Are these good enough?

[scott_mills]

I really would like to turn my hobby into a business and am considering starting

out "part time" and trying to build my business without quitting my day job. My

idea is (and it's not original) is to shoot youth sporting events and posting

proofs on a web site so parents can view and maybe purchase prints. I would

really appreciate it if some of you could look at my work and tell me what you

think, offer some feedback and some business ideas.

 

Right now I shoot for free for my daughters cheer leading team. They didn't ask

me to, I just like to shot and started sending jpegs to head coach for the web

site. Please take a look --> http://www.kedroncheerleading.com/Competitions.html.

 

Most shots are with a EOS 400D shot at ISO 1600 and shot 1/2 to 1 stop under to

get shutter speed.

 

I ran some through "Neat Image" and printed some really (surprisingly) clean 8 X

10 's.

 

I like the look better than lower ISO and strobe shots some of the pros do at

the competitions. Here's one example of a full size 8 X 10 although I had to

shoot at medium res. b/c I was running out of room on my card.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2107/2273628028_9afae4c72a_b.jpg

 

and here's one from a minor league baseball game

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/170733078_ce369d4fcc_o.jpg

 

Thanx for looking

[Matt Laur]

My first thought is: faster lens(es)!

<br><br>

That will allow you to gather more light, and thus boost shutter speed. But it will also do something else very important... shallower depth of field. Used right, a more wide-open lense will get you your subjects in focus, and some of that distracting background clutter OUT of focus. That can really help with a more professional look.

[scott_mills]

Yeah, I know I really need a fast lens. Ideally I would get the 24-70 and 70-200 2.8's, but I'm not sure which to get first. Primes won't work for me b/c I need to get both wide and close up shots in a matter of seconds. For most of these I now use the 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 and some are shot with the Sigma 70-300 4-5.6. Where I usually shoot from the 70-300 is too long, but if I want to do outdoor sports also then I need the longer lens. My thought is to use what I have and try to buy faster zooms if I make money.

[scott_mills]

I do have the 50mm 1.8, but that thing is sooo sloow to focus I can't use it in these situations, but I do recognize the need for shallow dof and speed. I really do love to use shallow dof, I just can't afford it right now.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/42017154_ecaff07366_o.jpg

[Leonard-just-Leonard]

I took a look at these shots

http://www.kedroncheerleading.com/SSJ_Westchester.html

 

They are, at best average/mediocre. They represent what a typical parent would take of their beloved children, certainly not professional quality that someone would pay a lot of money for.

 

You need some flash to fill in the faces and better focusing. I would recommend keeping your day job until you can put solid money in the bank from this hobby.

 

As a note of encouragment, you obviously seem to enjoy what you do but really need to work on the technical aspects to make it profitable or have the WOW factor that will make other parents want to cough up money because they cannot do without THAT particular shot.

[scott_mills]

Matt and LJ thanx for your input, I appreciate it!

LJ - the SSJ Westchester comp was the first ones I did, I think the more recent ones were better FWIW. AS for flash I just don't like it, unless I had strobes in the rafters. There was a professional studio at some of the comps that used strobes and I really like my results better.

LJ - did you get a chance to look at the attached photo? If I could have doubled the shutter with a faster lens and lower ISO I think it could have the WOW factor??

[shoppix]

As already stated, faster lenses will help. The 50 1.8 should be fast enough, unless it happens to be an old version. Find someone else with one or go to camera shop and try one to see if a new one is faster.

Are you using manual exposure settings, continuous AF and 'burst' mode?

You still may have to do some editing to boost lighting and color saturation to give your shots some life, even with faster lenses.

[scott_mills]

Thanks Steve

I meter the scene and shoot Manually usually 1/100 or 1/125 at f/3.5 or 4.5 this usually puts me 1/3 to 1 stop under but I can't go any slower on the shutter or any wider on my lens. I adjust levels in PS to brighten the image dragging the right slider with the alt key pressed until I see some white. Sometimes I'll use the right eyedropper and pick the whitest spot. If they still look to dark I'll move the center slider a little. I don't like the look I get with Shadows/highlights so I don't normally use that to me it looks "overcooked" w/ shadows / highlights. I then use USM at 170% / 1.2 / 2.

[mark u]

You are going to need to use f/2 or faster primes. You are already at 1600 ISO (and even effectively shooting 3200 at times), so the only way you will get a faster shutter speed is with a wider aperture, and clearly f/2.8 isn't going to be fast enough. If you think you need to switch focal lengths rapidly, then that means having another lens on another body. Pick up a second hand 400D as upgraders sell off so you have a pair of identical bodies.

 

There should be no problem with using your Canon 50mm f/1.8 and achieving focus - pre-focus can help. There are plenty who use that lens for high school or college basketball, where the players are moving across the gym much faster than 6-8 year old cheerleaders. Give it a tryout next time, shooting at f/2 or f/2.2. You may want to give some thought to what other focal lengths you might need. You should consider the fast wider Sigmas - 20, 24 and 28mm f/1.8 and 30mm f/1.4, and the Canon 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 100mm f/2 and 135mm f/2. You will probably want to have 2-3 of these covering a range of options.

 

I agree with the comments about flash made by others above. Quite a few shots suffer from dark panda eyes and shadowy faces due to the overhead lighting. The idea is not to have a flash dominated shot, but to provide a light touch of fill flash to lift those shadows. The effect needs to be subtle, likely using negative flash exposure compensation of 1-2 stops - and is probably best if you can get a reasonably close match between the hall lighting and the flash by using a gel on the flash (the Cinegel swatchbook is a cheap effective way to get gels). Stronger flash can be used to freeze motion such as somersaults.

 

As a general tip, try to get as close as you can to the arena. That will help you to get lower angle shots that are more dynamic, as well as meaning that you'll not miss owning a 200mm f/1.8 so much. Other advantages are that it will help to throw backgrounds out of focus better and give your shots some "pop", and allow faster flash recycle times due to reduced subject distance. Of course, that is also a rule that is made to be broken - try looking for a suitable high vantage point to capture the formation patterns. Maybe in due course that might entail a camera mounted in the rafters over the arena, radio triggered.

 

A pre-focus tip: use the children's feet on the mat as your focus target to avoid having the camera focus on the busy background, and set the centre point only. Also, learn to use AI Servo focus mode with CF4 set to 1 so that focus becomes controlled by the * button. That will allow you to pre-focus precisely, and not have the camera re-focus when taking the shot. It will also allow you to shoot a sequence of follow focus shots when there is movement to track.

[scott_mills]

Thank you Mark, great ideas, I'll definitely try some of them.

[blux]

Don't rule out manual focus with your 50mm. You will have to be fast but, the payoff could be big. As a side note: you may not be able to quit your day job even if you get very busy with the photography. With all of the cameras in the hands of all of the ametures, there just isn't enough money up for grabs.

 

Also, try to isolate your subjects a little more when you can. Generally, closer is better whether it is physically or with a zoom lens.