Shooting The Jocks Who Beat Us Up As Kids: Sports Photography Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shooting The Jocks Who Beat Us Up As Kids: Sports Photography Megathread

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

My first real attempt at shooting a sporting event, Cal State San Bernardino vs. Chico. Shooting baseball is a lot harder than it looks. Everything is so far away and everybody moves so drat fast :P

Coyotes, April 7th, 2012-122.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Coyotes, April 7th, 2012-364.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Coyotes, April 7th, 2012-1115.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

There's more in the album. I'm relatively happy with the way they turned out, considering it was my first time.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2012 03:52

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# ¿ May 23, 2013 05:58

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

DJExile posted:

You've got good action, but this one is really cool. Guy's expression is a bit nuts but I like it.

Thanks. It's a little out of focus, though. I love your lacrosse shots. Shooting a high-action sport like that looks like fun.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2012 20:28

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

azathosk posted:

From last nights match (Vålerenga - Viking):

How do the colors look to you guys? I'm using a non-calibrated screen, so I think my colors are a bit off.

Overall, the colors are fine to my eye. The only oddness is that the tone of the grass is not uniform across all of the images, which could either be a lighting difference or a processing difference (edit: or an exposure difference), I suppose.

Good shots!

n0n0 fucked around with this message at Apr 11, 2012 around 17:36

# ¿ Apr 11, 2012 15:31

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

azathosk posted:

Thanks. I did notice the grass, but it seemed OK on the shirts/shorts. Should I desaturate the pictures? I think the artificial light makes the white balance go crazy.

Their uniforms are so bright and vibrant -- it would be a shame to lose that, IMHO.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2012 03:24

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

More college baseball shots.

Coyotes, April 15th 2012-137.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Coyotes, April 15th 2012-279.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

# ¿ Apr 17, 2012 03:25

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

DJExile posted:

They're good shots, but why f/11?

To get enough DOF that I don't have to worry about missing focus as often.

Do you have other thoughts? I'm really new to this whole sports-photography thing, and I'm open to suggestions.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2012 03:50

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

I'm using a 70-200 f4L with a Canon 1.4x extender.

I can see your point about the shorter DOF. I'll give it a go during the next game that I shoot, which will likely be next weekend. I guess I was kind of trying to cheat :P

# ¿ Apr 18, 2012 15:55

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

DJExile posted:

The 70-200 on its own will probably suffice for almost anything in the infield. Bear in mind a teleconverter will stop your aperture down and probably slow your focus as well.

You're getting good moments, to be sure. Just open up your aperture all the way, turn on autofire, and go nuts. You've got a great advantage in baseball in that you know where the action is going to go before it happens. Pre-focus on the first baseman and wait for the ball/runner to enter the frame, for example.

You think I'll be able to get sufficiently low DOF with the teleconverter at f5.6 from like 30 or 40 feet away?

# ¿ Apr 18, 2012 17:40

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

DJExile posted:

Hard to say. f/5.6 is pretty well stopped down, and it'll depend on what's behind your subjects, focal length, etc.

P5082027 by PhotoBen27, on Flickr

This is with my old 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6, at 226mm, f/5.5. The girl in white is about 20-25 yards from me, and the crowd and cars are at least another 50-60 yards behind her. The other player is probably about 10-12 feet behind her.

Cool -- I really appreciate the tips. I'll post my results after the next game, which may or may not be this weekend.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2012 19:19

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

So, based on the suggestions of this thread, I spent this softball game wide-open (at f5.6, unfortunately). I feel like my results are mixed. A couple of my shots would have been stronger at f11, but I can see the appeal of shooting wide open. If only I had a 70-200 f2.8...

Coyotes Softball, April 20th 2012-040.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Coyotes Softball, April 20th 2012-071.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Coyotes Softball, April 20th 2012-1024.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Coyotes Softball, April 20th 2012-1073.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Edit: I would more tightly crop some of these, but I like to leave that decision to my section editor, so I give him these larger versions. Cause the school paper has size constraints and, etc.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2012 20:31

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

DJExile posted:

Honestly these are all a ton better compared to f/11. Which ones would you have wanted at f/11 instead? Out of sheer curiosity.

