First time NBA shooter

[groovehouse]

Greetings everyone...

Here are few pics from my first couple of NBA games. I am hoping to be shooting one to two home games a month for our local alt weekly.

I am shooting with 2 cameras and I usually take 2-4 lenses with me. I have noticed I mainly shoot with my 70-200 and 28-75.

Canon 5D & Canon 5D Mark II
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0
Canon 50mm f/1.8 or Sigma 15mm f/2.8 fisheye

I never thought shooting an NBA game would be easy. It's not. I shoot a lot of vert skateboarding and thought that like that, freezing action, would be easy at a basketball game, it's not. I'm familiar with the game, but I hardly ever know exactly where the ball's going. We also have assigned seating, so it's not easy for me to move during the game to get a better vantage point, although it may be easier to move during the 4th quarter when some photogs have vacated their positions.

From the past (and only, so far) two games I've shot, with a full frame camera, I think I am going to concentrate on full body action shots. I've noticed online in our local newspaper, a lot of the images from their slideshows, are cropped a lot. Especially those shots near the basket.

I'm also not shooting the game solely for basketball action either. I am taxed with getting an overall sense of the whole game experience. So I arrive extra early, shoot fans coming into the stadium, shoot the pregame shoot around, the pregame warm-ups, the intros, the people in the stadiums, coaches, staff, mascots, opposing team, the refs and the game itself.

For me, it's a unique opportunity because I don't have to solely concentrate on game shots. If I shot for a basketball publication or the local paper, I'm sure I'd have to focus more on game action only.

Both of my 5D's aren't known for their fps capabilities. While the guy sitting next to me is snapping 6-10 fps in rapid succession, I'm usually popping off one or two and mostly getting the shots I want. I won't be publishing many basketball sequence shots, but I am completely spoiled by my full frame cameras. I've considered taking my Rebel XTi as I can get a few more fps, but I just feel like I'd regret not having both full frame cameras with me. Maybe during a future game I'll take all three.

Anyway, check out my photos below.


Rockets Season Opener - 10.30.10 - 5D_1479A by groovehouse, on Flickr


Rockets Season Opener - 10.30.10 - 5D_1428A by groovehouse, on Flickr


Rockets Season Opener - 10.30.10 - 5DII_8147A by groovehouse, on Flickr


HOU vs SA - 10.07.10 - 5D_0182b by groovehouse, on Flickr


HOU vs SA - 10.07.10 - 5D_0047b by groovehouse, on Flickr


HOU vs SA - 10.07.10 - 5DII_5648b by groovehouse, on Flickr


HOU vs SA - 10.07.10 - 5D_0148b by groovehouse, on Flickr

Please do not edit these photos.

For more photos check out the slideshows on the website of the publication I shot for.

Houston Press Slideshows:
Rockets At Home
Rockets vs. Spurs: Preseason Victory at the Toyota Center

--
http://groovehouse.org
http://skatehouston.info

[jacobovs]

Congrats on the Feature Picture. Its a great shot. I love the series. I can't wait to start up again. BTW, I think I would have cropped the Yao dribbling shot a bit tighter.

[groovehouse]

Congrats on the Feature Picture. Its a great shot. I love the series. I can't wait to start up again. BTW, I think I would have cropped the Yao dribbling shot a bit tighter.

Hey thanks!

I agree with cropping the Yao dribble shot, getting some of that crowd out of there would've been nice!

[groovehouse]

Here are some more shots from another game I shot. Houston versus Phoenix on November 22, 2010. Houston lost but I got to shoot another NBA game, I win!

1.

HOU vs PHX - 11.22.10 - 5D_2794A by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 200 mm
ISO Speed 1600

2.

HOU vs PHX - 11.22.10 - 5D_3020A by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 70 mm
ISO Speed 1600


3.

HOU vs PHX - 11.22.10 - 5D_3080A by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 75 mm
ISO Speed 1600

4.

HOU vs PHX - 11.22.10 - 5D_3016A by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 81 mm
ISO Speed 1600

5.

HOU vs PHX - 11.22.10 - 5D_2950A by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 182 mm
ISO Speed 1600

6.

HOU vs PHX - 11.22.10 - 5D_3260A by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 145 mm
ISO Speed 1000


More photos can be found online, here, at the Houston Press.

[groovehouse]

Oops, I did it again.

Houston versus Detroit with the return of former Rocket, Tracy McGrady, to Houston.

One of the mistakes I made before this shoot was I failed to set my white balance or change my white balance settings from AWB. I believe the last time I shot, I set my WB to Tungsten. Regardless, I didn't set anything this time and regretted it after the fact. Lightroom post processing doesn't offer much in the way of WB for a JPG image.

