Action shots at basketball tournament

[ms.yt]

I'm the journalism adviser for a small high school, and my journalism program has been granted permission to take action shots during the upcoming regional tournament at our school and sell the images on site. I have a few issues I hope you all can help me with.
1.We made due pretty well last year just taking pictures for our use in the yearbook with our 50 mm/1.8 lens. I'm thinking we may need to rent a lens for this. We can't use a flash, so what lens would be best for this and what company is best to rent from?
2. We have access to enough computers, monitors, etc., but what program would be best to be able to allow people to browse through the pictures at the end of each game?
3. We'll have to invest in a printer to be able to make prints at the site. I'm thinking that 5x7 would be the largest size we offer. What would be the best photo-quality printer to use that is also economical for prints?

Thanks!

 

[mplindsay1]

I act as photographer for our high school basketball team. I am a Canon user and shoot with a 7D. The two lenses I like for basketball are the 24-70 2.8 L and the 70-200 2.8 L.

I use the 24-70 when I am shooting from behind/under the basket and the 70-200 when I am shooting from one of the baseline corners. The 24-70 allows me to get full-body shots of layups and inside shots, etc. While the 70-200 allows me to shoot tighter shots and to cover the entire floor.

Both lenses are fantastic. They are fast and great for indoor sports. You definitely want at least a 2.8. I also like the flexibility of a zoom lens for basketball.

If you would like to see some photo samples I post them on Facebook under the page "Thunderbird Images." I have found that for my purposes and for easy viewing access, Facebook works great. I use a watermark.

 

[handicap18]

I act as photographer for our high school basketball team. I am a Canon user and shoot with a 7D. The two lenses I like for basketball are the 24-70 2.8 L and the 70-200 2.8 L.

I use the 24-70 when I am shooting from behind/under the basket and the 70-200 when I am shooting from one of the baseline corners. The 24-70 allows me to get full-body shots of layups and inside shots, etc. While the 70-200 allows me to shoot tighter shots and to cover the entire floor.

Both lenses are fantastic. They are fast and great for indoor sports. You definitely want at least a 2.8. I also like the flexibility of a zoom lens for basketball.

If you would like to see some photo samples I post them on Facebook under the page "Thunderbird Images." I have found that for my purposes and for easy viewing access, Facebook works great. I use a watermark.

Nikon has the same 2 lenses and are just as awesome. Arguably the best 4 lenses between the two companies. I have the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and it is great. There are 3rd party makers that have the same focal length and aperture, but in my experience (I've also used the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8) the Nikon (and probably the Canon, if if you have a Canon camera) is superior. Especially in the focus department. The main reason I got rid of the Sigma version was because of the focus issue. Especially in lower light, it had trouble picking up the focus and when I used it for a few action photos, the focus was slow. With the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8, I have never missed a focus either in lower light or with action. It is expensive (but can be rented), but for me it has been well worth the cost.


As for sharing, you'll have to set up a pro account with either smugmug or zenfolio. With their pro accounts you can not only make the galleries private, you can also make them right click protected so people can't just download them AND you can set your own prices (for prints and downloads). They are about $150/year so you'll have to decide if it is worth it to your group to go ahead and have this type of account. Otherwise you'll have to find a free or cheep hosting site for people to view the pictures and you'll have to upload a VERY small file to make it worth while for people to buy the prints or digital download from you rather than just download the picture directly to their computer for free.

I don't know enough about new personal photo printers to suggest something. I would think that most would be better that they were a few years ago, but either way the ink to print many 5x7 photos is going to add up in cost.

If your going to do it right after the game, your going to have to make sure you have a fast reliable computer. People aren't going to want to wait around to long. Think about how things work at Disney on the rides that take pictures, you get off the ride and you can see your picture right away and its printed (based on how many people that want to buy that day) fairly quickly.

 

[Experiment_626]

We made due pretty well last year just taking pictures for our use in the yearbook with our 50 mm/1.8 lens.

