Some sports from me

[Redal]

Hi everyone,
I have been shooting sports for about 5 years now,
I started off with a Canon 300d and 75-300 lens, ( keeper rate 30-40%) i quickly learnt that the lens makes a difference to your keeper rate. I quickly moved to a 70-200f4 , then 70-200f2.8( keeper rate 50-60%)
http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/45951701_wAdD2-L.jpg


Then stupidly had the chance to use a friends Canon 1d , that was my biggest mistake (for the wallet). Keeper rate jumped to 85-90%

Then what i first thought was a keeper , was no longer a keeper, and needed more length , so i got a Sigma 120-300 f2.8 , it is a very good lens if you find a good copy, my first was my best.
http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/71918284_Gj9ZA-L.jpg

Then again stupidity on my part, a used a 300f2.8 ,

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/84813186_8iq7W-L.jpg



Then had my house broken into and all my camera gear stolen, after get my insurance sorted, that a long story. I picked up a 1dmk2n and 120-300f2.8 this copy i wasnt happy with Kepper rate dropped to 60-70%

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/339424157_9VjeK-L.jpg

And the focus was driving me nuts, i got a call from an other friend about a 200f1.8 but it was in queenstown, i did a raod trip down there and stopped to see a good friend and some rodeo

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/239012312_sjePD-L.jpg

Then so realised i had a 1.4xTC on it 90% of the time,

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/321575219_S4zcp-L.jpg


so sold it and picked up a butt ugly , beat up 300f2.8 thats never missed a beat, and love it.

I have shot a heap of other sports, including jetsprint, hockey, basketball, most wheeled motorsports, swimming, league, netball, tennis, basketball and equestion.

That somes up what i shoot, and i hope it shows some progestion from my start.

Cheers
Allan

[thirdkid]

great photos..really want to try sports photography but dont have a fast enough lense..is the first one taken with the 75-300?if so thats not too bad, just needs processing..might try it with my 75-300..

also hows the quality with the sigma lens?is it fast and clear?thinking of getting one instead of a canon one

[HUNTD]

Nice pics, would love to see some of the equestrian pics :P

[Redal]

great photos..really want to try sports photography but dont have a fast enough lense..is the first one taken with the 75-300?if so thats not too bad, just needs processing..might try it with my 75-300..

also hows the quality with the sigma lens?is it fast and clear?thinking of getting one instead of a canon one


Yes, the first image is with a 75-300, i found to get the best out of the lens you need good light and to shoot tight. Also watch your background, and make sure you have plenty of space between your subject and your background, that will help to separate the subject from the background.

The reason i posted the images as they are, is to show the hopeful improvement in post processing and catching the moment/ technique.In the first i was standing, thus the chopped off heads of the people in the background ( although that can be good some times) to the last few where sitting/ kneeling give a better perspective to the subject.

Regarding the sigma 120-300, as i said i have had a good copy and bad ones, the bad one was sent to sigma to be fixed , but was never as good as it should have been.
One of the main reason i upgraded to the 300f2.8 was the focus limiter, the sigma would hunt more in low light when focus was lost, where the Canon would snap back on to target much quicker. The image quaility from the sigma was very good, when it nailed the focus.And it handled a 1.4X TC very well.
I found the sigma preformed much better on a 1 series body than the 20d/30d.

If you can find a good copy they are well worth the money.

I hope that helped :)

---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------

Nice pics, would love to see some of the equestrian pics :P

A couple of jumps

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/60140639_vue4s-L.jpg

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/61023088_xSeVq-L.jpg

A couple of polocross

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/61023078_dRMmk-L.jpg

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/61023080_XM9uM-M.jpg

A mix of others

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/61023073_tLdrU-L.jpg

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/54937745_WjTQE-L.jpg

last one

http://redal.smugmug.com/photos/61023077_aPrxx-L.jpg

[PeakActionImages]

Redal !!!

Hiya Allan

Darren (kiwi aka kiwifamily) here, lol

[Redal]

Redal !!!

Hiya Allan

Darren (kiwi aka kiwifamily) here, lol


Hi Darren,

How are your boys doing? Getting ready for the cricket season?

Hows the photo business going?

