Does the motion blur enhance or detract?

[ziggy]

Did you take this one with a digital camera or a normal one? You said 1600 ISO... and it doesn't look so grainy.

[opus]

This is digital, 235mm focal length.

No, I'm not the team photographer, although the local newspaper has asked me to work part-time for them (weekends), but I'm not sure I can commit right now. I'm just shooting locally for practice ... because it's there ... because it's an opportunity to get back into sports photography, which I used to enjoy in high school.

[ziggy]

Then how did you come up with this ISO value? I'm not an expert in digital photography, so could you explain yourself?

[gmen]

I love to see sporting images here!

What I like most about your shot Kelly is that it is a nice tight crop - many sports shots are too loose and lack impact.. and also your timing is obviously good.

To answer your question: I think that the blur detracts somewhat from the image. I have to agree with Old Timer when he says that you should be striving to use a faster shutter speed.

Shooting at 1/160s at f/5.6 tells me that a nice fast lens would work very well under the lighting you have been experiencing - that would get you up to a shutter speed of 1/500s or faster which is adequate for freezing the action. Once you can achieve those faster speeds then you can 'experiment' with motion blur rather than having to live with it in every image.

The alternative is of course to use a burst of flash to help freeze the motion - with the option of using an even slower shutter speed and maybe rear-curtain sync to retain the blur.

I've posted some basketball pics over in the sports forum - Basketball - Help Needed! - where the ambient light was 1/100s, f/2 at 1000ASA. I went for a combo of 1/200s, f/2 at 1600ASA with the flash set to 1/8 or 1/16 manual power depending on the subject distance. Very tricky stuff indeed and not recommended for the faint-hearted - the results were nothing more than OK!

From the newspaper angle, I think they may also prefer a nice sharp image as it will generally reproduce better. Not to say that you shouldn't still take some shots with motion blur - but it may just be better to submit them to other publications.

Good luck with your sports photos Kelly - and keep posting them!

[opus]

ziggy, on my digital, I have the option of choosing my ISO. I just dial it in and the camera does whatever it does to change things so that I get more light.

[MaxPower]

I like the blur Kelly. The only thing I would change is a tighter crop to eliminate the #12 player.

[ziggy]

What camera did you use?

[opus]

Ziggy, I use a Canon Digital Rebel.

Lava Lamp, I realized that the image is dark, and I like your adjustment except for how the whites are blown out a little too much.

As far as crop...I think I could crop out about a half inch more of #12, but I like having some of him in the shot. He helps the dynamics, I think.