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Basketball with the 85/1.8 & 1DMK2N

Jerry Sigua

New member
With football and volleyball season over, I thought I'd try my hand at shooting basketball. Went out and shot 2 girls basketball games just to get a rhythm and timing down before going and shooting boys basketball.

Here are some shots taken with the 85/1.8 and the 1DMK2N. Settings were at ISO 1600, SS varied from 640 to 800, AV mode, no flash, the 85 set at 2.0 instead of 1.8, shot in JPG, used a grey card for custom WB and pp with Noise Ninja. C&C appreciated and thanks in advance for any feedback.

1)
114626114-M.jpg


2)
114626103-M.jpg


3)
114626153-M.jpg
 
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Nill Toulme

New member
Jerry when you're posting hit the little yellow picture icon (with the mountains, see it?) and that will bring up a dialog into which you paste your URL starting with http and ending with jpg (or other supported image format, there are several). Your URL's are in the right format.

I think we're set up to limit each post to a max of four embedded images for now.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net
 

Don Lashier

New member
Nice shots Jerry. Just a quick tip - these shots would benefit immensely from a WP set. Open levels in PS and slide the right slider to end of data (histogram) or perhaps a bit to the left, but not so far as to lose highlight detail. You really don't care about blowing the ceiling lights a bit more, but the jerseys should be white, and overall contrast would be improved with this simple adjustment. Alternatively if these are raw, try +EC possibly followed by WP and/or BP set if the data still doesn't reach end to end.

- DL
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Jerry,

It is clearly unfair that tall men have to jump very little to get the basket!

These ladies are really great and competitive. You've caught them in peak action it seems and that is important.

I like how they are prepared with white balance. Where did you take the WhiBal shot. That can make a difference. I'll sometimes take several WhiBal shots if lights vary substantially at different places.

To see the effect of Noise ninja, post a before and after at 100% and the same size as now of one image that you corrected. Looks fine to me! So you have apparently done a good job. :)

This shows how great the 85 1.8 is to use at 1600 ISO on the Canon 1DII! A good job!

I'd wonder whether you needed to crop the tighter shots or were they as framed?

I'm also looking at the background and as to whether or not one might be able to blur more using 1.8 or a longer lens to get rid of distractions?

In all, these are all credible shots that any school, girl and family would appreciate.

Some added points. Disclaimer: I myself am not a sportshooter and don't shoot kids sports now!

Try to get faces, whole people and the basket/goal if they are shooting or close to get added excitement and context.

Good shooting to you!

Asher
 
Jerry,
I really like your pictures. They seem very crisp. I'm wondering why my bbal shots from the Basketball C&C thread don't look as sharp. Do you think it's the lens as the 85mm is much better that the 50mm? Noise Ninja?

Where did you like to position yourself? On the baseline to the left of the basket?

Warren
 

Jerry Sigua

New member
Warren,

I like the 85 better than the 50 as I found that the 50 tends to hunt for focus and when I use the 85, I have it set to f/2.0 instead of f/1.8 as I find that my lens performs better at f/2.0.

I like to position myself on the baseline at where the 3 point line intersects with the baseline. However, if the referee is in my way, I move to the other side. I also like to shoot a few from the sideline as you can see in one of my shots.

Jerry
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Jerry (thanks Warren fore correcting me!),

Why the Noise Ninja? Is high ISO noise really noticed without this?

Asher
 
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Asher,

I think you wanted to ask Jerry as he used Noise Ninja on his shots. Do people use the sharpen filter in PS before they post pictures? If so which sharpening filter? Settings?

Warren
 

Nill Toulme

New member
Jerry I'm also curious about the NR. These shots are good — well timed, framed, good action, and *very* sharp — but they look a little dark and somewhat over-NR'd to my eye.

As for the dark part, I wonder if you remembered to convert your web versions to sRGB?

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net
 

Tony Panzica

New member
Jerry, Nice work. Not too many of us concentrate on girls sports. I for one DO, as I am the proud dad of 2 girls and one boy. Parents of girl atheletes are usually very interested in good photos. Girls can get a little funny with they way they look at themselves, but for the most part the parents are your target anyway. Once you start selling, then you know your on the right track. I am sure if you offered images to the parents, they will buy! And that is the ultimate test of being a good photo, At least for me! You can see the many photos of my kids on my site, My girls are a H20Polo player and hockey player. Best adivice I can give is to hand out business cards for your web site. If you can talk to parents ahead of time, they will pass the word and talk to the other parents for you! Good luck...
 
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