What am I doing wrong taking actions photos? (Page 3): One stop is exactly twice (or half) as much light. The two statements are both correct.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

CanonTom wrote:

... Twice as much light and I think my mind is made up to shop! Only one stop sounds like I can get by with what I have......

Please explain ...

One stop is exactly twice (or half) as much light. The two statements are both correct.

Toby

I shoot thousands of indoor sports photos every year. Some locations are better lit than others but never saw one that was as bright as I would like. Here's what I use; an f2.8 (70-200 or 24-70 depending on how close you can get). Use aperture priority or Manual. In Manual set aperture at 2.8 and speed to at least 1/320. Girls sports such as basketball or volleyball can be 1/250 as can be boys wrestling although you may occasionally get a blurred hand or something. If shooting aperture priority at 2.8 and make some test shots with ISO high enough to maintain a 1/320 shutter speed. Your photos will probably look dark when viewed on screen bout you can correct them in LR

CanonTom Loc: Birmingham

Apaflo wrote:

One stop is exactly twice (or half) as much light. The two statements are both correct.

Thank you for the clarification Apaflo. I should have gone back in and edited my post as after posting it, it dawned on me that that I had also learned recently that each stop difference doubled or halved the light, etc. From those of us who are still learning many of the basics, I can and do get confused easily, but I am an eager learner! I appreciate your assistance. Tom

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

CanonTom wrote:

Thank you for the clarification Apaflo. I should have gone back in and edited my post as after posting it, it dawned on me that that I had also learned recently that each stop difference doubled or halved the light, etc. From those of us who are still learning many of the basics, I can and do get confused easily, but I am an eager learner! I appreciate your assistance. Tom

We all start not knowing much of anything. It was initially obvious that you are very much at that starting point. Today the reasons for that difference between full frame and cropped sensors is perhaps just confusing while you learn about other things. But there may well be a day when that is what you want to learn! Decades later there will still be other interesting things to learn... there is no end.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Apaflo wrote:

We all start not knowing much of anything. It was initially obvious that you are very much at that starting point. Today the reasons for that difference between full frame and cropped sensors is perhaps just confusing while you learn about other things. But there may well be a day when that is what you want to learn! Decades later there will still be other interesting things to learn... there is no end.

Six years in and I'm still new!

Never bored!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I think if you look closely at your own pictures and the camera settings for each, you'll agree that #7 is about the sharpest one and that it also has the fastest shutter speed of 1/80th of a second. So if you agree that it's the best of the bunch, why don't you settle for that at the next sporting event that you go to. You can set your camera for manual settings exactly like that one, or you can set your camera for Shutter Priority, 1/80th of a second, Auto ISO. I guarantee, your aperture will be wide open all the time and your ISO will adjust for the proper exposure. Shoot in raw so that you have more control over correcting the noise and white balance later in post.

gray_ghost2 wrote:

I've asked the questions. Gotten tons of advice. A... (show quote)

RolandDieter

Each stop allows twice as much light as the previous full stop. At a given stop you get "A" amount of light. Open up one more stop and you get "2A" of light. To verify this, set the camera on aperture priority. The camera will tell you the shutter speed it wants. Open or close down and the camera will adjust the shutter speed based on this formula.

fireflysmg

Action shots are not easy. I probably throw away half of what I take. I use my D7100 because I can switch between stills and video. I use my 50mm 1.4 which is a small lens, but can be as sharp and as clear as possible for me shooting motion wide open. Images are soft at 1.4 or 2, but I am happy enough with the quality. I prefer portrait photography, so I get as close to what I want to shoot as possible. I set an EV of +1, and I set Auto ISO sensitivity to on, not to exceed 2000 ISO because this camera gets noisy fast. If I did not want video capability, my D700 full frame would be much better quality at high ISO's. I have switched around from manual to shutter priority but have found the camera does fine in sport mode (consistent 640 shutter with 2f), then my main job is to follow action with my focal point on continuous shutter, thus no tripod. I do use a tripod and my 18mm-35mm for video. The kids love to see them after the fact. Good luck!

plessner Loc: North Dakota

I take a ton of basketball pictures of my grand daughters games. I use my 50mm lens and stand at the corner of the court by the basket they are shooting at. Have found that 1000 ISO and 1/800 shutter speed works the best plus also have to adjust the WB for the different lighting in each gym

jesmason

I think you have excellent advice here for how to use your current camera.

If you have the scratch, consider a mirrorless camera like the Sony A-series or Fujifilm X-series. Super-high burst rates to get the exact shot you need at sports events. You can toss 15 of 20. Keep the lens speed fast. I personally like 1/1000. Invest in the lowest F-rating for the lens size you need. More light is what you need!

And shooting RAW is essential. There are some processing protocols available that make sports photos look as exciting as the event. You can smell the sweat and hear the crowd!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Buy what you will, but slow shutter speeds and sports action shots don't generally go well together.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

gray_ghost2 wrote:

I've asked the questions. Gotten tons of advice. A... (show quote)

Everyone has given advise and most of it is good. Most, however did not look closely enough at your shots. They gave advise about how to shoot action shots but your problem is not that action is going on, its in the shots themselves. Look at the lines on the floor -- very little is in focus. #7 is the sharpest. Those who encouraged the use of monopod or tripod are right on. A faster shutter speed is a given but even by upping that, you will not succeed without stabilizing your camera somewhat. In the absence of a pod, sit with your legs spread, rest your elbows on your thighs, and press the camera to your forehead. This will create a 3 point stabilizing posture that will help. Also if you try to follow the action you may create too much movement. Set your camera to manual focus then focus on an area around the basket. When action moves into your focus zone, take the shot. You may get fewer shots that way, but the ones you get will be of higher quality. I used to shoot HS football and would focus about 10 yards ahead. When the action moved into that zone, I would take the shot.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Bridges wrote:

Everyone has given advise and most of it is good. ... (show quote)

At 1/500 with a 70-200, camera movement won’t be an issue if hand held, but your arms well get tired 😂!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

TriX wrote:

At 1/500 with a 70-200, camera movement won’t be an issue if hand held, but your arms well get tired 😂!

I use a mono with a tilt head.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Slow shutter speed and P setting. Don't let the camera think for you.
--Bob

gray_ghost2 wrote:

I've asked the questions. Gotten tons of advice. A... (show quote)