To my eye, the last photo would be cool at f11. And one other photo from the album that I didn't post -- where the pitcher is in focus, and the first baseman is out of focus. But really, I wish that the first baseman was in focus and the pitcher was out of focus

I'd keep working at it this season -- but the season is over, except for away-games, which are like hundreds of miles away, so I can't go.

Thanks for the comment though.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2012 20:53

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

azathosk posted:

More football!

Skeid - Vålerenga by azathosk, on Flickr

Skeid - Vålerenga by azathosk, on Flickr

These two shots are awesome. I love the whole expression and pose in the first photo, like he's saying "Here's the ball!" or something like that. Great emotion.

I love the second shot too, cause there's so much action going on. I just wish that the top of the one dude's hair wasn't cut off.

# ¿ May 10, 2012 20:21

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

Shot the CCAA playoff game for my school, Cal State San Bernardino. Drove down to San Diego to shoot it. We were down 0-1 until the 8th or 9th inning, when the game became tied.

We lost on a walk-off balk.

What the gently caress.

Photos:

Playoffs 2012-092-2.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr

Playoffs 2012-108-2-Edit.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr
Not a technically interesting photo -- but it's the MVP standing next to the pitcher who balked.

Playoffs 2012-1194.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr
After a sacrifice bunt which eventually lead to an RBI, this guy was super stoked.

Playoffs 2012-1165.jpg by theokaluza, on Flickr
A double play to end the inning.

This was the most dramatic game that I've shot and it was a ton of fun. The rest of the photos in the album are from various dramatic moments.

# ¿ May 12, 2012 18:25

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

I was down to the last 5 shots on my 16GB CF card at a state championship game for my college's baseball team.

We were down 0-1 in the top of the eighth inning, and we were up to bat with two outs. Thinking that the inning was almost over, I chose this moment to swap CF cards. My camera bag was in an odd spot in the dugout, sitting between two bags of sports equipment, so digging my next CF card out of my bag was going to take a few seconds.

The moment that I removed the CF card from my camera, the dugout suddenly exploded into excitement. People were screaming and yelling. The guy up to bat hit a triple, sending two runs home and sending our team into the lead in the process. I stopped in my tracks and took the last 5 shots on my CF card. By the time I got my next CF card loaded, most of the excitement was over. I still got a couple of "ok" reaction shots but I know that there would have been some "awesome" action/reaction shots had I planned better.

Some lessons learned:

1) Keep a CF card in my pocket.
2) Change the CF card out before the last 5 shots during a boring moment, such as between innings.
3) It's probably not a good idea to change CF cards when anybody is on base, ever, no matter what.

Sigh.

# ¿ May 25, 2012 21:06

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

How far away from you is the guy in the crawl?

# ¿ May 26, 2012 05:05

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

Congrats -- that's awesome. But why is the guy in the front row lifting his shirt up and rubbing his breast?

# ¿ Jun 8, 2012 19:42

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

So, the owner of a local LCFL (regional American football) team has been referred to me to take pictures of an upcoming game this weekend. I've been told that the "price is negotiable," which is nice, because I was thinking that I'd do it for free.

I just have no idea how much to ask for. Any thoughts?

# ¿ Aug 14, 2012 17:50

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

Thanks for the tips, everybody. I don't know what I'd do without this thread

So, it looks like it's a night game, and the stadium is apparently a high school, so... I'm really nervous that the lighting situation is going to seriously suck rear end. I'll probably rent a 70-200 2.8, but I'm considering bringing an 85 1.8 too. Though I'm afraid that wouldn't focus fast enough for what I want.

According to some other forums, a price of US$100/hr is about average... so since it's my first paying sports gig, I'll probably give him a pretty hefty discount. And it's like 150 miles round trip.

Any tips for shooting sports in poor lighting? I'll probably have to use a flash.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2012 02:52

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# ¿ May 23, 2013 05:58

n0n0: Apr 26, 2002; These are, by far, the most brilliant photographs that I have ever seen, and you are a GOD AMONG MEN.

Pukestain Pal posted:

For the love of god, don't do this.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2012 03:08

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shooting The Jocks Who Beat Us Up As Kids: Sports Photography Megathread