Photographing Cheerleaders

[DisneydaveCT]

Here are some shots from today's first attempt at photographing my daughter in her competition. I am not pleased with the outcome of the shots; too much grain, blurry hands and blurriness. I would appreciate any constructive feedback.

All of the shots were taken with a K100D with a DA 18-55. The ISO was set at 3200, which may have been too high. All the photos were shot in Aperture Priority and the WB was set to Tungsten. I also shot in JPEG instead of RAW.

f4 1/250

f5.6 1/90

f5.6 1/125

f5.6 1/125

 

[Brad M]

I noticed on another post you have a couple of 3.5-5.6 lenses but were considering a faster lens. Were these taken with one of the slower lenses?

I personally prefer to not go beyond ISO 1600 because of the grainy effect (although I've not played with correcting this with software like many do). I think you would be happier at 1600, shutter priority at 1/100 or a little faster (depends on your tolerance for movement blur), and either a faster lens or use of flash (off-camera or bounced off ceiling if possible).

 

[DisneydaveCT]

These were shot with the 3.5-5.6 lens. The budget hasn't allowed for one of the faster zooms.

 

[ukcatfan]

I have that exact camera and lens. I would not use it for indoor sports. Try picking up a prime like the 50mm f/1.4. If that is not in the budget, check for a used 50mm that is at least f/2. You will probably have to go with a MF one, but that would be better than the kit lens. I agree that 3200 on the K100D is a bit too noisy. If you had shot in RAW, you could do better at removing the noise in the conversion to JPG. You will lose some fine detail doing it, but if you are not too aggressive with the noise removal and then do a little sharpening after, you can get better results than just JPG at 3200. I would personally go down to 1600 though.

 

[Brad M]

These were shot with the 3.5-5.6 lens. The budget hasn't allowed for one of the faster zooms.

I know the feeling. I recently switched to Nikon after many years with another brand (going back to film days). It's going to be a slow process to re-invest in the lenses I want.

I'll be curious to hear what others have to say. Since you're unhappy with the higher ISO, without a faster lens or flash I'm stumped.

I think the 3rd shot is pretty good, although the graininess is noticable. A little hand blurriness can be okay and is a desired effect for some who want to show movement. For me the key is having clear faces but hand/ball/bat/etc blur is ok to a point. One thing you can do is take more shots when there is less movement.

You might also want to try other white balance settings to see which you like better.

 

[photo_chick]

You definitely need a faster lens. I'm hitting this same roadblock when I shoot my daughter's dance recital. Not enough money to invest in the faster telephoto.

I have a Rebel XT and the cheap 70-300mm zoom. It cannot technically get a fast enough shutter speed to get the shots in the auditorium, so I shoot RAW and underexpose a stop or two as needed to get the shutter speed I want, then I push the exposure back up when I process. It does add noise, but you have to work with the equipment in your bag, and noise is better than motion blur. It's the same idea really as pushing film.

Do they have anyplace that rents lenses near you? You could do that for the "big" competitions until you are in a position to buy a faster telephoto.

 

[EnnEss]

Im not familiar with the lenses for your system but if there is something in the f2 to 1.8 range thats prime and relatively cheap you could get that, i presume youre shooting in max size anyways, so you could crop them to what you want after.

 

[ukcatfan]

Im not familiar with the lenses for your system but if there is something in the f2 to 1.8 range thats prime and relatively cheap you could get that, i presume youre shooting in max size anyways, so you could crop them to what you want after.

The 50mm f/1.4 runs around $175 for Pentax. I suggested used b/c there is a huge supply of used Pentax glass and a used MF 50mm can go for around $40-100. I bought a f/2 model for $45 before upgrading to the f/1.4.

 

[DisneydaveCT]

The 50mm f/1.4 runs around $175 for Pentax. I suggested used b/c there is a huge supply of used Pentax glass and a used MF 50mm can go for around $40-100. I bought a f/2 model for $45 before upgrading to the f/1.4.

I recently did acquire a Pentax-A 50 f1.7, but had not had a chance to shoot with it before yesterday's competition and was hesitant to try a "new" lens out during the competition. So I went with a lens that was fully automatic. Live and learn.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far.

 

[JR6ooo4]

this is the EXIF from one:

# Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 11930465/1073741824 second = 1/90 second = 0.01111 second
# Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 751619264/134217728 = F5.6
# ISO Speed Ratings = 3200
# Original Date/Time = 2009:01:17 16:43:50
# Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
# Focal Length = 922746880/16777216 mm = 55 mm
# Image Width = 2256 pixels
# Image Height = 1500 pixels

others were 1/125 shutter speeds.

Was this a zoom lens? Because the AP is 5.6. So you were zoomed in on the subjects causing the lens to bump to 5.6? If you stay wide you can get closer to the f3.5 end then crop the photo in post processing.

another tip to stop hand bur is to learn the routines. No you do not have to stand behind and pantomime their moves. Just learn when they have a pause in the action so you can get a least-movement chance.

Mikeeee

 

[ukcatfan]

I recently did acquire a Pentax-A 50 f1.7, but had not had a chance to shoot with it before yesterday's competition and was hesitant to try a "new" lens out during the competition. So I went with a lens that was fully automatic. Live and learn.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far.

Just remember that your DOF is small when you are wide open. I suggest starting around f/2.8 when you are getting used to the lens. That will give you a little more room for error and the lens will be sharper than wide open.

 

[Brad M]

Just remember that your DOF is small when you are wide open. I suggest starting around f/2.8 when you are getting used to the lens. That will give you a little more room for error and the lens will be sharper than wide open.

I agree. Sharpness will likely diminish wide open (seems to even in the focal plane). My preference is to shoot not quite wide open.

Any samples for us to view with your 50mm DisneyDave?

Here are 3 recent shots with my 50mm 1.8...

f3.2, 1/200 shutter, ISO 1600

f2.5, 1/250 shutter, ISO 1600

f2.8, 1/250 shutter, ISO 1600

 

[DisneydaveCT]

No shots with the 50mm yet. My job has kept me very busy on game night. But that is changing.

 

[Michele]

f2.5, 1/250 shutter, ISO 1600

I curious which camera body you are using. I have the Canon 40D and the 50mm 1.8 lens. I have been getting good results at f2.8, 1/125 shutter, and ISO 1000. But I've been scared to go up to 1600 for fear of noise. Do you do any noiseware PP?

I suppose I should just try a few shots at ISO 1600 and see how they look....maybe tonight....we've got a game to go to everynight night this week.

 

[Brad M]

I curious which camera body you are using. I have the Canon 40D and the 50mm 1.8 lens. I have been getting good results at f2.8, 1/125 shutter, and ISO 1000. But I've been scared to go up to 1600 for fear of noise. Do you do any noiseware PP?

I suppose I should just try a few shots at ISO 1600 and see how they look....maybe tonight....we've got a game to go to everynight night this week.

Sounds like a busy week! I'm using a Nikon D90. I'm happy with ISO 1600 but try not to go any higher. I did perform noise reduction on the whole batch in Lightroom 2 but it didn't necessarily need it.

Here's the same picture without noise reduction. Please share your results with us from tonight's game.