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Yeah make sure your focus mode is AI servo, or the Nikon equivalent. Also, if you're shooting wide open or close to it (which you'll probably want to do), try to pick a focus point that easily allows you to focus on people's faces. Also be sure you're using a high enough shutter speed to stop action, ideally 1/500 or faster.
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Jan 21, 2012 21:21
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Yeah I'm a big fan of back-button focusing too, but I think it comes down to personal preference. I know some sports photographers swear by it, others don't see the point. Try it for a day or two to get used to it and see if you like it better, but don't feel like you need to.a foolish pianist posted:I bought a GoPro HD, and today I attached it to my cross country skis and took advantage of the tiny amount of snow we got this weekend up here in Michigan: I'm excited to see more GoPro work in this thread, and thanks for sharing, but man cross country skiing looks miserable. I haven't shared anything in a while, so here are a few photos from basketball last night.     Full post: http://www.ryanmkelly.com/blog/2012/1/24/back-to-ballin.html I've been having a weird problem with basketball this year that I don't remember having last year. I shoot primarily with a 7D, and sitting on the baseline with a 70-200 on it can frequently be too tight. It's slightly less of a problem when using a 1D mkIII because of the difference in crop factor, but I rarely have that body. I'm going to try shooting most of a game with a 24-70 on a 7D next time and see how I like that.
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Jan 24, 2012 20:29
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Yeah yeah yeah, D3 sports are pretty goofy all around.
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Jan 24, 2012 21:03
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Firstly, anybody who uses Chrome (which you should) ought to check out the Sports Illustrated Snapshot app. Ten new photos each day, mostly very good. Secondly, has anybody who's been using this been surprised by how long handball's been featured? There's frequently some weird, obscure sport that has a world championship and we'll see photos for a few days, which is always cool, but I feel like I've been seeing photos from handball pretty consistently for weeks now. Is that a sport that's way more popular than I ever realized? I don't think I've ever been aware of it happening locally, maybe it's more of an international thing.
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Jan 26, 2012 18:45
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Window light is the best light.  
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Jan 29, 2012 07:04
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Baseball season's here, woo hoo!      I also shot my first hockey game. It... didn't go well. This was the only decent frame, and even then, I've had to wrestle with levels and colors. Still not totally happy. 
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Feb 14, 2012 00:49
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Haha yeah gently caress that black jersey, trying to recover any shadow detail just led to horrible disgusting noise. I was shooting in manual because the vast majority of the ice was surprisingly well lit, except for the corners against the boards, which was right where that happened, which I didn't realize 'til after it happened. Womp womp.
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Feb 14, 2012 03:21
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God I love baseball season. Hang out in the sun, crank up the ipod, shoot some sports with lots of breaks and chances to do different things.      
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Feb 23, 2012 18:45
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DJExile posted:The first one is messing with me like crazy. Haha I know what you mean, I struggled with how to crop it. Suggestions? This is straight out of camera:  (I swear I wasn't drunk, though that would be an easy assumption looking at the horizon.) BobTheCow fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Feb 23, 2012 |
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Feb 23, 2012 21:04
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Shot the conference championship for the paper yesterday. Local university, with a new coach, wins conference at home, so I expected it to get decent play. But instead, Daytona NOT HAPPENING was the huge front page spread. Lame. Anyway, a few of my favorites:      This was basically a joke shot at the time because it's such a huge cliche, but I actually ended up liking it and submitting it: 
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Feb 27, 2012 22:31
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Shot some tennis yesterday. Right as the match ended I found a spot to shoot from up high, so I'm excited to play around with that next time.     I need to work on finding ways to make different images. After looking at my take I realized I had lots and lots of photos of basically the same moment, shot the same way. Boooooring. e: re-cropped #3 BobTheCow fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Feb 29, 2012 |
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Feb 29, 2012 21:32
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Haha yeah a Facebook friend commented that it looked like a bandit ball.