[PeakActionImages]

Grwoing quickly

Yip, cricket starts soon, pretty low key for me over summer

Business, well, junior soccer was OK this year, still waiting for the big $ though eh from the Super 14 etc. Might be waiting awhile based on the industry.:confused:

[Kazeden]

I went to the All black VS japan game last night and attempted to shoot some action. The only sport event i shot before was a men single tennis tournament (totally different from shooting a multiplayer game like rugby). I am using a D90 and all i got was a Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR. I cranked my ISO up real high and still had trouble finding enough light for the right exposure. And being my first rugby shoot i had great trouble getting sharp image. I had to lower my shutter speed to 1/250 to get enough light but it wasn't fast enough to freeze some of the actions. I am also not sure which AF mode i should be using. I tried my usual single AF point but realised it was too hard to manually track the subject, the action on the field was too quick. Then i switched to the Auto area AF mode which seems to improve success rate a little but sometimes when a few players were right next to each other close to the try line the camera focused on the person chasing the person with the ball. I need some advice here Redal.

[Redal]

Kazeden, I see you have found some of the joys of shooting sport :)
You probably pick one of the hardest teams to photograph , the All blacks , not so much the speed they play, but the colour of the jersey.
Regarding getting correct exposure, if you can freeze the action, it might be better to under expose then readjust in "post" and use a noise reduction program. Or go the other way and slow your shutter down (1/80)and try panning with the players and try to get a different looking shot, or you might just have to pick slow moving plays , eg lineouts ,rucks, mulls and scrums.
The auto focus is difficult, as i use a canon camera and have a lot of custom functions on they i can change to different environments. I only use single focus point and use a back button to focus with. Also im not sure the " abilities " of the 70-300mm in regards of focus speed and accuracy.
Try going an other tack next time and take your 17-50 f2.8 and go for shots of the stadium , crowd, fans , national anthems and the like , try to capture what it was like to be there as a fan, im sure you can get some wonderful shots doing that.

[Kazeden]

Thanks for the advice. The underexpose and adjust in POST sounds like a good compromise. Or i can just quit waiting for NIKON to come out with D800 and just buy the D700 :)
Good point on the black jersey, i did not think of that. That explains why my AF seems to prefer locking focus on the Japanese players more. I suspect my relatively cheap 70-300 is not the most efficient sports shooting lens, good enough for slower sports event and a zoo trip though.
I only rought my 70-300mm to that game that night. I didn't bother bringing anything else as i was only interested in shooting pictures of All blacks. They carry so much ebergy on the field and are so awesome to watch. I don't think i will get too serious with sports photography though. That is not really my area of interest but it was an interesting and valuable experience i must say.

[Kazeden]

Here are a few of my shots from The AB vs Japan match.

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0361small.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0173small.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0322small.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0161small.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0223small.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0268small.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0282small.jpg



http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x443/kazeden/RWC2011/DSC_0147small.jpg

[Redal]

Looks like you had some good seats :)
Thats the good things about hamilton stadium, the spectators are on the sideline, unlike wellington, napier, and most rugby grounds around the country.
I just thought of something else to help next time, i find that if i have to underexpose then push it a stop in "post' i find i get much better results if i set the white balance manually , or used custom white balance, to get accurate WB .
Your images are looking a little green, so if you had to push them, there would be more noise , than if you had a more accurate WB setting.

Noise is over rated or lack of it, i remember talking to an old pro when i was starting out, who said " it is better to have a sharp and grain(noise) than a well exposed shot and be blurry " unless it was intentional .

[Kazeden]

Yeah. Must say i am not very good with white balance. Don't really know how to use a grey card properly too. For these photos i set my white balance to "cloudy" mode to warm the picture up, not sure why it turned green. Any thoughts?

[Redal]

Yeah. Must say i am not very good with white balance. Don't really know how to use a grey card properly too. For these photos i set my white balance to "cloudy" mode to warm the picture up, not sure why it turned green. Any thoughts?

The easiest way to set the white balance that i have found is , set your ISO to 100 , put in Aperture priority (AV) set aperture to f8 , make sure you have no exposure compensation set.
Then aim at a white piece of signage,( eg the toshiba sign in your background of one of your shoots) depending on your camera, you might need to fill the frame with the "white" from the sign, with mine , i only have to fill about 10-15%.
Dont worry about your shutter speed being very long, maybe even 1/2 sec, as the frame is going to be grey when you are finished, then set that frame as your CWB.
All done, this gets me as close as i can get. One thing to remember are the lights cycle, the bulbs heat up and cool down usually at 60-80 hertz, so getting prefect WB is never always going to happen.