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Oct 17, 2017 14:42:19   #
GRosenberg
 
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.

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Oct 17, 2017 14:58:18   #
Leitz Loc: Solms
 
GRosenberg wrote:
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying ... (show quote)

You might consider posting questions on sports photography in the Sports Photography section: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-103-1.html

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Oct 17, 2017 15:09:55   #
GRosenberg
 
Thank you.

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Oct 17, 2017 15:17:02   #
tresap23 Loc: Texas
 
GRosenberg wrote:
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying ... (show quote)


I have the same camera, and I am no where near "professional", but do have experience using this camera. I too, have shot sports photography of my granddaughters softball games in the daytime, basketball games indoors, and soccer games outdoors at night. If you are not comfortable with manual mode, I suggest you use P mode, which allows you to change your ISO, but sets the aperture and shutter speed for you. This way you can adjust the ISO accordingly. For myself, when shooting outdoors, in daylight, sunny conditions, an ISO of around 2000 (for me) gives me pretty good pictures, without too much noise. The higher the ISO, can sometimes mean more noise (graininess) to the pictures. Also, you can shoot in HDR and turn on noise reduction. HDR takes several images at different exposures and merges them all together, to give you the proper overall exposure. But I'd suggest live view when doing this, not using the view finder. I "read" as much as I can. I actually read more than I get to practice, as I am busy all the time and do the reading at night, after I have done all I have to do for work and home. There are "many" articles and You Tube videos, all you have to do is google them. When you do, make sure you put in your camera make and model, then your question about shooting sports photography under different lighting situations, so you get the best advice for "your" camera, and not just basic generalization. Take some notes on index cards for different settings and different lighting situations, laminate them, and put them on a metal ring, and hang them from your camera bag/belt or whatever is easiest, and carry them with you. That way you can refer back to them. There is a such thing as "information overload", and it is hard to remember everything you have read. If you have time, I'd practice, "before" an important game, maybe go to one of her practices, or a local game near you, and play with your settings. I am "still" learning, and I still mess up. But I "make" myself shoot in manual and work with my settings as much as possible, so I can learn. I hardly ever shoot in Auto anymore. Hope some of this helps, and good luck with your photography! Please share some pics with us!

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Oct 17, 2017 15:32:01   #
Nikonman44
 
GRosenberg wrote:
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying ... (show quote)




First and foremost, You might be moving the camera body as you take the fotos.

If you are not shooting with a flash and there is movement of the camera body,, YES you will get blurred or fuzzy fotos.

In sports where there is movement learn to slowly pan and shoot as the pan is in motion.

surrounding items will be blurred (by design) and the main subject ( in center of picture) should be perfect

You cannot stop the rotation of the camera when you shoot, it must continue to complete the pan and shoot numerous times whils the pan is working.

Stop to trigger and it wont work and it will be really fuzzy/

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Oct 17, 2017 15:38:50   #
tresap23 Loc: Texas
 
GRosenberg wrote:
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying ... (show quote)


Another thing, there are so many things you can do "in camera" before you go to a particular shoot. Such as setting the AF mode (usually Al servo for moving subjects) your picture style, white balance, drive mode (High speed continuous for sports) and exposure compensation, etc. Just remember to change them when you move to a different type of shoot. Say indoors, change the picture style and white balance to match the situation.

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Oct 17, 2017 16:00:27   #
JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore
 
GRosenberg wrote:
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying ... (show quote)


GR, I shoot the Canon D60 and a 70-300 Tamron version. Are you sure your lens is f/1.4 - 5.6 or is it f/ 4.0 - 5.6 ?

I don't think there isn't much difference in our cameras other than in the video functions, but what is that Automatic Screen Mode? If you mean the "Sports Shooting Auto function", that may be your problem, or part of it; you are giving up a lot of the camera's capability and relying on a "dumb" computer to decide what you need. I shoot a lot of water sports action, mostly speed and sailboat races and usually set Shutter Priority to 1/700 - 2000 depending on the subject types, Auto ISO with a top limit of at 400, but may push it up on a dark day, and let the camera chose the f/stop. I also use the "Spot" focus and the AF servo mode for continuous focusing, and which ever "continuous shooting" mode seems right for the shot--you may not need the high speed. Finally, are you zooming all the way out to the 300mm? That might be beyond the "sweet spot" for your lens; I think is for mine. Try about 250 - 275 mm of zoom, remember with your crop sensor camera 250mm X 1.6 gives you an effective zoom of 400 mm or 480 mm when set at 300. With those magnification ratios, any small error in the focus is greatly magnified.

