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Need help and advice with sports photography

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Clear Blue Sky

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I was asked to take shots of a rugby match but turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. The shots they wanted me to take were of individual players not group shots. They are wanting to have good "action" shots of themselves to buy basically. No problem for cricket or golf but I was caught completely off guard by the very fast pace of a rugby match.

I have a Sigma 70-300 apo dg but it does not seem up to the job, not focusing fast enough on my D80. I found that I had to shoot really fast, at least 1/800 sec which meant opening the aperture right up and cranking up the iso even tho the lighting was good. Clearly I need a lot more practice but what is your advice? Any websites I could read for tips etc?
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http://www.dreamweavephotography.co.uk
 
Predict the action rather than respond to it. Follow individual players before they get the ball (prediction to know which are the ones who will get the ball). Set pieces are usually pretty straightforward.

Practice.
 
Check out this post, which discussed the best settings for shooting children's soccer games. I think the discussion about settings, as well as other recommendations, might be helpful.

One piece of advice independent of settings recommendations (which I may have mentioned in my response to the referenced post) is to use a monopod.

Good luck
 
Opening up is a good thing because it will give you a nice, blurry background and make the player standout. AF should be set to continuous. I like to hit the corner of fields and find myself in the 135mm range a lot.
Clear Blue Sky said:
I was asked to take shots of a rugby match but turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. The shots they wanted me to take were of individual players not group shots. They are wanting to have good "action" shots of themselves to buy basically. No problem for cricket or golf but I was caught completely off guard by the very fast pace of a rugby match.

I have a Sigma 70-300 apo dg but it does not seem up to the job, not focusing fast enough on my D80. I found that I had to shoot really fast, at least 1/800 sec which meant opening the aperture right up and cranking up the iso even tho the lighting was good. Clearly I need a lot more practice but what is your advice? Any websites I could read for tips etc?
--
http://www.dreamweavephotography.co.uk
Click to expand...
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OK, not so purely a hobby.
 
Practice practice practice

and the Sigma (and Nikon 70-300 AF) are a handicap. You'll want an AFS lens like the 70-300 AFS. Or better yet 70-200 AFS.
--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

No that TC won't work with that lens, and no you're not getting that camera/lens at
that price.

Equipment in profile
 
Can you explain why these AF lenses are a handicap? Whats the difference between AF and AFS?

The 70-200 AFS is hugely expensive at over £1500, anything secondhand for example?

Thanks!
Chuck Yadmark said:
Practice practice practice

and the Sigma (and Nikon 70-300 AF) are a handicap. You'll want an AFS lens like the 70-300 AFS. Or better yet 70-200 AFS.
--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

No that TC won't work with that lens, and no you're not getting that camera/lens at
that price.

Equipment in profile
Click to expand...
--
http://www.dreamweavephotography.co.uk
 
Your lens is a (dark small aperture) screw driven lens with tall gearing, being driven by a camera without much torque. So not only is there not as much light getting through the sensors to focus faster, but also a weak camera motor is driving a lens that has tall gearing, causing that awful hunting noise. AFS is in lens motor, so your camera only provides electrical signal. Well-implemented AFS is awesome. A camera like a D2H/X or D1/H/X have very powerful in-body motors and would focus AF lenses faster too.

Early on I used a D100 with a 70-300 AF. I sort of got by, but when I had the chance to use a D1 with a 70-200 AFS it was like a whole other experience, blistering fast in comparison

A used 80-200 2.8 AFS can be had for 800-900 USD and performs very very well too.
--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

No that TC won't work with that lens, and no you're not getting that camera/lens at
that price.

Equipment in profile
 
rugby is tough to shoot .... especially if the mission is to isolate individuals in action in a game where that doesn't happen too often, and for certain positions in the scrum never ,,,,

you'll need to be on the sidelines running up and down the field and hope that the action stays on your side of the field .... you will need a monopod and the biggest and fastest zoom you can get or have an extra body with an alternate lens ....

where I live (Canada) I can rent from a company called Viztek .... the 200-400 f.4 VR is $125 for a weekend, the 300 f2.8 is $75 and the 70-200 f2.8 VR is $40 ... they also have camera and lens deals .... a D300s and 70-200 f2.8 is $125 for the weekend - that's the simplest solution that I would go with

your lens is too slow to capture the action in a nice crisp shot ,,,, a camera like the D300s with its superior focusing system and higher frame rate will also make a huge difference ... the difference between this gear and yours is that you will increase the likelihood of getting a good isolated chance, but there are no guarantees .... if you have 3-4 games to shoot the risk is less and you could do it with your gear if you get lucky

above all you need to be very familiar with the game and the with the positions of the players you are trying to isolate

good luck!
 