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Mar 2, 2012 01:58
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Shot some golf today, but it was a super quick shoot, I could only stick around for one hole.      And my favorite goofy driver sock:  P.S. I finally got around to starting a Facebook fan page if anybody wants to follow along/validate my existence 
BobTheCow fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Mar 2, 2012 |
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Mar 2, 2012 03:13
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Yeah, agreeing with everything DJExile said. Indoor sports are always tough, doubly so when they've got poo poo backgrounds and worse light. The easiest way to improve on those would be just clean up the foregrounds and backgrounds by getting up as close as you can and filling the frame with the boxers. After that we can worry about things like shutter speed and white balance, but first focus on composition.
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Mar 2, 2012 17:29
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I'm shooting our state high school basketball tournament for some out-of-town newspapers who couldn't send staffers. Yesterday I shot three games, today I've got four, and tomorrow I'll have three more. My back's already killing me, but goddamn does this beat the poo poo out of shooting weddings. 
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Mar 9, 2012 14:10
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Like I mentioned, last week I covered our state high school basketball tournament. I ended up shooting nine games for five publications in three days, and spent the fourth day nursing my poor back. Here are a few:           And if you feel so inclined you can see some more at my blog: http://www.ryanmkelly.com/blog/2012/3/12/72-hours-of-march-madness.html
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Mar 13, 2012 04:19
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FasterThanLight posted:Who forgot to tell ribkid to wear yellow? Haha I know, he killed me. But he was right up front and one of the most animated fans so I couldn't ignore him. I kind of like him in the corner of the first photo both looking and acting completely differently from the rest of the crowd, makes me laugh. Some baseball from yesterday. So happy to be back outside.    That poor kid crashed hard and pretty awkwardly into the wall on that catch, leading with his wrist, then following with his head. Ouch. BobTheCow fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Mar 14, 2012 |
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Mar 14, 2012 16:41
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DJExile posted:That old wooden fence is such an awesome loving backdrop. I knooooooow I absolutely love it, I want to spend more time shooting from the outfield waiting for chances to use it.
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Mar 14, 2012 17:21
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KidDynamite posted:Shot some more boxing tonight. This time at a friends pro debut. That's definitely your best one. It's tight on the action, good moment, clean backgrounds. The other two are still loads better than last time, but they've got a lot of extraneous poo poo in the frame that the first one doesn't. Here's a hodge-podge from the past few days:      ^ The runner was called out on that play, I call shenanigans!   e: re-cropped/toned the last one. BobTheCow fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Mar 18, 2012 |
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Mar 18, 2012 16:01
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DJExile posted:E: Bob, how do you like shooting lacrosse? It's one of those sports that I'm not too familiar with, so it's tough for me to anticipate action. I'm hoping to shoot a few more in the next few weeks and improve my take, but we'll see. Mostly I'm just happy to be outdoors shooting in nice weather (and light) again. 
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Mar 19, 2012 03:11
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dakana posted:Well, Toledo's women's basketball team is back in the WNIT. They advanced to the Sweet 16 last night. I won't be able to shoot their next game against VCU on Thursday, but hopefully they win that one so I can shoot the next. This brings UT up to 9 consecutive postseason wins after winning the WNIT last year. drat, I was hoping that game would be in Richmond so I could try and snag some work from you, but it looks like VCU's headed to Toledo. Go Rams!
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Mar 20, 2012 20:31
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Buceph posted:Any Euros, Saffas, Kiwis or Aussies ever shoot rugby? I got a 70-200mm f2.8 today, and I'm hoping on a crop body Nikon it'll be good enough for daylight shots. What will my reach be like on that? I'm guessing I'd probably need a 300mm to properly shoot from behind the dead-ball line, or I could shoot from there and get anything inside the 22 roughly in front of me. I've shot rugby but I'm American so I guess I can't contribute. No but really my recommendation would be first to build a portfolio, then try to find clients. Start by just shooting local games or rec leagues or whatever you can get yourself on the sidelines for and go from there. All anybody cares about is your previous work, so you need to have something to show to teams.
