High School Basketball

[princess.chell]

Hello.
I'm a lurker who really just reads to improve my skills, but I'm in need of some specialized advice. I've been asked to photograph my high school's varsity boys team. But I have no clue how the best way to do this is. One of the dad's is really into photography and will be shooting on the other side of the floor is going to give me some pointers before my first varsity game, but I would like to know a little bit before I head in since I start before I meet him.
I've got a Canon Rebel XTi with four lenses. I think I am going to use the 28-200 (I think that is what it is called not so good on the lens thing) based on the advice of my photo teacher. I've also got a 75-300mm, a 28-135mm with image stabilizer, and an 18-55mm.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you

 

[MICKEY88]

if you're going to be sitting courtside{front row} the 28-200 will be too much lens, unless you want to shoot downcourt.

you will want to use your fastest lens..more light=higher shutter speeds to prevent blur

I've been shooting basketball with my 28-75 2.8 qand my 80-200 2.8.
I just ecided last night that from now on the 80-200 stays home, becasue the onlything it's good for is extreme closeups during warmups or foul shots..

probably 99% of my shots have come from the 28-75

 

[Frantasmic]

Shoot in RAW so you can lighten the pictures up in post processing. If you can swing it, get the nifty 50 lens and get as close to courtside as you can. Are you allowed to use flash? If so, get a good one for your camera.

Take a TON of pictures, especially at first. It is sometimes difficult to get good shots in motion, especially if you are new, but you'll have a lot to choose from. Don't focus always on action shots of a single player, try to stand at various places in the gym and get good group shots, not always of a shooting player, but the defense and the offense.

 

[YesDear]

Turn your camera to shutter mode. You will probably have to use 1/250 or faster to stop motion. That would depend on the light you have. Many HS basketball arena's have poor lighting. Also figure out what kind of light is being used and set the white balance to that setting. I probably believe you will not be able to use a flash. Only try, if you shooting the other team! Just kidding.

I agree with use RAW and take lots of pictures. You will find out what works or not soon.

Of course what the other posters have said. Fastest lens. Borrow a monopod for your longer lens if you can and see if that helps!

Have fun!

 

[Michele]

I've been getting very good results with my nifty fifty. And I recommended it to a friend who's son is on the team, she has been very pleased with the shots she's getting.

 

[handicap18]

I agree what what has been written so far. After the first game if you find your not happy with the results, you might want to get the 50mm f/1.8. It runs about $80. This lens will give you very wide aperture options to allow more light.

Shooting indoor sports is tough with "kit" type lenses. Those lenses don't have very wide apertures so it limits your shutter speed.

You'll have to use your highest ISO and the smallest f/stop number (f/stops are fractions, so the smaller number is a bigger hole).

Based on the lenses you listed, I'm going to guess that your widest aperture is going to be f/3.5 at 28mm. If you zoom more, your going to get a smaller f/stop (bigger number) and this will make your shutter speed go slower. That is why someone suggested using Tv (shutter Priority) and over riding your aperture. You'll have some underexposed images, but you'll be able to brighten them up in post processing (RAW will make this MUCH easier). You'll probably want to run the images though a noise reducer after wards.

This is why you'll get suggestions for the 50mm f/1.8 (aka, the "nifty fifty"). Not only is it inexpensive (at least when it comes to lenses), but it will allow you to get a wider f/stop and faster shutter speed. You'll lose the zoom, but if your right at the baseline or along the sidelines, you should be close enough to get some nice shots, maybe with a little bit of cropping afterwards.

Down the road, if you like it and things are working good, but you want to get closer shots, then you can look at the f/2.8 standard zooms like Mickey88 mentioned. Those (Sigma and Tamron versions) run about $400.

 

[Alztybrn]

Another thing...set your focus point to the middle/center one and set your focus to AI Focus (not sure if the XTi has that option)

 

[princess.chell]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the great tips! I know I came to the right place!

I'll be on the sidelines/baselines of court, basically I have free roam where ever. I think I'm going to bring my shorter lenses after the advice from you guys because I know I'm going to be really close. I've got a JV game tomorrow night for "practice" before the big game Tuesday night. Hopefully I'll get some good stuff.

Thanks again!!!

 

[MICKEY88]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the great tips! I know I came to the right place!