Shooting rugby in the winter in the South East of England is going to be tough. If you aren't in the stands then the 70-200mm f/2.8 would be ideal. A monopod is also highly recommended. I get quite a bit more sun where I am, but I'd say you could boost the ISO a bit, shoot with the widest aperture that you can, and set the AF to use one focus point.

Good luck.

Matt
 
Not as fast as one of the 2.8 afs lenses, but much faster than what you have now. The 70-300 AFS has a faster implementation than the 55-200.

However if you can wait just a bit longer, the new 55-300 f4-5.6 VR DX AFS might be the way to go. Since it isn't out in any numbers I don't believe it's clear whether it's afs motor will be closer to the 70-300 or 55-200 (more likely)
Clear Blue Sky said:
can't go to a 2.8 atm but what about the 55-200MM F/4-5.6 AF-S VR DX or the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (but is it worth twice the price?)

As these are AFS lenses (see I learn Chuck!!) they ought to focus and respond much faster than my sigma
--
http://www.dreamweavephotography.co.uk
Click to expand...
--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

No that TC won't work with that lens, and no you're not getting that camera/lens at
that price.

Equipment in profile
 
Well, gets more interesting as the new 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 G ED VR is LESS expensive at £370 than the 70-300Vr!!

No brainer??
Chuck Yadmark said:
Not as fast as one of the 2.8 afs lenses, but much faster than what you have now. The 70-300 AFS has a faster implementation than the 55-200.

However if you can wait just a bit longer, the new 55-300 f4-5.6 VR DX AFS might be the way to go. Since it isn't out in any numbers I don't believe it's clear whether it's afs motor will be closer to the 70-300 or 55-200 (more likely)
Clear Blue Sky said:
can't go to a 2.8 atm but what about the 55-200MM F/4-5.6 AF-S VR DX or the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (but is it worth twice the price?)

As these are AFS lenses (see I learn Chuck!!) they ought to focus and respond much faster than my sigma
--
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.dreamweavephotography.co.uk
 
The 70-300mm VR is a very good consumer grade lens. It has yet to be seen whethr the new 55-300mm lens is as good. I think the 55-300 VR is a DX lens so it won't work well on full frame cameras and may have a higher tendency to vignette. I already have the 70-300 but am interested in reading reviews of the new lens.
 
It's promising but since it's not out yet I wouldn't count on it until it's been evaluated.
Clear Blue Sky said:
Well, gets more interesting as the new 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 G ED VR is LESS expensive at £370 than the 70-300Vr!!

No brainer??
Chuck Yadmark said:
Not as fast as one of the 2.8 afs lenses, but much faster than what you have now. The 70-300 AFS has a faster implementation than the 55-200.

However if you can wait just a bit longer, the new 55-300 f4-5.6 VR DX AFS might be the way to go. Since it isn't out in any numbers I don't believe it's clear whether it's afs motor will be closer to the 70-300 or 55-200 (more likely)
Clear Blue Sky said:
can't go to a 2.8 atm but what about the 55-200MM F/4-5.6 AF-S VR DX or the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (but is it worth twice the price?)

As these are AFS lenses (see I learn Chuck!!) they ought to focus and respond much faster than my sigma
--
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.dreamweavephotography.co.uk
Click to expand...
--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

No that TC won't work with that lens, and no you're not getting that camera/lens at
that price.

Equipment in profile
 
I shoot a lot of youth soccer with a D40x and the 70-300 VR, generally with very satisfactory results. I think there are a lot of similarities between the two games, although perhaps in rugby players bunch up more. Here is what works for me.

Learn the game well enough to anticipate play. I don't know rugby, but for example, on a soccer corner kick, I will pre-focus in front of the goal where I know the action will occur after the kick.

Position yourself so that the players you want to shoot are running toward you (so you are more likely to capture faces).

When I first started shooting, my mantra was, get the ball and player's face in the shot. Not every shot requires this of course, but it's a good place to start.

I use a monopod to steady the camera. Shooting kneeling with the camera closer to the ground often seems to create a more intimate viewpoint than shooting standing.

With the 70-300, I can get good, cropped individual shots at roughly half the length of the field.

The first game I shot with this lens was a complete failure. It's necessary to anticipate who you are going to shoot, wait for the focus to lock on, and then start shooting. There is a slight lag while this happens. If you shoot too soon, you will not be focused.

In the focus settings, make sure you are not set to focus on the closest object. Use Dynamic Area.

Shutter speed 1/500 or faster seems to work fine for freezing players. If you want to freeze a fast-moving ball, you will need to shoot faster.

I will probably loose cred points for saying this, but I often shoot in the camera's preprogrammed sports mode.

Here in Seattle, sometimes, on a late cloudy afternoon, I will run out of light. So I stop shooting and just enjoy the game.

The attached are decent examples of what this setup can produce. The one is blown out a bit--a good example of when not to rely on the preprogrammed mode, white jerseys on sunny days.







 
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