Comment and Critique my Volleyball Shots

[kckbarton]

If I get this right, there should be a couple of volleyball pics below. C&C them, if you would, I'm just getting back to photography after a long break, and trying to learn my new DSLR. (gear EOS XSI, Canon nifty fifty, canon 185 f/2.8, using DPP). The shots are all at 800 or 1600 ISO, 1/250 or faster when light allows, green gym used -1 step to allow 1/125 or better.

Thanks,
Clark

[kckbarton]

I forgot to thank all the folks that have posted volleyball pics prior to this, and all the folks that took part in those discussions. Between this site and one or two other places, I got the equipment, settings and methods to produce great shots (even in the dungeons). Any pictures that are not up to "great" status....well that is the fault of the user. I'll learn and improve, but with the information I got right off the bat I've already surpassed anything I've done previously, and already got the wife happy that I spent the money to get the requirements to get decent shots.

[fidgety]

Top left: Too loose and a tad soft. The sharpest point of the image appears to be her feet.
Top right: Not a good image at all. No face and there is too much empty space in the image. The player is not positioned well in the image and having rhe ball at the top of the shot definitely would have helped.
Middle left: Decent action but too much space at the top of the image.
Middle right: Again, decent action but there is too much room at the top, the image is soft and the player in the foreground is distracting.
Lower left: Best of the five images. Still a bit too much empty space at the top but the action is decent and the sharpness is better on this one.

Remember a few rules of what an editor looks for - peak action, filled frame, clean background, faces, and faces with emotion are even better. Getting the ball, puck, etc. in the image is also almost needed unless it's a jube shot, a coach, linemen battling it out, etc.

Keep em coming.

[Shebang]

I think you have some pretty decent photots, but I can see where fidgety's pointers could make your good photos great photos.

I really like coming across threads like yours where someone really takes the time to offer specific help. From the quality of your photos already and what you said, it obviously helps. I'm counting on that!

[Old Timer]

Fidgety has some very good point to help you improve your images. However I think you are off to a great start. Indoor sport regardless of which one it is is not the easiest photography in the world. It takes a lot of trial and error to get it dialed in the way you want it. But once you do the results are well worth the time, trouble and expense. Keep shooting.

[Shebang]

Check out fidgety's thread and you can see for yourself much of what he is saying here.

[kckbarton]

Thanks for the input so far! I knew they needed better framing, only the 3rd pic is with the 50mm and the 135mm is a challenge for me to keep framed the way I want since the image to each eye is so different and over the last few years my left eye has become more dominant. Only having two choices in focal length is a challenge, especially since I was taking pictures of the whole team. Some of the pictures have much better framing, but I tended to spend time post processing pics of my daughter, so those are what I posted. Hopefully my framing will improve when I'm concentrating on one player.

I didn't crop them before posting on purpose, wanted the full photo in case it helped with any clues on improved settings. I also knew the 2nd picture was far from ideal, however there is something about it that both my wife and I like.

Since no one has yet commented about overprocessing, I'm taking that as a good sign. I was a bit worried that I was pushing the processing too far and it would show to a trained eye.

[fidgety]

Thanks for the input so far! I knew they needed better framing, only the 3rd pic is with the 50mm and the 135mm is a challenge for me to keep framed the way I want since the image to each eye is so different and over the last few years my left eye has become more dominant. Only having two choices in focal length is a challenge, especially since I was taking pictures of the whole team. Some of the pictures have much better framing, but I tended to spend time post processing pics of my daughter, so those are what I posted. Hopefully my framing will improve when I'm concentrating on one player.

I didn't crop them before posting on purpose, wanted the full photo in case it helped with any clues on improved settings. I also knew the 2nd picture was far from ideal, however there is something about it that both my wife and I like.

Since no one has yet commented about overprocessing, I'm taking that as a good sign. I was a bit worried that I was pushing the processing too far and it would show to a trained eye.