I'll be on the sidelines/baselines of court, basically I have free roam where ever. I think I'm going to bring my shorter lenses after the advice from you guys because I know I'm going to be really close. I've got a JV game tomorrow night for "practice" before the big game Tuesday night. Hopefully I'll get some good stuff.

Thanks again!!!

I'd be very surprised if you have free roam, any venue I've ever shot, they will allow baseline, or seated on the sideline, roaming the sideline would block the view of paying spectators,plus in most gyms, the space between the sideline and bleachers is so small, that the refs won't allow anyone in that area for the safety of the players.. unless you have a side with no seating...

 

[handicap18]

I'd be very surprised if you have free roam, any venue I've ever shot, they will allow baseline, or seated on the sideline, roaming the sideline would block the view of paying spectators,plus in most gyms, the space between the sideline and bleachers is so small, that the refs won't allow anyone in that area for the safety of the players.. unless you have a side with no seating...

Apparently you never played JV basketball in high school. If there are 30 people there for a game, its a success. That is until closer to the end of the game (if they do it the way we did when I was in high school where the JV played first, then the varsity) when the people start showing up for the Varsity game.

 

[princess.chell]

I'd be very surprised if you have free roam, any venue I've ever shot, they will allow baseline, or seated on the sideline, roaming the sideline would block the view of paying spectators,plus in most gyms, the space between the sideline and bleachers is so small, that the refs won't allow anyone in that area for the safety of the players.. unless you have a side with no seating...

Maybe I should have been more specific...by free roam I meant I don't have a specific spot where I am required to stand. My gym is a really weird set up where they is a good amount of room in between the sidelines and the bleachers, more than in between the baseline and the wall...go figure right? Not quiet sure where I'm going to stay around yet. I'l figure that out when I get there later I guess...

Apparently you never played JV basketball in high school. If there are 30 people there for a game, its a success. That is until closer to the end of the game (if they do it the way we did when I was in high school where the JV played first, then the varsity) when the people start showing up for the Varsity game.

Hahaha. Yes that is exactly way it is at my school. Teams are lucky if they get five people that are not related to the players at game. Some school spirt eh?

 

[MICKEY88]

Apparently you never played JV basketball in high school. If there are 30 people there for a game, its a success. That is until closer to the end of the game (if they do it the way we did when I was in high school where the JV played first, then the varsity) when the people start showing up for the Varsity game.

that's too bad that your fans don't support the jvs
the game I shot friday night the gym was packed for the JV game, by the 3rd quarter of the jv game, they stopped letting people into the gym..
I have apparently shot many games, and the officials in my area will NOT allow photographers on the sides of the court for safety reasons... it wouldn't matter if the gym was empty, there is still very little space between the sideline and the bleachers

 

[MICKEY88]

Maybe I should have been more specific...by free roam I meant I don't have a specific spot where I am required to stand. My gym is a really weird set up where they is a good amount of room in between the sidelines and the bleachers, more than in between the baseline and the wall...go figure right? Not quiet sure where I'm going to stay around yet. I'l figure that out when I get there later I guess...



Hahaha. Yes that is exactly way it is at my school. Teams are lucky if they get five people that are not related to the players at game. Some school spirt eh?

I knew what you meant, it's simply not allowed in our area, it's baseline only, or in the bleachers...

 

[handicap18]

that's too bad that your fans don't support the jvs
the game I shot friday night the gym was packed for the JV game, by the 3rd quarter of the jv game, they stopped letting people into the gym..
I have apparently shot many games, and the officials in my area will NOT allow photographers on the sides of the court for safety reasons... it wouldn't matter if the gym was empty, there is still very little space between the sideline and the bleachers

It wasn't just my high school. It was the whole league and even our non league games. People may have showed up early to get in before they started charging admission. Some kids would sit in the stands and hang out with each other. Thats about it. My high school gym was very small. For the Big varsity games, there would be photographers on the base lines (no room in the stands as most our varsity games were sold out). Some gym's were huge. 2 had their court in the middle of the indoor track (which was way cool because they had the scoreboard above center court just like in the NBA). We played in 1 gym that could seat over 4,000. Lots of baseline room in that gym. Typically in our gym they wouldn't fold out the stands on the opposite side of the team benches till 1/2 time of the JV game. The freshman game, they wouldn't fold them out at all.