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Oct 17, 2017 16:18:10   #
PhotoKurtz Loc: Carterville, IL
 
You might consider why you are shooting RAW for this. I switch to jpeg for fastest frame/sec. I don't think the PP results will suffer much, consider all the action. Unless you have a publisher who insists on RAW. My sports pics are motorcycles and equestrian.

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Oct 17, 2017 16:53:57   #
67skylark27 Loc: Fort Atkinson, WI
 
What sport are you shooting? Soccer?Lacrosse?Football?
I know night time with that lens and on two auto settings your pictures will be
fuzzy due to the high iso and slow shutter speed. You will need to get very familiar
with your manual settings. Also you can't use the lcd screen, you will have to use
the viewfinder.
Auto ISO will jack your ISO up to 12,800 or even more if you haven't limited the max.
Shutter speed needs to be 1/500th or more, ideally 1/1000 or more.
Next up is to make sure you are using a continuous auto focus, preferable single point,
not multi points that will jump all over depending on what's moving.
Post a picture or two and what the settings are on each picture and we'll be able to
pinpoint the issue pretty quickly.
Also, you can shoot in jpeg for now until you get your settings right. Jpeg, large or medium
will be fine until you get your exposures correct.

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Oct 17, 2017 17:15:24   #
tresap23 Loc: Texas
 
tresap23 wrote:
I have the same camera, and I am no where near "professional", but do have experience using this camera. I too, have shot sports photography of my granddaughters softball games in the daytime, basketball games indoors, and soccer games outdoors at night. If you are not comfortable with manual mode, I suggest you use P mode, which allows you to change your ISO, but sets the aperture and shutter speed for you. This way you can adjust the ISO accordingly. For myself, when shooting outdoors, in daylight, sunny conditions, an ISO of around 2000 (for me) gives me pretty good pictures, without too much noise. The higher the ISO, can sometimes mean more noise (graininess) to the pictures. Also, you can shoot in HDR and turn on noise reduction. HDR takes several images at different exposures and merges them all together, to give you the proper overall exposure. But I'd suggest live view when doing this, not using the view finder. I "read" as much as I can. I actually read more than I get to practice, as I am busy all the time and do the reading at night, after I have done all I have to do for work and home. There are "many" articles and You Tube videos, all you have to do is google them. When you do, make sure you put in your camera make and model, then your question about shooting sports photography under different lighting situations, so you get the best advice for "your" camera, and not just basic generalization. Take some notes on index cards for different settings and different lighting situations, laminate them, and put them on a metal ring, and hang them from your camera bag/belt or whatever is easiest, and carry them with you. That way you can refer back to them. There is a such thing as "information overload", and it is hard to remember everything you have read. If you have time, I'd practice, "before" an important game, maybe go to one of her practices, or a local game near you, and play with your settings. I am "still" learning, and I still mess up. But I "make" myself shoot in manual and work with my settings as much as possible, so I can learn. I hardly ever shoot in Auto anymore. Hope some of this helps, and good luck with your photography! Please share some pics with us!
I have the same camera, and I am no where near &qu... (show quote)


Correction: Added an extra 0 to the ISO! My ISO on a sunny day is lower.

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Oct 17, 2017 17:17:43   #
E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
 
The automatic features in you camera can be of some help in stopping or freezing action in sports photography, however, the camera can't think for you in order to factor in some important action shooting techniques. You can continue to use your auto exposure function and of course your auto-focus features but you need to manipulate the system to accommodate the job at hand.

I am not familiar with the manual or programmable features on you particular camera but I assume you can manually operate the ISO settings, chooses either aperture or shutter priority. Start off with a setting of ISO 400. for most out of door environments or ISO 800 for indoor venues or night games.

NEXT: Read through the data and chart I have posted. As you will ascertain from that information, that the direction of the action as it relates to you camera position factors in significantly to shutter speed selection. Action taking place parallel to the camera requires higher shutter speeds than action approaching the camera at 45 degrees or head on. The distance from the subject and the focal length or zoom setting also factors in as the chart indicates. Select the highest possible shutter speed to cover a variety of directions of the action.

