Kids indoor basketball, Help with gear and tips?

So I have been asked by the parents, to take pictures at an indoor kids

basketball game this coming Saturday, and I was hoping there could be somebody

here who could help me out with what to take/use, and perhaps lend some

shooting tips. Here is my gear list (worth considering)

 

BODIES:

Nikon D2X

Nikon D100

 

FLASHES

SB-80dx

SB-800dx

Pro-T bracket

 

LENSES:

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 ex hsm

Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8D

Nikkor 50mm f1.8

 

So my questions to you all are: Do I shoot only available light? Rear curtain

flash in ttl? Bracket or no bracket? direct flash or bounce? (no idea how high

the cealing will be). Minimum shutter speeds? (flash sync limited to 250, will

that be fast enough?) I am hoping I can get close enough that I can use my 50

1.8, but most likely will need to use my 70-200.

 

Thanks for any tips and suggestions!

 

-Brandon

My first inclination would be to shoot from the end line (outside the key) with the 50/1.8, no flash. At the high school level (and below), I've had no trouble doing this, though I prefer an 85mm. Wear 'gym shoes' so you don't scratch up the floor.

 

You'll want to keep 'half an eye' on the ref so you don't get in his way. It's almost like a dance; he takes a step towards you, you take a step away.

 

Exposures are going to be on the order of f/2 @250 with ISO 800 (every venue is different, but that's the ballpark).

 

Some teams are probably fine with the use of on-camera flash in the player's face, but I choose not to go there. People in the stands from half-court with their P&S (flash) don't have the same 'impact' on the game as a healthy pop of strobe from the end line.

Ahh...hoops. My favorite thing to shoot. I shoot with two bodies all the time and usually I strobe from high up, but over the years I have shot from on camera flash, no flash, portable strobes and hard wired strobes. All in all, hard wired strobes are the way to go, but since you probably will not have that, lets go with what you do have.

 

Leave the flashes at home. Pop the 50 1.8 on the D100 and the 70-200 on the D2X. Most middle school and high school gyms are pretty dark, and I would not use flash at all. I am not sure about Nikon, but if it is real dark, I like to shoot at about 800-1600 ISO wide open with my flash set to 1/64th power. It is just enough power to give a little punch to the colors and keep the noise somewhat in check. If you have a handheld meter, take it and use it. I find shooting in gyms can really fool your camera meter if not carefull. Go from a dark set of stands to a white wall and your exposure could go from 1/30th of a second to 1/1000th of a second, when really it should be 1/400th. Depending on the age of the kids, your shutter speed will vary. I find for little tykes up to 4th grade, 1/250th to 1/320th is fast enough. 5th grade to 8th grade, 1/500th, and high school on up, 1/500th at a minimum. If you do use flashes and can not do a high speed sync (shoot at 1/500th and use flash even though your x-sync is 250) Set the flash to manual and about 1/4 power, your shutter to 1/250th and aperture to whatever will give you good exposure at the lowest ISO.

 

Sit baseline (under the hoop, but not directly under it...somewhere between the basket and the sideline). I say sit, because of two things. It is a good thing to get into the habit of doing because when the day comes that you get to shoot at NCAA or NBA level, you have to sit, and when shooting kids, I find it better to be at eye level or lower. It will make the kids seem bigger than life. When you stand to shoot little kids, you are looking down on them and they will look smaller.

 

Also, with little kids, watch everything. I have shot games with young children where two kids were playing tag while they were in the game and another game where one kid would not step on any line on the court, so he was hopping all over. Can make for some fun, funny shots. Most importantly, have fun.

Thanks Todd and carl! I appreciate it. But Carl, I am a bit confused by your reply..

 

"Leave the flashes at home. Most middle school and high school gyms are pretty dark, and I would not use flash at all. I like to shoot at about 800-1600 ISO wide open with my flash set to 1/64th power. It is just enough power to give a little punch to the colors and keep the noise somewhat in check."

 

???????? Leave the flashes at home, but use them? hehe.

 

So the general consensus is to shoot available light at higher ISOs, wide open. I don't think it will be TOO big of an issue, these guys are only 7 or 8 years old, so i don't think they will be moving very fast. Perhaps I will bring the flashes just in case it is REALLY dark inside? hmm

sorry...I would PREFER to leave the flashes at home.....

Wow!, I read your post again and realized you owned all this gear. I'm jealous!

 

Available light is the only way to go. A 50mm seems to work better with the crop camera's for me. 85mm for film.

 

I would love to find a gym where anyone could shoot f/2.8, because I'd move there tommorrow!

 

Definately the D2X!

I like Carl's advice. I only have some small embellishments. Sitting on the end line is the best place to capture action, but it is not the best place to capture recognizable pictures of players. They frequently have their backs to you. Siting near the corner will give you more access to faces.

 

Here are some shots I took of slightly older kids (junior college) playing basketball: http://homepage.mac.com/randrews4/PhotoAlbum18.html

 

The flash shots were taken with an old Kodak DCS460 DSLR that had an ISO speed of 64. The existing light shots were taken with Portra 800 in a Nikon N90s with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

I'm going to be the contrarian here (and late to the party as well). Unless you have a very well lit gym, I like to use the flash, otherwise it's difficult to stop the action. Depends to some degree on what you are looking for in your photos, as sometimes shooting ambient with a reasonable shutter speed (1/200ish) can produce a few very nice shots, with all the motion blur in the right places.

 

For what I do I need a better yield of clear shots, even if that means the very best shot isn't quite as asthetically pleasing. If you've got a lot of kids you need to get (to make the all the parents happy), it sounds like your situation is a lot like mine.

 

I use my D2x and a 70-200mm Nikkor with the SB-800 set to TTL/BF. Usually set at ISO 400, 1/250 @ f/2.8(ish). I tend not to use the bracket, but then again I've gotten pretty fast at taking out redeye in Photoshop. :-)

 

For your setup I'd be tempted to use the D2x/SB-800 and the 17-55 Nikkor on the close end, and the D100/SB-80 and the Sigma on the far end.<div></div>

One of the problems with using flash? You may know it doesn't bother the players, the players may know it doesn't bother them, but the other fans, students, parents, etc., may not know that and a bright pop just as someone is driving in or prepping a free throw? How fast can you run the 100?

Can't run so fast any more. 100 meters was never my race. Ran a respectable 400 in my day, but never tried it with all my camera gear. :-)

 

I've shot over a hundred youth and high-school games with flash (on and off-camera) and never had a problem with anybody except one grumpy game official at a junior-varsity game, who had gone out of his way to pick fights with both coaches, the AD of the school and even bitched about not being given free food at the snack bar. As I left the scorekeeper of the game came up behind me and asked me to come back for the next (varsity) game because she knew that ref wouldn't be reffing.

 

I did, and he got to sit in the stands and watch me shoot the varsity game.

 

I played basketball in high-school and college. Had lots of photographers using direct flash and never noticed it unless I was on the bench. One game we actually had three photographers all covering the action with on-camera flash. Big game, packed gym.

 

All that being said, I'm not about to pop somebody with direct-flash while they're shooting a free-throw. You do have to show respect for the game.

 

Craig, if you've got a horror story to share, please do so.