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Apr 2, 2012 22:15
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None at all, I got lazy after processing so many photos with such a quick turnaround. Most of the tight stuff was shot on a 7D at ISO 1600, so not pushing the sensor too badly. The lighting at that arena is pretty good. The noise is more evident on the wide-angle photos, maybe only at a larger size, since those were on a 40D, also at ISO 1600.
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Apr 18, 2012 04:37
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Thirding the aperture bits above. The vast majority of the time you'll want to shoot sports action wide open or drat close to it.
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Apr 18, 2012 14:16
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xzzy posted:And I do love scouring the backgrounds of sports photos see what stupid stuff is going on back there. I always love seeing a sports photo of peak action with some rear end in a top hat photographer in the background already chimping. Some guys just can't shoot through a play.
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Apr 19, 2012 03:42
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DJExile posted:Finding out now that Saturday's forecast for the game is a high of 44, with showers and wind gusts up to 30 MPH. Gonna see just how good this weather sealing really is Every photographer should have a pack of these rain sleeves in their bags at all times. They're too cheap and too effective not to. I only have to use them once in a while, but they're invaluable when I do. Plus they're more durable than they look, I've reused them a handful of times with no tears or stretching. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/469774-REG/OP_TECH_USA_9001132_18_Rainsleeve_Set_of.html
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Apr 27, 2012 15:44
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Yay, the old timers are back! I've shot around a dozen games in the past week, and I'm way behind on photos and this thread, but I just have to share this frame from this morning's game that I absolutely love:  CNU pitcher Bryan Bierlein picks up his shoe after losing it at first base during a pickle.
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May 17, 2012 19:04
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That's loving awesome! How do you go about finding the local photogs for each race? I've always been interested in shooting one of those.
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May 23, 2012 14:41
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I shoot a ton of track & field and cross country meets, and I'm with you guys, I don't understand runners, especially the distance guys. The just always look so loving miserable when they finish. I can't count the number of times I've seen kids throw up at or before the finish line. This is far and away your best of the set. Good light, great context with scenery while showing action from the front, and the whole frame is just filled up nicely. I dig it. azathosk posted:I've had good progress on the quality of my shots, but now I feel I'm stagnating. Trying out a few new techniques for focusing (moving the AF around and such), but I don't really know quite what to do. You guys got any tips? This happens to me when I shoot a lot of the same stuff over and over. To snap out of it I'll make myself try something completely different. If it's something I normally shoot with long glass, I'll bust out the wide angle for a while. Or on the flip side, look for tight, funky detail shots, like shoes being tied, or just a foot and a ball, etc. (I swear I don't have a foot fetish.) Or pick a place to shoot from you've never tried before, or set up a remote somewhere new. Check out the crowd, or the officials, or the bench. Look for emotion as well as action. That was just a lot of words to say try something different to get the creative juices flowing again. If you're not working for somebody who needs every play documented, don't be afraid to sacrifice some potential action to spend time making something completely different. A lot of my favorite sports photos recently, both that I've shot and that I've seen from other folks, have been anything but typical peak action.
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May 24, 2012 19:39
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torgeaux posted:Took the boy to his first ballgame. Strassburg pitching well, Nats win a game, and he loved every second. Was there any hassle bringing a DSLR into Nationals Park? I'm in DC pretty regularly and always think it would be fun to bring a camera, but I usually Metro in and don't want to be denied at security.
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Jun 4, 2012 22:25
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Thanks for the info. I'd checked the web site, I guess I was more curious about how strict they were to see if I could get a 70-200 in. We'll see how I'm feeling next time I'm up there. On an unrelated note, just found out this photo won first place for the first quarter Virginia News Photographers Association clip contest in Sports. Canon's offering free printing/display at Look3 this weekend, I think I'm gonna print this one and gently caress up the flow of all the serious documentary stuff.
BobTheCow fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Jun 8, 2012 |
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Jun 8, 2012 15:16
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Hahaha isn't that a goofy bastard? He really drew my eye to that point in the photo, and apparently I'm not alone. He's the reason I even bothered submitting the photo at all. He hosed up enough of my other pure yellow photos, I figured I might as well pick something that would at least make judges laugh.
