Camera settings for indoor cheerleading (using Nikon D80)

<p>I am going to take photos for a friend who is a cheerleading coach. She wants action shots of her girls during a practice. She and the parents want to buy prints from me for their girls. I am not at all a sports photographer and don't think will necessarily be pursuing this area. I love family photography and have a small little business I have been starting. If anything, this opportunity could be good marketing - many of these girls may need senior photos in the next year or so!!</p>

<p>I took some practice shots a few days ago, and was really unhappy with the shots. This is the equipment and settings I used:</p>

<p>Nikon D80 with 35 f2.0 lens and SB600 speedlight<br>

1/400 - 1/800, f2.8 auto ISO (usually was at 1600)<br>

Dymanic focus, AF-C, continuous shutter</p>

<p>It was dark that afternoon and the photos looked very grainy. Of course, the background isn't that great either since it is in a elementary school gym. It was very dark outside that afternoon so there was no additional natural light, but my final photos are going to be mid morning so there should be more natural light - there is a wall of windows in the gym.</p>

<p>Questions - are my camera settings OK? Any changes suggested? What is the slowest shutter speed I can use to capture this type of movement? Any suggestions on how to use the flash (I am fairly new to using speedlights)? I had the speedlight on camera and pointed at an 45 degree angle with a bounce diffuser (maybe I shouldn't be using that?). I don't want to take the flash off-camera as I will need to move around a lot.</p>

<p>Any suggestions????<br>

<img title="cheerleaders smaller by IPS Photos, on Flickr" src="<a href=" alt="" title="cheerleaders smaller by IPS Photos, on Flickr" /> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3624/3295536780_a16e539a45_o.jpg" alt="cheerleaders smaller" width="500" height="747" /> " alt="" /></p>

<p>And if you want to see some of my other work, my website is www.irenesmithphotography.com.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!!!!!</p>

 

<p>At iso 1600, you are bound to get some grain, did you have to brighten this example up in post? If not, then try dropping iso to around 1000...800 if you can. Then lens you are using should be fine. 1/500 should be sufficient to freeze the shot. </p>

<p>Yes, I should have added - I ran Noise Ninja and brightened this photo a bit. I probably should have uploaded a SOOC shot. </p>

<p>1/400-1/800 is to fast for the flash to synch with the camera. I am not sure the exact synch speed of the D80, but I think it is either 1/200 or 1/250s, so you'll need to set the shutter speed to that or slower if you want to be able to use the flash (otherwise the flash won't illuminate the picture even though it fires). A gym ceiling is going to be way to high to bounce a flash, its straight on or nothing in this case for the flash.<br>

You can always open a stop to get more light in or even half a stop. I'd rather shoot at f/2.3 and iso1000 then at iso1600 and f/2.8. Slower speeds such as 1/125s should be fine if there isn't a lot of fast action, throws, etc you'll need 1/500s or maybe even faster to freeze the action.</p>

<p>Have you tried taking any shots without a flash? Capture photos in RAW format, this will allow you to brighten afterward with minimal quality loss. Also, shoot at ISO 1600, f2.8 and the fastest shutter speed allowable. Stay on the underexposed side. You can brighten later. If you have to use flash, try to snap the shot at the girl's peak height, therefore the blur will be minimized.</p>

<p>I am aware the the fastest shutter speed the flash can sync with is 1/250, however, if you set the camera to Auto FP, you can still use a faster shutter, it just doesn't always sync. Right? In the practice shots I took, I did notice that in some shots the flash didn't work, but many more it did. I really want to use a faster shutter than 1/250, maybe 1/500? </p>

<p>As I said, I am new to the speedlight, so I need to keep practicing and keep trying to understand the terminology and how this all works. It it tough for me!!</p>

<p>Thanks all!</p>

<p>If it were me I would ditch the speed light for this. It can be tough enough to ballance all the setting in these HS gyms and Elementry gyms with out having to worry about a speed light.</p>

<p>You mentioned in you first post that you are using a 35mm f2.0. I would open it up all the way set the shutter speed you want and then see where you need to set your ISO don't use auto ISO. If at 1600 you are still to underexposed slow your shutter down a little and then test again. You'll find the setting that work for that location, just trial and error.</p>