photographers please help with a flash question

[whirlsy]

I have a Canon Rebel 2000 and I have been taking pictures of my daughter playing basketball~ all I have is the built in flash. should I get another form of flash to get clearer pictures? the pictures are not the clearest . also I only really use the automatic part of the camera does this matter in picking out a flash. Thank for any info. Dawn

 

[TheLionKing]

Shooting sports is my current hobby, but I am shooting outside sports.

Shooting inside sports is difficult because the lighting in most gymnasiums is poor for photography. When you use a flash with a Canon Rebel 2000, the fastest the shutter will go is probably somewhere around 1/150th of a second. That is just not enough to freeze any moving action which will make it look blurry.

The second problem is the distance you are sitting from the action would probably require a seriously powerful flash. Some schools may even outlaw the use of flashes during the game.

This leaves you with taking photos of the players on the bench or during team huddles, but the chances you will get action shots is pretty low.

If you still want to try, set the camera to aperture mode and open up the aperture to as wide as you can. This will allow the most light in and keep the shutter speed as fast as possible

 

[battricia]

Also, use a tripod for just about anything.

tricia.

 

[whirlsy]

thanks for the info.

 

[jfulcer]

Hey, TLK.... I've seen some of your nature shots, you want to share some sport shots? I'm sure you've taken some pretty awesome pics!

Originally posted by TheLionKing
Shooting sports is my current hobby, but I am shooting outside sports.

Shooting inside sports is difficult because the lighting in most gymnasiums is poor for photography. When you use a flash with a Canon Rebel 2000, the fastest the shutter will go is probably somewhere around 1/150th of a second. That is just not enough to freeze any moving action which will make it look blurry.

The second problem is the distance you are sitting from the action would probably require a seriously powerful flash. Some schools may even outlaw the use of flashes during the game.

This leaves you with taking photos of the players on the bench or during team huddles, but the chances you will get action shots is pretty low.

If you still want to try, set the camera to aperture mode and open up the aperture to as wide as you can. This will allow the most light in and keep the shutter speed as fast as possible

 

[jfulcer]

Actually for the OP - you should read the manual that comes with your camera - it may help you to use a different automatic setting, or give you help using the manual settings to get some decent pictures.

In all honesty, to get really good action pictures, you have to learn a lot more about how the camera works, what an Fstop is, what film speed matters, etc. There are lots of websites that can help you figure it all out.

As a suggestion, try using 800 speed film (if you can use it in your camera, otherwise make sure you use 400) when you take your pictures. It will allow your camera a little bit more leeway when it as to figure out how to take the picture. It will be a little bit more expensive and 8x10 prints may be a touch fuzzy, but it might help you get a better picture.

 

[Lady Cluck]

Probably not what you had in mind Dawn, but if you don't mind Black & White, or want to try some creative "newspaper journalism" type shots, you might experiment with 1600 speed film, available at camera shops or here
http://buyporters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=40-0542&Category_Code=F1H

Although it has a considerably larger grain, 1600 requires no flash for well lit indoor shots.

 

[Geoff_M]

TLK is basically right-on. Your built in flash is only good for around 10-15 feet at best. An external dedicated flash will be your best bet. Take your camera off of "program" mode and set the shutter speed to the highest speed the camera will sync to and open up the aperature on the lens until the scale on the flash indicates that you'll be "in range" for the players. Let the TTL (through the lens) metering on the flash do the rest. Unfortunately a tripod won't help at all for still photography.

 

[whirlsy]

thanks for the information especially on the film. Now do I send that kind of film out for processing or can the one hour place do that? also do they make a color film that is like that? When I watch the photographers at Basketball games take their pictures it looks like a camera similiar to mine and I do love the action shots they put in the paper. I love taking pictures I just cant seem to grasp all the maual stuff. I like automatic.

 

[Geoff_M]

Actually the grain in 1600 speed film is lot better than it used to be, but I'd still have you opt for an external flash. Ambient light photos in gyms often have inappealingly "flat" looking colors, plus I really doubt that you'd achieve fast enough shutter speeds to eliminate motions blur. 1600 speed color film can be processed via C-41 chemistry like other color negative films.

As for the "No flash" rule, there are a lot of press and freelance photographers that run into problems, but I've never heard of a parent in the stands being told to turn off their flash (unless it's a swim meet or volleyball match).

 

[whirlsy]

so if I get an external flash and use 1600 speed will that eliminate some of the blur?

 

[Geoff_M]

You don't need both. I'd start out with an external flash and 400 speed film. Part of the limiting factor is the "flash sync" speed of your camera. That's the fastest shutter speed that your camera can take a flash photo. However, the duration of the flash is MUCH faster than that. Most flashes only have a duration of 1/10,000 sec. Any motion blur you get when using a flash will be the result of "ambient" light that enters your camera when the flash is off but your camera's shutter is still open. This is known as "ghosting". The faster film you use, the more likely you'll get ghosting since it will do a better job of picking up the gym's lighting.

Know you like "auto" things, but getting off of this reliance is the key to better sports photography. Ditch the "program" modes on your camera and (if yours have them) concentrate on the Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority metering modes. Both are still "auto" modes, but until "program" modes that select both the aperature and shutter speed, allow you to pick one exposure variable (aperature or shutter speed) and the camera selects the corresponding setting for the other variable. I'm not sure about Canon, but on other cameras they are labeled as "S" and "A" modes.

If your camera's flash sync speed is 1/250 sec., then put it on "S" mode, put the shutter on 1/250th, and let the camera determine the aperature and flash power to use. The shutter speed is one of the keys. I've seen a lot of "program" modes and use shutter speeds of around 1/60th and that's a guarantee for blur and ghosting.

 

[gometros]

Originally posted by Geoff_M
Actually the grain in 1600 speed film is lot better than it used to be, but I'd still have you opt for an external flash. Ambient light photos in gyms often have inappealingly "flat" looking colors, plus I really doubt that you'd achieve fast enough shutter speeds to eliminate motions blur. 1600 speed color film can be processed via C-41 chemistry like other color negative films.

As for the "No flash" rule, there are a lot of press and freelance photographers that run into problems, but I've never heard of a parent in the stands being told to turn off their flash (unless it's a swim meet or volleyball match).

There are also some very good programs that effectively clean up the noise in digital images. I've run some tests with a variety of packages and gotten some pretty amazing results.

 

[Geoff_M]

I know a lot of pros swear by "Noise Ninja", but I haven't had to mess with it. If I've got ISO issues, I bring more light!

 

[mickman1962]

Noise Ninja and Neat Image both have salvaged photos for me on some quick shots without time to properly set up the camera. I would try the 800-1600 thing first as a flash strong enough to make a difference will run some serious bucks.

 

[whirlsy]

thanks everyone for the great advice.

 

[TheLionKing]

Originally posted by jfulcer
Hey, TLK.... I've seen some of your nature shots, you want to share some sport shots? I'm sure you've taken some pretty awesome pics!

I don't want to waste Pete's bandwidth with sports shots.

Anyone who is interested in seeing my sports shots which include surfing, volleyball and some nature shots can see them at

http://www.pbase.com/sbdigitalimages

Send me an email if you like them.

I don't mean to hijack your thread Whirlsy.