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Jun 9, 2012 08:43
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Eeek posted:Do you know anything about him? Does he sit and rub his nipples at every game? This was a team from out of town at the state championship. I'd never shot them before, so I have no idea. But I'd like to think that at every game, even if he's the only one in the stands, he faithfully stands and massages himself. His lack of yellow was significantly less amusing for my close, wide shots, though.   Brockus posted:Last year, my photo won first place the Division II Sports Photo from the Michigan Press Association. For the judge's comment, they applauded the fact that the Ferris State player had scored 24 points in the game (which was coincided with the jersey number of the Grand Valley player). I felt it was a unique photo for different reasons. Hahaha that's great. I've got a similar photo from a women's game, but yours definitely takes the cake.
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Jun 11, 2012 18:48
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DJExile posted:Holy poo poo holy poo poo holy poo poo That would rock all sorts of socks, keep us posted!
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Jun 26, 2012 15:27
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ek posted:Regular Keeper Ante Covic going the other way. (something is definitely wrong with this but I can't figure out what) This is a good moment, but what's "off" is that he's diving away from you so you're missing his face. Your other goalie shots are stronger because they include the player's face. There's still a lot of dead space that could be cropped out in those, but depending on how cropped down they are already you may not be able to. ek posted:The light was giving me grief, going from dark & gloomy to bright sunshine in minutes, and I'm not enjoying the lack of sharpness when I crop in close. Any suggestions? These two are the strongest moments from your second post, but the background really hurts them both. Shooting at a wider aperture may help, but that may be a limitation of your lens. What you can definitely do though, regardless of equipment, it to shoot from a lower position. Get down on your rear end or knees and shoot up, which may clean up your backgrounds somewhat but will definitely improve the context of the players. Angryhead posted:Went to see Rally Estonia - the biggest event in the Baltics - on Friday and Saturday, great stuff. It rained a ton but I kept myself and my camera under a raincoat and it seems that we've survived. I hardly ever shoot motorsports, so take this advice with a grain of salt... what I like about these two is that the cars are tack sharp, so you obviously understand panning. However, the backgrounds aren't blurred enough for me for it to be really effective, especially in the second one. The tents and people just look a little shaky, whereas I'd like the shutter speed to be even slower so that they're streaky instead of seizurey. --------------- I shot Color Me Rad this weekend, which was pretty fun, and super messy. A few of my favorites:         And I ended up just as covered as the runners: 
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Jul 23, 2012 15:13
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DJExile posted:A few of these can use a much tighter crop. Notably the 2nd, 8th, and 11th shots. This way you get right in on the action and we don't see empty seats, wide open field (unless it adds to the shot) background walls or buildings, etc. 100% agree. There are some really great moments in there, nice work.
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Aug 1, 2012 16:18
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Definitely don't use on-camera flash. If it's even allowed, which it shouldn't be by the venue and/or league, it will prove a distraction for the players. Even if you did, the photos would be lovely in their own right. High school lighting blows, it's just a fact of life.  Shoot wide open and crank up your ISO. Don't try to underexpose and then correct in post, because at the ISO you'll likely need, you'll lose so much detail that the result will be garbage.
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Aug 15, 2012 05:08
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I shot a shitload of sports this weekend, I still need to go through them all again to put together some blog posts but here's one I tossed up on facebook that I liked: I couldn't figure out a good way to crop it so I just embraced the square. (loving rough background, thanks DIII sports!)
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Sep 4, 2012 14:38
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Pukestain Pal posted:Editors tend to *hate* square crops. It doesn't fit at the head of a story and doesn't work as side photo. Yep, which is why I never like to use them. If I were filing that I'd probably crop up from the bottom to make it a landscape orientation.
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Sep 5, 2012 17:18
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 17:08 |
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Honestly I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often. I'd be the first one flipping poo poo arguing if the photog lines were pushed back, but I and all of my sports shooting friends have all had close calls. A buddy of mine got run over at the corner of an end zone (at a high school game even) last year and had his 300 sheared off from the body at its mount. Fortunately he was okay.
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Sep 28, 2012 01:54
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