The next step is to set the camera's function dial to SHUTTER PRIORITY- this allows you to select the shutter speed that will best accommodate the shooting conditions. The automatic exposure system will then select the f/stop or aperture to accommodate the pre-selected shutter speed. If you can not attain a high enough shutter speed and a workable aperture under the lighting conditions, it is time to increase the ISO setting. Wider apertures will yield more shallow depth of field whereby the backgrounds may be more out of focus. This is not a bad effect as it tends to focus more attention on the main subject and the action taking place but careful focusing in required.

Do a bit of pre-game troubleshooting: Shoot a stationary object such as a brick wall to insure that you auto-focus system is spot on. Make sure your mono-pod is not picking up vibration. Ensure that you have a good grip on the camera body and that the lens is properly supported. If the lens is long and heavy, be sure to use the tripod socket on the lens rather than the one the camera body. This is very rudimentary but remember to squeeze the shutter release button rather than hitting it or poking at it- sometimes that can happen in the heat of getting exciting shots! Camera movement or vibration can exacerbate blur.

Learn to anticipate the action. The scientists and camera manufacturing engineers tell us that there is a 1/7 sec. human/mechanical reflex lag from the time we see the shot we want 'till it ends up on the sensor. I don't EXACTLY know how that works out in actual practice but the idea is to defeat or minimize that time lag. Anticipating the action is the best advice I can give you based on practical experience. If you understand the game and know the players, it's that much easier.

So...check out the chart and don't worry too much about the mathematics. I just want you to get the general idea of the direction of the action, the distance and the choice of focal length.

In my press days I shot NHL Hockey, Major League Baseball and Basketball, Rugby and Football and amateur figure skating competitions using this methodology.

Try it out and let us know- GOOD LUCK!



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Oct 17, 2017 18:48:37   #
markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
 
Hi,
I shoot quite a bit of sports - soccer, basketball, track baseball & volleyball. Sports photography is a challenge. Get familiar and experiment with the 70's Autofocus system and modes. - page 99,... in the manual. Most success for sports or other action photography is shot with AI Servo. Read the manual until you feel comfortable with the section. Eventually you will need a higher quality lens to capture sharp images in not well lit venues. Practice before the match begins. You need to have the best settings prior to the action of the match beginning. Become familiar with the essentials of exposure. I recommend Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure - available in your library or online. Mostly, you have begun on a journey that never ends. Photography is a vast subject. Take it in small steps. Perhaps look into local course offerings or a camera club. There are many tutorials online, many free - just Google what you want to learn.
Mostly, have fun. Learning will be in small steps. UHH is an excellent resource for learning.
Feel free to PM me.
Enjoy the journey.
Mark

GRosenberg wrote:
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying to take sport photos of my daughter's university team. I have a Canon EOS 70D with an EF 70-300 mm 1:4-5:6 lens. I am shooting raw and using the automatic screen mode for sports fast action. It automatically sets the ISO and shutter speed. I also use a monopod for stabilization. Of course, the lighting is rather erratic on the field; shooting sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. I'm not real pleased with the majority of my photos, they appear slightly fuzzy. Can someone suggest ways that I can improve my photos, please? Thank you for any assistance given.
I am an amateur photographer and have been trying ... (show quote)

Reply
Oct 17, 2017 19:17:48   #
crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada
 
I have the 70D and use it for sports all the time.

If you want to try something that is almost foolproof. (Ok maybe not...but try it anyway:-)
1) Manual mode
2) ISO : Auto
3) aperature: F4.0 (it will go up as you zoom but dont worry)
4) shutter: 1/800 (increase if sunny day and take a few snaps until exposure looks right ... )
5) AF point: set to the center point
6) white balance: AWB
7) AI Servo focus mode
8) high speed continuous mode (use that 7fps capability to make lots of photos to crawl through... lol.

Use the center point to focus and fire away.
You will get a lot of keepers. People motion sports will be frozen....you may get some blur for vehicles running at high speed or balls/pucks etc...

Adust the shutter as needed for sunny day and lower the shutter speed as the sun goes down but dont go below 1/800. (You may discover that you can get down to 1/500 depending on the sport and the distance to the target and the focal length).

The only setting you will need to touch for the entire event is the shutter speed and as long as you dont go below 1/800ish, you should be golden.

Have fun !

