Indoor Sporting Events

Hello,
Both of my children participate in martial arts. The events are inside (bad fluorescent lighting) and I usually can't get very close (20ft). I'm looking for any advice that would help me take better photographs in these conditions. I have a Canon Rebel XT w/ an 18-55mm lens (I have a 75-300mm on the way). Any assistance would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Scott Eiswirth

Hi - I moved this thread to the Help forum. This kind of situation has come up before a couple of times, but I can't offhand remember thread titles.

Have you tried using your camera at ISO800 without flash? It's probably a good place to start - it would take a lot of flash to light from a distance, more than a pop-up flash could really help you with. I don't know if that's what you're doing, but just a guess.

You'll probably have to shoot wide open (maximum aperture on the lens) and time your shots carefully because the light level will be pretty low. This means that if the subject is moving at all, you'll probably get some blur. Shooting anything that moves in low light is a challenge. One lens you might want to consider is a 50 f1.8, they're really sharp and fast, and pretty inexpensive.

Yeah I guess I want too much. I was trying to stop motion. The kids are moving pretty fast. ( blurr at iso 400). When I try to increase the iso I get REALLY dark shots.

Hmm, you shouldn't get darker shots if you increase the ISO.
If you have it set to manual and just increase the ISO, the pictures should get lighter.

If you increase the shutter speed, then that will give darker shots, assuming you change nothing else.

Right - that shouldn't be happening. Depending on the lens you're using, the 50 f1.8 could make a huge difference. It's 2-1/3 stops faster than an f4 lens, for example. That 2-1/3 stops could be the difference between blur and no blur. The tradeoff is less depth of field, though.

I'm just a dumb newbie. I must be confusing the shutter speed and the iso number.
Sorry. I have gotten a few suggestions of some onlin lessons. I'll do thoses before I ask any more questions. Thanks for your help and patience.

try this. Set your ISO on 800, and switch the camera to Av. Then, select the lowest number possible. then take a photo. If it's still blurry, try ISO 1600. If blurry after that, you'll need an external flash.

Thanks livin4lax09,
Iso 1600 & AV mode made it a lot better. But arms and legs are still a blur. I guess I will need an external flash but I will have to find out if it is allowed at testing. It might be distractive to the people who are performing. :)

Scott,

I'm just an amature. But, I know your longer lens will help very much. Shoot at a high enough speed to freeze the action. A flash is also very helpful. Ask before hand before you use the flash though.

Most importantly is the challenge of florescent lights. I'd set a custom white-balance before shooting. Otherwise, things may have an odd green cast. Me, I just used a white uniform to do this.

Have fun,
Tim