# Sports Photography



## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

I know most of you like taking photos of cars and landscape, but for me, the expressions I get from sport photography are very satisfying. I can't wait until the next photo ops at our local high school, which is 4 days a week, not Wednesday (reserved for bible study here in TX ). Here are three pics that I want to share. Granted, they aren't pro quality as I am still learning to take sports photos from a wide range of available natural and artificial lighting. The pic of the swimmer is my exchange student from Denmark. Over the years, I have gotten to know the players and their parents, and the coaches as they have shown their appreciation for my time and effort. I'm happy to say that in one year, my flickr photo page has nearly 100K hits. Thanks for looking. BTW, I used a Nikon D90 with a prime 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I shoot approximately 200 shots/game-meet, and post about 17-18% for viewing. Normally, I get one or two that I like out of the 200.


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## mathjak107 (Apr 1, 2006)

Need just a little more speed to get the softness and blurr of motion totaly out........

the hands are a little blurry and some faces a little soft in spots but overall pretty good action shots


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

mathjak107 said:


> Need just a little more speed to get the softness and blurr of motion totaly out........
> 
> the hands are a little blurry and some faces a little soft in spots but overall pretty good action shots


Yea, we would all like a little more speed, but when you are under stadium light, you're lucky to shoot at 1/200 sec at f/2.8 and ISO cranked up to 3200+. Even then, the trick is to shoot under the bank of lights. The night soccer pic was shot at 200mm, f/3.5, ISO 3200. I thought about using a prime 300mm and position further away so I don't have to pan the camera. But, a 300mm on a monopod limits the ability to follow the action, particularly, soccer. I would never be able to get enough shots to satisfy the hungry viewers. It's a trade off, 300mm on a pod, or getting a few lucky shots with a 70-200 f2.8 VR, hand held. Another issue is picture size. My files are about 1-2 mb, smaller than the 5-6 mb capability of the camera. Wonder if a larger file size would help.

A very old buzard was shooting with a Canon 300mm on a pod at ISO 800 with a heavy duty flash (with permission from the AD), single shot (not burst) mode. He knows his camera and his lag time to activate his shots, but that is another trade off from using the continuous burst mode. He said he is good enough in his timing to capture a batter hitting a pitched ball with a single shot.


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## chicagofan00 (Feb 10, 2008)

Excellent photos Dave! One of these days I'll get out there and give some sports photography a try. My next opportunity won't be until March when I am attending a Cubs spring training game. Although all of those shots will have to be handheld and will be from the stands so I am sure they won't turn out all that well.


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

chicagofan00 said:


> Excellent photos Dave! One of these days I'll get out there and give some sports photography a try. My next opportunity won't be until March when I am attending a Cubs spring training game. Although all of those shots will have to be handheld and will be from the stands so I am sure they won't turn out all that well.


If in AZ you're OK at night, but in TX, I have to be careful with high humidity during the summer nights that can fog up the lens. Keeping the front of the temperature of the lens above the dew point can be a chore.


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## chicagofan00 (Feb 10, 2008)

Dave 330i said:


> If in AZ you're OK at night, but in TX, I have to be careful with high humidity during the summer nights that can fog up the lens. Keeping the front of the temperature of the lens above the dew point can be a chore.


I know what you mean. The one morning that I was at the park in Scottsdale taking photos the lens kept fogging up on me. Major pain in the rear!!  Luckily I don't have to deal with that issue very often around here.


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