 

[MICKEY88]

It wasn't just my high school. It was the whole league and even our non league games. People may have showed up early to get in before they started charging admission. Some kids would sit in the stands and hang out with each other. Thats about it. My high school gym was very small. For the Big varsity games, there would be photographers on the base lines (no room in the stands as most our varsity games were sold out). Some gym's were huge. 2 had their court in the middle of the indoor track (which was way cool because they had the scoreboard above center court just like in the NBA). We played in 1 gym that could seat over 4,000. Lots of baseline room in that gym. Typically in our gym they wouldn't fold out the stands on the opposite side of the team benches till 1/2 time of the JV game. The freshman game, they wouldn't fold them out at all.

wow,,, I guess our kids are lucky to have such support then... our gym has seating on both sides and one end, the end section is always filled with students, and most fans get there by the end of the 1st quarter of the jv game..

 

[princess.chell]

Total number of fans who were not on the varsity team or parents (or me): 2 and they came in in the middle of the first quarter and left at halftime...
JV (and girls) don't bring out any crowds. One of the mom's on the team was telling me that the varsity games hardly draw a crowd too. It's sad. Football draws a huge crowd, like 70% of the student body comes out (that's about 2800 kids). But nothing else compares to it, no matter if our girls team is ranked 5th in the state...
I watched the game for like 2 minutes to get a feel for it and saw that they were coming out into the baseline nearly every play. I made the decision to stand basically on the corner, but would walk up the sideline a little bit too, based on the fact that a 5 foot 4 17 year old girl with an expensive camera was no match for the about 6 foot 18 year old boys playing the game.
I think I got some good shots. But I haven't had a chance to actually look at them yet on my computer
Just wanted to thank you guys again for the photo advise and the insight into how other schools support their teams. I wish my school was like that!

 

[handicap18]

Don't get me wrong, we got plenty of support, but it was for the varsity. Both the boys and girls teams. For tournament time, we'd get busses of kids from school to get to the games that weren't at home. That gym that holds 4,000, the game we played was sold out (it was the state semi-final game). We even traveled for the girls varsity team. Now, track and field. yeah good luck with that one!! lol

princess.chell, we're looking forward to seeing your results.

 

[broberts]

Total number of fans who were not on the varsity team or parents (or me): 2 and they came in in the middle of the first quarter and left at halftime...
JV (and girls) don't bring out any crowds. One of the mom's on the team was telling me that the varsity games hardly draw a crowd too. It's sad. Football draws a huge crowd, like 70% of the student body comes out (that's about 2800 kids). But nothing else compares to it, no matter if our girls team is ranked 5th in the state...
I watched the game for like 2 minutes to get a feel for it and saw that they were coming out into the baseline nearly every play. I made the decision to stand basically on the corner, but would walk up the sideline a little bit too, based on the fact that a 5 foot 4 17 year old girl with an expensive camera was no match for the about 6 foot 18 year old boys playing the game.
I think I got some good shots. But I haven't had a chance to actually look at them yet on my computer
Just wanted to thank you guys again for the photo advise and the insight into how other schools support their teams. I wish my school was like that!

We had the same problems when I played back in high school. Our football team won 2 games all year and the stands were always packed. Our games were about 25% and we won more than 20 games and made the state playoffs. Just not much support.

 

[princess.chell]

princess.chell, we're looking forward to seeing your results.

They are coming, promise. Loading them onto my computer as we speak. I took about 1,000 pictures. I ended up cutting it down to about 200 after I deleted the bad ones and the ones where I had multiple of similar shots (point guard dribbling up the court, dont need ten of those =) ). I'll post my favorites as well as a link to the site where I post them all for the team. Should be soon that I get that. Just gotta edit them a little bit. =)

 

[princess.chell]

So here's what I got. The ones I've posted here are my favorite/what I think are the best. The link I provided is the site that I post to for the team. If you go, mine are the JV game from 2-2 and the Varsity game labeled "Central v South 2/3 2"

JV game ISO 1600 1/200 5.0

Varsity Warm ups ISO 1600 1/250 4.5

ISO 1600 1/250 4.5

IS0 1600 1/200 5.6

ISO 1600 1/250 4.5

ISO 1600 1/125 4.5

http://hcbasketball.smugmug.com/

Any advice, critiques are most welcome. Thanks everyone!