More Women's Volleyball....

[masdog]

Manual Exposure, 1/640 Sec @ f/2.8 and custom WB.

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[livin4lax09]

they look good. 2's my favorite, I just wish we got a little more of the blocker's face. 5 and 6 are great too.

[masdog]

Thank you, Livin. I actually have a meeting with the AD of my school today to sell him some of these images.

[JSPhoto]

Hehehee.. your gettin the hang of it there masdog! Nice job. At least that gym has decent lighting!

[masdog]

Thank you, JS. I don't think the gym's lights were always that good. I think they used to have some of the old vapor lights, but I might be confusing this gym with the ones in my high school. The AUX. gym there, where gymnastics and JV sports were held, had horrible vapor lighting. It was like looking through a yellow fog.

My timing is quite down yet. I can't get serves right still, but I am getting better.

I also made my first sale today. I sold #2 and #5 to my college as 11x14 sized images. I was also able to sell two soccer pictures.

[JSPhoto]

There ya go $$$ .... hmmm, is he tryin to take my job?????????

[Old Timer]

[QUOTE=masdog]Manual Exposure, 1/640 Sec @ f/2.8 and custom WB.

QUOTE]

Oh WOW! Makes me kind of sorry I even post those volleyball shots of mine. Great job. Man you have to love an indoor venue where you can shot at 1/640. I don't think there is a gym anywhere in the my area that would allow that kind of shooting.

[Whowe]

OK, I read somewhere below that there are no dumb questions, so here goes:

1st, I know zip about photography. Previous most high-end experience was probably Polaroid instamatic. Suffice to say I am defiantly a beginner.

So I go this week and buy a Canon Digital rebel (not the XT) with a 70 - 300 lens. Pretty much my whole purpose was to shoot my daughter's volleyball games. Hence, when I saw those incredible pictures in this thread, I decided to ask for help.

I shot two matches this week, so far, with a tournament this weekend. The first day, I shot some on full auto, changed to P mode with 1600 ISO ( a friends recommendation ) shot some more, and actually got a few ( out of about 200 ) that were OK, nothing special. The next day, based on what I read here, I experimented with different settings, shot a bunch, and boy, what a mess.

My question is, can anyone give me some basic settings I can go with to get some decent action shots without darkening everything to the point of non-use?

I also understand that everything you guys tell me is probably going to go right over my head right now, so feel free to tell me to learn a little and then come back, if that's appropriate. Also, based on just the two days I've done this, I think I'm hooked, so I hope to hang around this forum for a while.

Thanks

[JSPhoto]

OK, I read somewhere below that there are no dumb questions, so here goes:

1st, I know zip about photography. Previous most high-end experience was probably Polaroid instamatic. Suffice to say I am defiantly a beginner.

So I go this week and buy a Canon Digital rebel (not the XT) with a 70 - 300 lens. Pretty much my whole purpose was to shoot my daughter's volleyball games. Hence, when I saw those incredible pictures in this thread, I decided to ask for help.

I shot two matches this week, so far, with a tournament this weekend. The first day, I shot some on full auto, changed to P mode with 1600 ISO ( a friends recommendation ) shot some more, and actually got a few ( out of about 200 ) that were OK, nothing special. The next day, based on what I read here, I experimented with different settings, shot a bunch, and boy, what a mess.

My question is, can anyone give me some basic settings I can go with to get some decent action shots without darkening everything to the point of non-use?

I also understand that everything you guys tell me is probably going to go right over my head right now, so feel free to tell me to learn a little and then come back, if that's appropriate. Also, based on just the two days I've done this, I think I'm hooked, so I hope to hang around this forum for a while.

Thanks

The lens your using is a f4.5, you need a low light lens such as a f2.8 - but they are expensive! I use a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 which I got from www.hotbuyselectronics.com for $600. You can find used Canon 70-200 f2.8 for around $900.... about half of cost for new.
The settings I have given in prior threads all use the f2.8 lens.
To use your lens you need to slow the shutter down so much you will get motion blur from camera shake as you press the shutter.

I'l have more later but I have to get ready to go shoot a football game

[masdog]

Welcome Whowe. Glad you could join us here. I am going to be upfront with you - there is a lot to sports photography. When I first got started in general photography years ago, I just used the automatic P mode myself with my old Rebel 2000.

In regards to shooting volleyball, you do need a better lens. Like JS was saying, the Canon 70-300 lenses are rather slow, and by that I mean they don't let in enough light to properly expose action when your indoors. A lens that has a minimum apeture of f/2.8 is ideal for indoor action. Canon and Sigma make some good 70-200mm lenses in that category that are great for Volleyball. They can be quite pricey, though, so if you don't wish to spend the money, you can always opt for a prime, or non-zoom lens. These can be even faster than the zoom lens, with some apetures that go down as far as 1.0.

The most important thing to do, though, is to practice. With the regular DREB, you can only take about 2.5 shots per second with a maximum buffer of 4 shots. This means you have to pick the moments you want to capture. You need to get your timing down so you can catch the action at its peak moments.

Also, if you feel like voiding your camera warranty or if the warranty has already expired, I would recommend looking into one of the firmware hacks. The original Digital Rebel was built on-top of the same hardware that the 10D uses with many disabled features. You can install a hacked version of the firmware that will give you access to many custom functions like an ISO speed of 3200, AI Servo autofocus (it kinda works....), and a mirror lockup feature if you decide to try your hand at landscape or macro photography (note - additional equipment is needed).

For the shots that I've posted here, I basically anticipated certain types of action shots. I was looking for blocks and spikes. I would anticipate when one would be coming and I would try to capture it as it happened. Only a few turned out - many didn't.

You'll have to accept the fact that many images won't turn out. The focus might be off, the ball might not be in the shot, or you could have just missed the action entirely (although some of these shots can be interesting too). Don't be afraid to post something to get it critiqued...you might find that you had a gem all along. If not, you'll learn something and become a better photographer for it.

[masdog]

Some more advice. Since you're pretty new to this, read the message boards on SportsShooter.Com. There is a ton of good advice on shooting all sports and photography in general. The message boards have a search feature so you can just pick out threads that have to do with Volleyball. Posting is for members only, unfortunately, but you could possibly email the author asking for more advice. I don't know if that is a faux pas or not, though.

[swmdrayfan]

Some more advice. Since you're pretty new to this, read the message boards on SportsShooter.Com. There is a ton of good advice on shooting all sports and photography in general. The message boards have a search feature so you can just pick out threads that have to do with Volleyball. Posting is for members only, unfortunately, but you could possibly email the author asking for more advice. I don't know if that is a faux pas or not, though.

Emailing a member of sportshooters is a good idea. I've done it myself, and got a nice response.

[Whowe]

Thanks for all the advice, and sorry it took me so long to say it. I spent the whole weekend shooting the v-ball tourney, and although the pics ain't great, I had a ball. My daughter has played school and club forever, and I've watched a go-gillion games, so I think I'm pretty good at anticipating shots. Now I've just got to get the lens to capture them! If I ever get one I think worthy of posting, i'll sure do it. Thanks again

[JSPhoto]

Thanks for all the advice, and sorry it took me so long to say it. I spent the whole weekend shooting the v-ball tourney, and although the pics ain't great, I had a ball. My daughter has played school and club forever, and I've watched a go-gillion games, so I think I'm pretty good at anticipating shots. Now I've just got to get the lens to capture them! If I ever get one I think worthy of posting, i'll sure do it. Thanks again

You can always post some, we might be able to help you by seeing something you don't.

JS