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Oct 17, 2017 19:30:32   #
crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada
 
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
The automatic features in you camera can be of some help in stopping or freezing action in sports photography, however, the camera can't think for you in order to factor in some important action shooting techniques. You can continue to use your auto exposure function and of course your auto-focus features but you need to manipulate the system to accommodate the job at hand.

I am not familiar with the manual or programmable features on you particular camera but I assume you can manually operate the ISO settings, chooses either aperture or shutter priority. Start off with a setting of ISO 400. for most out of door environments or ISO 800 for indoor venues or night games.

NEXT: Read through the data and chart I have posted. As you will ascertain from that information, that the direction of the action as it relates to you camera position factors in significantly to shutter speed selection. Action taking place parallel to the camera requires higher shutter speeds than action approaching the camera at 45 degrees or head on. The distance from the subject and the focal length or zoom setting also factors in as the chart indicates. Select the highest possible shutter speed to cover a variety of directions of the action.

The next step is to set the camera's function dial to SHUTTER PRIORITY- this allows you to select the shutter speed that will best accommodate the shooting conditions. The automatic exposure system will then select the f/stop or aperture to accommodate the pre-selected shutter speed. If you can not attain a high enough shutter speed and a workable aperture under the lighting conditions, it is time to increase the ISO setting. Wider apertures will yield more shallow depth of field whereby the backgrounds may be more out of focus. This is not a bad effect as it tends to focus more attention on the main subject and the action taking place but careful focusing in required.

Do a bit of pre-game troubleshooting: Shoot a stationary object such as a brick wall to insure that you auto-focus system is spot on. Make sure your mono-pod is not picking up vibration. Ensure that you have a good grip on the camera body and that the lens is properly supported. If the lens is long and heavy, be sure to use the tripod socket on the lens rather than the one the camera body. This is very rudimentary but remember to squeeze the shutter release button rather than hitting it or poking at it- sometimes that can happen in the heat of getting exciting shots! Camera movement or vibration can exacerbate blur.

Learn to anticipate the action. The scientists and camera manufacturing engineers tell us that there is a 1/7 sec. human/mechanical reflex lag from the time we see the shot we want 'till it ends up on the sensor. I don't EXACTLY know how that works out in actual practice but the idea is to defeat or minimize that time lag. Anticipating the action is the best advice I can give you based on practical experience. If you understand the game and know the players, it's that much easier.

So...check out the chart and don't worry too much about the mathematics. I just want you to get the general idea of the direction of the action, the distance and the choice of focal length.

In my press days I shot NHL Hockey, Major League Baseball and Basketball, Rugby and Football and amateur figure skating competitions using this methodology.

Try it out and let us know- GOOD LUCK!
The automatic features in you camera can be of som... (show quote)


Comprehensive as usual. Great feedback !

Q: the ss table implies the motion is moving across the sensor with the sensor "not moving" ir the camera is not panning, it would be different calcs if you were panning or following the motion. In that case, wouldnt you need to increase the shutter speed as the movement across the sensor would be greater in the background than the subject. Is this right?

When I saw the table, I was confused about the declining ss needed as focal range/distance increased. I find that I need to keep the ss very high when at full zoom as i sometimes pan the football as it is thrown to the reciever. (Sometimes I watch the QBs face to see where he is going to throw, guess the receiver, lock in and wait for the ball to arrive. In this case, I can use a lower ss.)

Thoughts?
(I hope the OP is following this disucssion and it is helpful otherwise I may be guilty of hijacking another thread)

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Oct 17, 2017 19:33:19   #
crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada
 
crazydaddio wrote:
Comprehensive as usual. Great feedback !

Q: the ss table implies the motion is moving across the sensor with the sensor "not moving" ir the camera is not panning, it would be different calcs if you were panning or following the motion. In that case, wouldnt you need to increase the shutter speed as the movement across the sensor would be greater in the background than the subject. Is this right?

When I saw the table, I was confused about the declining ss needed as focal range/distance increased. I find that I need to keep the ss very high when at full zoom as i sometimes pan the football as it is thrown to the reciever. (Sometimes I watch the QBs face to see where he is going to throw, guess the receiver, lock in and wait for the ball to arrive. In this case, I can use a lower ss.)

Thoughts?
(I hope the OP is following this disucssion and it is helpful otherwise I may be guilty of hijacking another thread)
Comprehensive as usual. Great feedback ! br br Q:... (show quote)


Oops. Nevermind. The table is relative to fixed focal length. I was thinking zooming out as distance increased. Makes sense now...

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