If you have it while shooter in portrait mode, select a focus point just below center and keep that on the face. That might solve some of your ever-so-slightly-out-of-focus problems.

Over all, so very good shots.

That arena is just horrible. I've shot there once this year and found out they have a big lighting problem. (And I only shoot RAW and work in Lightroom.) They have magenta, yellow, bright white and dim white lights. I would guess about half of their lights were not working so you have scattered areas of light and dark. And I don't know if the lights were flickering but I had several shots where the shooter went straight up and I ended up with different shades of light. Some looked like I used flash. Ugh, so bad.

[John Godwin]

Its the rebounds and the super quick jump shots (that often entail a foul) that I'm not always fast enough to react to.

So many different ways to get good shots, and maybe that's what a newer shooter should work on - keep notes and figure out what works for you.

After your explanation pertaining to the rebounds and quick jump shots your method makes prefect sense now. Luckily for me I do not have that problem unless I am shooting really tight. If I am shooting tight this is the type of shot I am looking for, full frame no cropping. Your way would work, I would have to adjust my style so that the focus point would be somewhere below the waist and not on the shoulders, face.



Several decades (film days not glass negatives) ago when I would go out and do some shooting I took a little notepad with me. Every shot would be recorded. I could match up the photo with the notes and know what the f-stop, ASA, shutter speed, peoples name, place, time of day etc. and try to learn from that data. Now I can look at the EXIF data and be pretty happy.

Point being there is more than one way to get the shot!!!

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by John Godwin

Several decades (film days not glass negatives) ago when I would go out and do some shooting I took a little notepad with me. Every shot would be recorded. I could match up the photo with the notes and know what the f-stop, ASA, shutter speed, peoples name, place, time of day etc. and try to learn from that data. Now I can look at the EXIF data and be pretty happy.

Oh wow! Yeah, I did that too! I guess most of us from the film days did it, and its not a bad idea, even with today's' EXIF availability..

While not quite the same thing, I keep a data sheet for every gym and stadium and baseball diamond I shoot in on a regular basis. Besides the obvious (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, etc.) I also include things such as "1/2 stop darker under south basket" or "Don't shoot on west end of field on home side - bad background". I read it before I head out the door on an assignment.

One last idea - even though today's cameras perform really well at high ISOs, and even though the software is marvelous at cleaning up any noise, I still like fast primes. In a tight high school gym, the extremely shallow depth of field helps blur backgrounds as no f 2.8 zoom can do. When I shoot a game, I use an 85mm f1.8 and a 135mm f2, and use f2 with both lenses. Yeah, I wish I had a 200mm f2 to help get those scrambles on the floor, but one of those is still a little rich for me.

Allan, you have some good shots. Lets see some more of them.