Basket Ball Critique

[sgriggs2006]

Hello all,
This has been bothering me for a while...This winter I was shooting bball- girls first and then the guys immediately after. Once I got dialed in w/ the girls, of course, I'd just rock on w/ the guys game. Frequently could get decent shots of the girls, but then just some nights, I was just a flop w/ the guys...I have tried to pick representative shots...
The guys just seem "muddy"....is this motion blur or focus?
I am shooting mostly w/ a D90 w/ a 50mm 1.4 lens. No flash. Usually around ISO 1000. Shutter priority is usually right on the cusp of 1/250....Since my shots were for the paper, a little bit of hard motion blur in the hands/feet was not a big deal for me...as long as the main face was sharp, we could use the images....
Can y'all tell me what is going on here? Do the guys move that much faster than the girls? Are the predomintately dark skinned guys not exposing right? Keep in mind that the images are from the same night, and usually run the same gamut of settings.
thanks!!
s.

[sgriggs2006]

and, my other guy picture..not sure why it didn't go through on the first batch.
None of these pictures have had anythign done to them, other than cropped a bit....I wanted you to see them as is.
If you want to mess w/ them and repost, please have at it!!
chow.
s.

[AnthonyH]

I can tell you that the guys will move MUCH faster than the girls.

[jacobovs]

You show pictures of the girls going to the hoop. There tends to be less blur there because they are momentarily suspended or moving slowly. The shots of the guys is when they are on the move. Do you blur when the guys are going for the hoop?

[sgriggs2006]

Ok, I still seem to have this problem w/ the guys going for layups too...
Things just don't seem sharp...IS this a focus issue or a slow shutter speed issue? Or, something else entirely altogether? :-(
s

[fidgety]

1/250 of a second without flash is going to give you motion blur in the hands of feet of high schools players. Have you thought about increasing your ISO to 1250 or 1600 to gain an extra stop or two in shutter speed of even thought of using off-camera flash units and firing them with remotes?
Also, are you using an AI Servo function on your camera which locks focus on and tracks the players as they move or is it set to One Shot? That could also make a difference as well as the lens you are using just not having the ability to loack on as fast as other lenses. You mentioned you are shooting at shutter priority of 1/250. What aperture are you at?

[jacobovs]

They look the same to me. If you look at the hands in all of the layup shots, they are about the same. I suppose it depends on what you expect. I think its pretty good given what you are shooting with.

These were taken with my D3 in a poorly lit gym. As you can see there are still some blur issues but not to the same extent.

[dhyravy]

fidgety hit it with the shutter speed and ISO. They look a bit dark which indicates they were underexposed. Also, the WB is not good. Higher ISO, shutter speed at least 1/500, and AWB should help a lot. The D90 has really good high ISO noise tendencies so don't be afraid to push it. Ambient light shooting indoors or for HS football is some of the toughest conditions there are. I use strobes indoors and for football as well, mainly because my editors won't accept them without it and it makes the colors and sharpness really nice.

[sgriggs2006]

To answer some questions...the WB is set to auto WB...it seems to give me the best results....I looked at some of the exif data and actually, I am running around 1250 or even 1600 iso...shutter is also up around 320. Fstops are fairly low...in the 2's and 3's. Here is another one that isn't quite as bad....and those are the numbers it has...

I am set to AI servo and the focus seems to not be a problem...it locks on and is ok...Or, at least I think its ok...its telling me its focused. Of course, there are times when the shot is NOW and it hasn't quite got the focus right..but I can work around that.

I do have a SB 900 and SB600 that I may try next season- using the on camera flash as a trigger.....How the heck are you guys rigging your lights so they are not accousted by fans or players? Taping them to the walls? I used one just the other night to do some banquet portraits...thinking that it would be safe on a stand, up against a table...alas..someone still managed to crash the thing to the floor....be still my heart!! :-) all was well.

I guess we'll have to wait until next year?
Actually, I am shooting an indoor horse show this weekend, and am concerned that I will have the same problem...so I WILL be trying these hints this weekend.
s.