unusual shots ideas for a basketball game

[TheGoofster]

My son has another basketball game today, and of course I'll be going, and of course I'll be shooting lots of pictures (even if I didn't want to, I don't think my camera would allow me not to use it, it would haunt me until I succumbed.)
Anyway, since I already have a ton of shots of his team playing, and I really don't "need" anymore, I was thinking about perhaps trying some different kinds of shots today. The problem is that I really don't know what I mean by different kinds of shots. I was hoping that some of you might have some cool ideas that I can try out. (BTW, I have the Nikon D5000 with both the kit lens - 18-55mm - and a zoom lens - 55-200mm, but no special filters or anything though).
One thing that I think I might try is to get down on my stomach and try some low perspective shots. I also might try a few action blur shots (using a slow ISO speed).
What are some other things that perhaps I could try? Perhaps even some ideas on different things to focus on (besides just the game).
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Also, since I'm trying to work on bettering my understanding of White Balance this week, if anybody can think of an unusual or interesting way of applying that as well that would be great.

 

[Frantasmic]

Closeups of players during time-outs or during coach chats.

Coaches during the game.

During warm-ups, a different perspective as they are doing layups.

Try black and white shots

 

[handicap18]

What about the players interacting before the game, during warmups when its not their turn, their reactions from the bench. Same for the coach/coaches. What about their reactions after the game.

There can be some nice photo ops away from the action.

 

[JoeDif]

How about spectator reactions

 

[mom2rtk]

Try panning with the player. It keeps them in focus and blurs the background.

Try shooting one of each player and giving it to their parents later. I take so many pictures of my own kids, they wish I'd stop. The other kids LOVE it and the parents are thrilled when I give them the photos. If some of the kids don't handle the ball as much, get there for warm ups and take pictures then.

 

[mom2rtk]

Also, since I'm trying to work on bettering my understanding of White Balance this week, if anybody can think of an unusual or interesting way of applying that as well that would be great.

I have found that most gymnasiums are lit with flourescent lights. Try changing your white balance to flourescent and see if that helps. I also found that adding a bit to my exposure compensation helped too.

I have been trying to shoot basketball games for years. My boys played for years, and now my daughter is. I have to say I never felt really happy with the results until this year when I added a couple of faster lenses to my collection (at the urging of others here on this board! ) I have the 50mm f1.8 (a great buy at around $100) and the 30mm f1.4. Using these lenses has helped immensely.

If you don't have one of these, you should consider it down the road, especially if the kids are young and will be playing for a while!

Have fun. I can't imagine watching a game without a camera in my hands!

 

[princess.chell]

When I shot my school's varsity team last year, I got bored of action shots after like three games. (Plus the team sucked so there wasn't much to shoot hahah)
I started taking photos of the coach's reactions, the bench, the crowd, little interactions that I had missed before, that stuff.
Some of my favorites were: the bench's feet, as a free throw was being shot a lot of times the guards would talk together or talk with the coach and I'd get a shot of that.
One night, the game was sooo slow and sooo bad that I went up to our "balcony" (basically our second level of our gym) and shot with a wide-angle I rented for a night. That was cool.

 

[Experiment_626]

What's your typical vantage point when shooting? Varying that might be a way to inject new life into your images.

 

[TheGoofster]

I wanted to thank everyone for their great responses. Unfortunately I had to leave for the game before I was able to read them, but I will try to put many of them into use in the next few games.

All of his games are outside, so I don't need to worry about getting those hard inside shots (although I do face that challenge with my daughters gymnastic classes). Today, though, was very overcast, and it started getting a little dark about half-way through the game. Because I chose a higher vantage point, and was using my telephoto lens, I did face the challenge of trying to get the right settings. By the end of the game I had to sacrifice some aperture to get enough light, but most of my shots came out pretty good.
I also tried to focus on different subjects (as well as the typical action shots).

Here are a couple of examples I took of different subjects:

I'm not sure how this ball got in this condition, but it looked like one of the coaches simply squashed it with his bare hands:

The ref always gets paid for officiating the games, but it looks kind of like the coach was slipping her a little bribe money:

Due to my vantage point, I was able to get this neat shot:

I also got quite a few scenery, people and miscellaneous shots.

Again, thanks for all the great suggestions (and please feel free to add more). I look forward to attempting some of these really soon.

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

Try panning with the player. It keeps them in focus and blurs the background.

this was my suggestion also-my fave shot from last season was done this way