Having only two focal lengths is a challenge but it will make you a better shooter in the long run as you have to learn to move forward and backward and side to side to frame your shots, thinking about where you need to be to get the peak action, before it happens. I've heard of some shooters that hit plateaus or loose some of their edge that will grab one lens such as a 50mm, and take only that lens when they go on a shoot. It forces them to think and helps them get their creative edge back. I get that way after two or three months of shooting basketball. I get tired of sitting in gyms night after night and feel like my images get old. I almost always use a Canon 70-200 2.8 but the other night I pulled out my Canon 85 1.8 and it was like, wow, this is different. I couldn't just zoom in and out and had to move around to get what I needed. Although a long winter of basketball does get old it did pick me up a bit, at least until the season is over and I can get back outside and shoot baseball, softball and soccer - yahoo! Low ISO with high shutter speeds. I can't wait.
In terms of your post processing, try and avoid overdoing it. When your shooting improves or you get hired to do some jobs and your snapping away and when you get home and upload 200-300+ images, you don't want to spend your time editing and post processing. Learn as much as you can about exposure, lighting, white balance, etc. and get very comfortable your camera so using it becomes second nature. You want to get the shot you're looking for right out of the camera and not through post processing. Best of luck.

[tward88]

I am certainly no expert, but I have found two things I think have helped my VB shots a lot.
first of all use a custom white balance setting for the gym. And don't forget to reset it once in a while, because if you are like me you spend all weekend in the gym and most have at least some natural light which changes as the day wears on. We will be in a white dome in Wisconsin this weekend so that should prove interesting.

The other thing that helps is to pre focus on a spot where the action will be. Particularly if you are shooting through the net. Between line judges, girls on the other team, the net, support posts, etc. there are a lot of things in the way of auto focus. For front row players i try and focus on them when they are getting ready to serve as this is the general distance they will be from the net when they hit.

Just my 2 cents.

[kckbarton]

Thanks again for the input. You both gave tips that I am trying to use already, get the settings right so that the pictures need as little post processing as possible, use the natural light (I've always preferred natural light photos), and focus. I have already found the limitations as pointed out, thought I had spot focus only to find I didn't. Got that fixed, now I can change between spot and any other focus setting, set a custom WB, etc.

I haven't tried the prefocus trick yet, I was taking photos of the whole team, just trying to get better with the camera. After the first three tourneys, I have now given each family a DVD with 30 to 100 pictures featuring their kid, and about 200 team/coach/watching parent pictures. I will now be focusing more (all pun intended) on getting the highest quality pictures of my daughter. I'm sure I'll still take a few of the others as well. I always hated letting the limited supply of film keep me from snapping away...well digital has solved that for me.

I'm also going to try shooting some in RAW, so far everything has been shot in the highest quality JPEG. DPP does a great job with the JPEGs, but from what I've read here, the RAW processing will result in even better pictures. Since I'll be concentrating on my daughter, I won't be taking quite as many, or at least keeping quite as many.

Thanks again for the comments. I have found, on many subjects, that reading the recommendations of folks that do what your going to be doing, and using that information, sure makes the learning curve a lot shorter. Continuing to get better, well that requires continuing to try and get better.

[tward88]

Here are a few from this weekends tournament. All shot with a 50mm f/1.4,my 70-200 had to get sent in for repairs .

Only cropped and resized

[tward88]

One more thatis not an action shot but I liked it anyway.

[fidgety]

The top image is very soft and would have been better if her teammate was out of the frame.
Number two is better action but again, the image is soft.
The third image is a nice capture bit still soft. Some may not like the crop with her leg getting cut out at mid-calf.
The bottom left image is again, decent action, and this image is a sharper than the others.
The image to it's right is a decent capture, a bit soft and the background is too distracting as the player doesn't pop out in that one.
The last image wouldn't do too much with regard to editorial use but a parent may purchase. Be careful of overly bright spots in the background as this has a tendency to draw the viewers eye away from the subject.