Newbie here

[rovowen]

I take a lot of indoor sports shots. Mainly of my daughter and her basketball team. Just got a DSLR in October of last year and in the last few weeks started using some of the manual settings. I am actually at the experimenting stage and not really sure if the setting I make will work each time but do change them during shooting to try and get better photos.
I went to one gym and it is darker then most gyms. When I walked in, I thought about going out and getting my flash light. Well, maybe not that dark, but I think the darkest gym I have ever been in.This is an older gym and it probably only had about 1/3 the lights it needed. But the biggest thing that I noticed was the color of the walls. Even though there was not enough lights, One long wall was painted lime green. The other long wall with the bleachers is painted royal blue.
The setting that were used for this photo are:

- Primary Image
Manufacturer = Canon
Model = Canon EOS 20D
Orientation = The 0th row is at the visual top of the image and the 0th column is at the visual left-hand side
Resolution Unit = Inches
Last Modification Time = 2007:02:03 10:05:14
YCbCr Positioning = Co-sited
- Exif Specific
Exposure Time = 1/640 sec [0.002]
F Number = 9/5 [1.800]
Exposure Program = Shutter priority
ISO Speed Ratings = 1600
Original Create Time = 2007:02:03 10:05:14
Digitalization Time = 2007:02:03 10:05:14
Shutter Speed Value = 305461/32768 [9.322]
Aperture Value = 111149/65536 [1.696]
Exposure Bias Value = 2/3 [0.667]
Metering mode = Pattern
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 50 mm
User Comment =
Color Space = sRGB
X Dimension (Pixel) = 3504
Y Dimension (Pixel) = 2336
Focal Plane X Resolution = 233600/59 [3959.322]
Focal Plane Y Resolution = 233600/59 [3959.322]
Focal Plane Resolution Unit = 2
Now, some of these setting, I don't know what they mean but were set by the camera.
I know, that I was using the Canon 50mm, apeture setting, f/1.8, shutter speed, 1/640, the ISO, 1600.and the Color Temp at 4900k
I should have slowed the shutter speed down. But all I knew at the time was I wanted a big apeture setting and a fast shutter speed.
Except for the speed, what else could I have done to improve the pictures. They all have a green cast to them. I assume from the color of the walls.

Newbie Here
rovowen

[trog100]

all in all not a lot.. except get them to light and paint the place better..

trog

[Greg McCary]

You might play around with the white balance a do better. I have never tried shots like this, but it's a thought..
Greg

[freygr]

A F1.4 lens may help, getting the color balance correct is alway a problem in the High School gyms. I auto color correction in Thumbs Plus made it look like it was taken with black lights. I would suggest maybe converting to B&W?

[sweetdeal22]

a good way to get a good white balance with canon is taking a picture of the light source and setting it as your manual white balance.

I can tell that its dark by the overexposed numbers on the board, for this i would definitely get me a flash.

[livin4lax09]

I think actually you can work with this. Just shoot the players when they are close, do a custom WB, and drop your shutter speed to about 1/500. Should help to fix most of the problems. Is the color the same on all your shots?

[MarcusK]

In matters of software, they actually have a yellow cast to them, for if you try to fix the greens nothing happens....

in PS CS2 or 3, you could do the following:

Go to Layers>New Adjustment Layer>Selective Color Then select the Yellows from the drop down menu, and start by taking the yellow slider to minus, then fix the Cyan and Magenta accordingly you should get a better color balance overall...

One more issue you have (which would require you the use of flash) is the out focus image!

A small aperture will give you greater Depth of Field...This will slow down the shutter which you dont really want in sports, but gets you in focus better!

As far as sports, this shot is too far...you might want to consider a zoom lens, or waiting until the action is on your side of the court!

Keep experimenting though....Hope this helps!
Marc

[rovowen]

You are right, it is a yellow cast and not green. Just guess, that during the whole game I kept looking at that green wall. So in my mind it was a green cast. And to answer another guestion the yellow cast is in almost all the pictures. I chose the girls on the far end of the court, because it showed the cast the best. I have thought of using my flash. Standing underneath the goal, I don't want to use an on camera flash, because I am afraid it would distract the girls while they are playing, At times, I am only about 10 feet from the playing field. I have read in other posts of using strobes and this may be an option, but I feel that the picture critiqued here could be made better even without the use of strobes.
I have only the kit lenses that I bought with the camera. Canon 18-55mm f/3.5,
Tamron 70-300mm f/4-6. Canon 50mm f/1.8. With these lenses, I chose the 50mm knowing it would not work on the far end of the court. Later during the tournment, I did use the Tamron 70-300mm, but the shutter speed had to be dropped to 1/250 or less. I am in the process of getting a f/2.8 zoom.
I have tried to read the Canon manual on the 20D, the part on white balance and color temp, just slides over this bald head of mine. If anyone can explain to this Newbie, "in simple terms" how to adjust for white balance. I'm all for it, "smiles".
I don't have PS or CS2, have Adobe Lightroom. But as with everything else. When I started working with Lightroom my computer decides to crash. Realize I don't have enough memory, so off to get more memory. Found out my memory should be here today. Yeah, can now learn something else.
I want to thank each of you for taking the time to assist me. For it is all helpful. Going back and looking at the pictures I took in October and the pictures I am taking now. There is an improvement. Not where I would like, but an improvement. I know it is all due to each of you that took the time to answer my questions on this forum and the local clubs forum. Well, except this group of photos, I feel it was a set back.
I'm going to download two pictures of the walls in this gym. With my limited knowledge of light and colors. I would know not to paint the walls these colors with the light available.

Thank All of You
Newbie Here

[trog100]

the bottom line here is u need the faster long range lens..

trog