Basketball in Action! - Sport Photography

Few days ago i borrowed a 70-200mm VC from my friend, he was kind enough to let me play with his baby lens! This is my first attempt in doing sport photography. I did tried shooting badminton matches with my previous Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 VC, the aperture is not constant, thus i have difficulties in shooting in low light condition such as inside the badminton court, and the result turned out very bad. 

The venue falls at KDCA Penampang basketball court. Shooting in such light condition is challenging, as the maximum shutter speed will reach 1/200th second only if you increase your ISO to 3200 with wide open f2.8 aperture. This is the first time shooting fast moving object with my Nikon D7000 (i was using Canon 60D previously). Due to the "newness"(Noobies) in Nikon, i have no idea how to switch the AI single Servo to Continous Servo and so, i quickly googled it and finally i learned how to switch AI mode, once again thanks to Google! 

Based on my own handling experience, i found that Nikon is more handy in term of dial control than Canon. I can easily adjust and access to most of the feature by using my left hand (AF/MF, AI servo mode, ISO control, Picture Quality) while Canon more focus on my Right hand (ISO, AI servo mode, etc). I would say i like Nikon more than Canon because of it's dial control, as well as the color Nikon produced. 

Shooting free throw

Friendly match before semi-final begin.

Very tight defense inside the 2point zone. 

Ujana Kingfisher Team !

Very tall jump-shoot, hard to defense.

National player, very good 3 points shooter.

Another national player, fast, and responsive defense and offense!

Manage to block his offense for this one.

Quick lay up!

One of the most important thing in shooting sport photographs is to set your camera to AI Servo/Predictive Focusing. Continuous half-pressing of the shutter release helps you to get it to lock on and stay locked on in order to get your object in focus. If your camera does not have predictive focus you may have to re-half press the shutter release to re-establish focus lock as your subject moves, but in reality you just don't have such time to mess with. D7000 have 5fps burst rate, which is good for sport photography. Shooting in raw also help you to minimize the mistakes you make during configuring the camera.

High agility move, watch the following photo.

Pass through 2 person to lay up!

Rules of thumb, familiarize yourself with the rules and flow of the game. A person with some exposure and knowledge about the sport will be better able to anticipate action before it occurs. If allowed to roam freely, try shooting from different locations. Perspectives such as, from behind the backboard, behind the baseline, from the corners and sidelines. You can also get nice perspectives shooting from different elevations in the stands. Combine this fact with the shallow depth of field using wide open apertures can produce, and it may be difficult to consistently and accurately focus on faces.

I find shooting indoor basketball without a flash to be both challenging and enjoyable. It may be difficult the first time out, but don’t let that intimidate you. It really is a lot of fun and it guarantee that the more you shoot indoor sports, the more pleased you will be with your results. Whether you have a loved one playing, or not, it can be very important to come home with some nice memories.

It is a brand new experience for me to shoot this type of photographs, but its really difficult to get good photographs as i shoot at 3200 ISO without a flash. I would not prefer using a flash as it might distract the players on the court. (correct me if I'm wrong) I would also like to do more practice with different techniques and perspectives. 70-200mm seems to be too long for me. Maybe i should shoot more close-up shot such as face expression, i should do it again during the Final match. By the way, although Ujana Kingfisher have lost this match, but they perform really well, and everyone tried their best to defense their pride! 

*If you have any tips and suggestion on how to configure the setting for this kind of photography, do not be selfish to keep it with yourself! Share it out with me!