I used to shoot basketball games with a 70-200 (with flash) with the lens set at 70 mm exclusively. That was on a film SLR, and I used to think that I would have liked the lens to be a just a bit longer; I could have zoomed out a bit, but it was a push-pull zoom, and I didn't want to have to check the zoom every time I took a shot. And 70mmm was nearly ideal. On most digital SLRs, a 50mm lens will give you the same field of view as a 75mm lens would have attained on film. That sounds just about perfect to me -- if the photographer can station him- or herself low behind the basket. When I did it, I'd sit a few feet out of bounds (often against the wall in small high school gyms), roughly in line with the outer edge of the key. I usually sat on the right side unless I got a game where a ref habitually blocked my view, in which case I'd soon move to the other side of the key.

Of course, this was in smaller school gyms where I was usually the only photographer in attendance -- a tournament would likely have more shooters. If so, arrive early and claim your favorite position ASAP, unless the powers-that-be are assigning spots. The lower position means you can follow the action closer to the basket. It also helps emphasize the height of the players in the photos.

I would lean toward retaining the 50mm as my primary lens. The f/2.8 lenses are fast, but not as fast as a f/1.8, and basketball arenas are usually pretty dark with lights that cycle in color (so this is one case where auto WB may be advised), especially in high school locations. Put the camera on continuous focus and learn to follow the player with the ball as he approaches your end of the court. Learn to keep both eyes open so the eye not in the viewfinder can see everything. Especially with that focal length, it should be a fairly easy skill to pick up.

The ideal situation would be to have two camera bodies, one with the 50 for action on "your" end of the court and another with maybe one of those 70-200 f/2.8 lenses for action on the other end (and the shots of the coaches and players in the bench area, triumphant teams celebrating at the end of the game, and so on). You could do that with one photographer handling both cameras, or have two if that luxury is available.

I haven't rented any lenses, but I consistently hear good things about BorrowLenses.com, for what it's worth.

I loved photographing basketball games, along with football. Basketball was the easiest sport to shoot. The action comes right to you and does so many times a game, so there are plenty of opportunities. I hope to do it again at some point.

I hope some of this is helpful!

SSB

 

[bob100]

I'm the journalism adviser for a small high school, and my journalism program has been granted permission to take action shots during the upcoming regional tournament at our school and sell the images on site. I have a few issues I hope you all can help me with.
1.We made due pretty well last year just taking pictures for our use in the yearbook with our 50 mm/1.8 lens. I'm thinking we may need to rent a lens for this. We can't use a flash, so what lens would be best for this and what company is best to rent from?
2. We have access to enough computers, monitors, etc., but what program would be best to be able to allow people to browse through the pictures at the end of each game?
3. We'll have to invest in a printer to be able to make prints at the site. I'm thinking that 5x7 would be the largest size we offer. What would be the best photo-quality printer to use that is also economical for prints?

Thanks!

look at the Canon 85mm 1.8 - (about $300 used) the focal range is good for basketball

 

[Experiment_626]

look at the Canon 85mm 1.8 - (about $300 used) the focal range is good for basketball

If you're close to the court, I'd say that lens would be too long for most action shots. The best action generally happens close to the basket, and if you want facial expressions you're going to need to be behind the basket the players are approaching. On the other hand, if you want faces, then the 85 is probably a great choice.

This all presumes you'd be shooting with a crop-sensor (APS-C type) camera. If you're fortunate enough to have a full-frame camera body, then a fast 85 deserves serious consideration for action shots. Might be a bit tight in some cases, though.

Here's my favorite basketball photo from my journalist days, photographed with the setup I described earlier. In my earlier post, I neglected to mention that you'd probably want to shoot almost entirely verticals with the focal ranges equivalent to what I used.


Vernon Basketball, circa 1995 by Experiment SixTwoSix, on Flickr

SSB