I am going to shoot these games in RAW from now on. There is sometimes too much I want to tweak after the fact and shooting in JPG isn't cutting it for me in post processing. I'm shooting these games in JPG because I thought I would be shooting multiple shots in succession and I'm finding that I am not firing off multiple shots during the action. My 5D's just aren't made for that. I get 3 fps with the 5D's and I feel that now I'm getting a little more used to the action and am getting good one-off shots and because of that, I am going back to RAW.

I'm sure if I shot with any of the 1D series cameras, which I see being used a lot with the photogs from the AP, NBA and local newspaper, I'd definitely be more inclined to shoot multiple FPS shots.

I've got a handful more home games to shoot this season and I am jonesing already for the next one. I wish I could shoot every home game but I can't. I am beginning to feel the way I did when I first started shooting skateboarding, loving the rush of getting a good shot.

The photos I shot for this assignment were for the Houston Press. The photos can be found here: Slideshow - T-Mac's Return: Rockets vs. Pistons

More info on the Rockets and Pistons can be found at http://nba.com


1.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5DII_1271b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 54 mm
ISO Speed 2000

2.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5DII_1257b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 44 mm
ISO Speed 2000

3.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5DII_1249b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 54 mm
ISO Speed 2000

4.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5DII_1238b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 48 mm
ISO Speed 2000

5.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5D_4184b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 175 mm
ISO Speed 1600

6.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5D_3981b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 91 mm
ISO Speed 1600

7.

HOU v DET - 12.07.10 - 5D_3919b by groovehouse, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 70 mm
ISO Speed 1600

More photos on my Flickr set from this game.

[cozmocha]

Your shots look great. I wish I could get the color you get when I shoot. I did a game at Amway Center and the colors just didnt work for me. Not sure what to do. If you don't need to transmit at the event and get 'the' shot with fast fps shooting always use raw! You have no reason not to.

[groovehouse]

Your shots look great.

I wish I could get the color you get when I shoot.

If you don't need to transmit at the event and get 'the' shot with fast fps shooting always use raw! You have no reason not to.

Thanks coz!

Even with my crazy WB problems and some Lightroom tweaking I was able to get some decent color. I thank you for your compliment.

Yeah, I'm not transmitting at the event and I'm pretty much getting "the" shots that I want, I will go with RAW from now on. You're right, I have no reason not to. I don't shoot fast enough to hinder the cameras ability to write to the card, so I shouldn't have any delays and I will, of course, be happier in post production with a RAW image.

[Photo-John]

First of all, I think your photos look great. I don't shoot indoor stuff so I don't know how difficult it is but I imagine it's got to be really tough. And basketball is *fast*!

If you don't need to transmit from the event, I'd absolutely shoot RAW and tweak the color in Lightroom. I'd also shoot a gray card or something else so I could get a one-click balance in post. Since the light should be pretty consistent, I think that would work really well.

I was also thinking you should try another camera. Or maybe not. It might ruin you. The 1D is the king of the Canon cameras. The auto focus is soooo much better than the 5D Mk II. Between the faster burst and the AI Servo I'm sure you'd have a lot more keepers to choose from. I also think the smaller files are nice. Although the 5D Mk II image quality is beautiful, I hate dealing with the huge files. A compromise would be a 7D. That's what I use. I call it the 1D Lite. It's super fast and the auto focus is really, really good - definitely better than the 5D Mk II. I'm sure you could rent a 1D Mk IV in Houston. But like I said, it might ruin the 5D Mk II for you.

Thanks for sharing these. They really are good and the fact that you're using a couple of 5Ds shows that you don't have to have a 1D and spray-and-pray technique to get good action photos. Your timing is excellent

[mattyj]

Wow some really nice shots in there!

like the rockets v pistons ones the best...probably bias though as im a pistons fan

Excellent work

[davidemo]

Shots are all sharp, but shooting in RAW and working for a paper, don't you have to get the shots in before a certain deadline? I shoot for two local papers and usually only have about an hour to get my shots in after the game. My real question is shooting kelvin, what the usuall number tor the tungsten lites?

[groovehouse]

Shots are all sharp, but shooting in RAW and working for a paper, don't you have to get the shots in before a certain deadline? I shoot for two local papers and usually only have about an hour to get my shots in after the game. My real question is shooting kelvin, what the usuall number tor the tungsten lites?

Fortunately, I shoot for an alt weekly and not a daily. The photos go up the next day in an online slideshow.

As far as shooting Kelvin, I usually set my WB for Tungsten lights, but since in the next few games I'll be shooting RAW, I'll just leave it on AWB and edit the light settings in Lightroom, unless I get a good setting straight off the camera.

[joyjoy]

Love the images, made me wish I was still playing ball. I look forward to seeing more.