Rugby, My first attempt

[Thommo]

oh my god! where has sports photography been all this time, SO much fun, so adictive but very harsh on the shutter count.

Here is my first ever attempt at sports, please share your thoughts.

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[kiwi]

Good first outing, shots certainly seem nice and sharp and good colour balance etc. Some nice action too

If I were to suggest a couple of things, I'd crop tighter on all of these. Also, and it's not easy to do, watch backgrounds.

Its certianly addictive, I can attest to that

[Thommo]

cheers,

With the background i wasnt quite sure what to do, I considered shooting at f4 or even f2.8 but ended up around F5-8 to keep both attacking and defending players in focus, im not quite sure what the norm is for sport shooting, whether its ok for a defender to be OOF or not

[kiwi]

Id definately shoot as wide open as you can and isolate the key player. F/4 a good compromise in the day

[mattyjacobs]

a lot of the big lenses the sports shooters seem to use are f/2.8 lenses and I'd guess in that environment they'd probably just have the cameras on full auto, though with the aperture wide open, you blur out the crowd/background nicely ... when I went to a tahs game earlier this year, one of the media photographers came over and asked if my camera was a canon. I said 'yep' and he said 'you reckon it'll fit on this?' (his 100-400mm, f/2.8 lens). It fit. It was awesome.

here's a cop girl that I got a photo of after the game when I was playing with his lens. they were trying to get her number, and I promised them a photo ... 400mm, f/2.8:

[mattyjacobs]

p.s. good shots.

[kiwi]

a lot of the big lenses the sports shooters seem to use are f/2.8 lenses and I'd guess in that environment they'd probably just have the cameras on full auto, though with the aperture wide open, you blur out the crowd/background nicely ... when I went to a tahs game earlier this year, one of the media photographers came over and asked if my camera was a canon. I said 'yep' and he said 'you reckon it'll fit on this?' (his 100-400mm, f/2.8 lens). It fit. It was awesome.

here's a cop girl that I got a photo of after the game when I was playing with his lens. they were trying to get her number, and I promised them a photo ... 400mm, f/2.8:

Nice shot

I'd actually doubt any of the shooters on the sideline are using auto for anything other than focus. I manually expose, preset a manual WB, manually set ISO especially at night

F2.8 is pretty unforgiving at times but nice if you are up to it. F.4 gives you a bit more dof obviously but for a football ground will adequately blur background

Lens would be a 400 2.8 Prime too, nice of him to let you have a go with a $10K piece of glass

[mickeyjuice]

Whack is as wide open as you can - isolates the main player, as has been noted.

I think you'll find most of the pros shoot in manual most of the time - gives full control over the shutter and aperture, so you know what you're going to get. (Can mean frantically rolling the aperture or shutter speeds aorund to compensate for light/shade, though

I used to shoot sports in AV, but my mate who shoots sport for Gettys made me move to manual, and it works a lot better.

Cycling: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickeyjuic ... 824106376/

Footy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickeyjuic ... 66/?page=2

Cricket: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickeyjuic ... 740024956/

NBL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickeyjuic ... 137062783/

[Thommo]

what is the best way to manually set white balance?

[mickeyjuice]

what is the best way to manually set white balance?

Find a white logo on the ground or advertising on the fence and use that, generally.

Or, if you're shooting RAW, just shoot in daylight and make bulk changes in LR.

[kiwi]

what is the best way to manually set white balance?

Find a white logo on the ground or advertising on the fence and use that, generally.

Or, if you're shooting RAW, just shoot in daylight and make bulk changes in LR.

I agree with Juice on this too

I also sometimes use an Expodisc knock-off/lens cap I got off Ebay for about $10 that does the job. I also always take a reference shot of a whibal card before the game starts if i need to use that later in PP. Only takes 5s.

[mattyjacobs]

I'd actually doubt any of the shooters on the sideline are using auto for anything other than focus. I manually expose, preset a manual WB, manually set ISO especially at night

fair enough!

I got the impression from the guy who lent me the lens though, that he didn't really know much about photography. I remember asking him what aperture he normally shot rugby games at, and he shrugged his shoulders and said he just points and clicks. I think he may have just been a NSWRU Media guy who got given the job of taking photos.

[Thommo]

I'd actually doubt any of the shooters on the sideline are using auto for anything other than focus. I manually expose, preset a manual WB, manually set ISO especially at night

fair enough!

I got the impression from the guy who lent me the lens though, that he didn't really know much about photography. I remember asking him what aperture he normally shot rugby games at, and he shrugged his shoulders and said he just points and clicks. I think he may have just been a NSWRU Media guy who got given the job of taking photos.

Never underestimate the fact that some photographers HATE talking technical though. I know some pros who have trouble remembering what body they use (she had 2 1dsmk11's and took GREAT photos). To some people the technical garble is irrelevent

[mickeyjuice]

Never underestimate the fact that some photographers HATE talking technical though. I know some pros who have trouble remembering what body they use (she had 2 1dsmk11's and took GREAT photos). To some people the technical garble is irrelevent

And some others just don't want to give away ANY information.

[mattyjacobs]

haha, so he'd give me the lens, but NO INFORMATION!

[mickeyjuice]

LEND you the lens, GIVE you nothing

Seriously, I guess intellectual property is what it's based on, and some won't part with it.