Girls Basketball

Here are some shots I took last night at the JV and Varsity game. I would love any feedback. Be honest. I can take it. :) Also I still keep feeling like my shots in this gym (home gym) look washed out. I thought it was just the gym but I was just looking at a photo I bought of my daughter taken by a newspaper reporter (same gym) and the colors in it look so much deeper and more vibrant. Any ideas?

First some JV photos.

Oops. Hit close instead of upload. Here they are!

And 2 more JV.

And here are a few from the varsity game.

And a few more varsity.

I really like them, very clear, You did a great job of keeping the face in the shot and not allowing it to get blocked, I wish the gyms that I shot in were this bright.

I am guessing that the newspaper photog whose shots you mention having more vibrant color is using strobes? I use remote flashes for that very reason as well as the improvement in contrast, both of which make my shots look better in the papers I shoot for too. Nice shots!

Did you do any post processing of these shots?

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Originally Posted by retroactiv

I really like them, very clear, You did a great job of keeping the face in the shot and not allowing it to get blocked, I wish the gyms that I shot in were this bright.

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Well I just didn't show the ones where the face got blocked. :)

I do feel lucky our home gym is pretty light. We had an away game tonight and it was a dark dungeon and I had a lot of trouble getting good shots. Plus our team got killed.

Thanks!
Donna

The newspaper photographer has a flash on top of his camera. I'm not sure what his camera is but it is huge and very nice looking. I love when this photographer shows up because he does take great photos and the newspaper has a link to check out some shots he took even those that weren't published and you can buy them.

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Originally Posted by Mackinbiner

Did you do any post processing of these shots?

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Do you mean editing? I did crop some and I did "sharpen lightly" a few of them. But that's it. Oh - on one the horizon was a bit crooked so I rotated it a bit and did fill in a little piece of a corner that got cut off.

I think your shots are great....and without any kind of flash, I have the same problem with color saturation....even after post processing...all I can figure is the flash...whichever type makes the difference.....

Here is the photographer's photo that I was talking about. I had to scan it into my computer so it's not as nice as the original but I still think the colors look better.

It looks like the girl on the left...in black has lipstick on....LOL...actually the one shooting looks like she has something on her mouth too.....

Honestly I think your shots look better than this one.....IMO

Yes, the flash gives the colors a bit of a pop. However, I never use on-camera flash because of the "look" it has. If you want to learn more about light with small flashes try: www.strobist.com

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Originally Posted by BFiredup

It looks like the girl on the left...in black has lipstick on....LOL...actually the one shooting looks like she has something on her mouth too.....

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The last few years all the players were required to wear mouth guards. This year it is back to being an option and most aren't wearing them. They do make for "ugly" pictures. lol

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Originally Posted by BFiredup

Honestly I think your shots look better than this one.....IMO

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Awww thanks. This photo is much sharper and nicer than it shows from the scan. I also seem to always take the layup shot too early (so the ball is in both their hands and it looks like they are traveling) or too late (ball is out of the photo). I've been trying to capture the "right" moment like this one. I have found shooting basketball is so much harder than I ever imagined. All the other parents keep saying to me that I must have enough shots for the video already. I keep trying to explain that for every 100 that I take I probably only choose 5 for slideshow consideration! lol

Donna

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Originally Posted by skydiver6

Do you mean editing? I did crop some and I did "sharpen lightly" a few of them. But that's it. Oh - on one the horizon was a bit crooked so I rotated it a bit and did fill in a little piece of a corner that got cut off.

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Yes, you could call it editing. It could include cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, level adjustments, color correction, saturation adjustment, etc. I use Photoshop and routinely adjust levels and color balance to bring more life to the photos.

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Originally Posted by skydiver6

Here is the photographer's photo that I was talking about. I had to scan it into my computer so it's not as nice as the original but I still think the colors look better.

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this photo is perfect. i like it.

These are great shots! I am in the process of looking for a lenses to use with my Nikon D70 to do the same. What type telephoto are you using?

Parkerone

Regarding your concerns about how your photos appear to be "washed out"(which is minimal btw...) I'd say you've got two major differences.

1. Saturation.
The lips in the picture show that the reporter really bumped up saturation. I have my camera set to high saturation, but still that looks like the result of post processing(or poor printing).

2. Exposure.
Your photos are well exposed, but it looks like you might shoot on sports or shutter priority mode simply because they are all very "gray". By gray, I mean low contrast, perfect exposure histogram. This works often, but sometimes bumping up exposure compensation to really bring out the whites in the jerseys[and there eyes!] brings a little more contrast into the picture.

My suggestion to you is to shoot in manual(if you already are...then stop exposing like a robot). In manual, change exposure comp to +1.0 or +2.0; my local team has white jerseys and conveniently it makes a difference. And once you're in manual, play around with shooting a little too bright, or a little too dark. You'll get rid of the 'blandness' of your current photos.

Hoped that helped,
EL

Feel free to check some of the EXIF of my basketball photos.
http://flickr.com/photos/eddielicitra/

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Originally Posted by parkerone

These are great shots! I am in the process of looking for a lenses to use with my Nikon D70 to do the same. What type telephoto are you using?

Parkerone

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I use a Nikon 85mm f/1.8. I have a Nikon D50.

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Originally Posted by USATorque55

2. Exposure.
Your photos are well exposed, but it looks like you might shoot on sports or shutter priority mode simply because they are all very "gray". By gray, I mean low contrast, perfect exposure histogram. This works often, but sometimes bumping up exposure compensation to really bring out the whites in the jerseys[and there eyes!] brings a little more contrast into the picture.

My suggestion to you is to shoot in manual(if you already are...then stop exposing like a robot). In manual, change exposure comp to +1.0 or +2.0; my local team has white jerseys and conveniently it makes a difference. And once you're in manual, play around with shooting a little too bright, or a little too dark. You'll get rid of the 'blandness' of your current photos.

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I do shoot in manual. I'm really new to all this though and have no idea about exposure. I was just looking at my camera and the only exposure I saw was Long Exp? And it could be on or off and it's on off? I'll have to go find my instruction booklet and look it up.

Thanks for the help!
Donna