Top side picture question

[Misplaced Priority]

Please accept my apologies as this is not an underwater photography questions. But, I was hopeful you would help a fellow diver with a dry land photography question. My daughter plays competitive volleyball and I want to take some action photos. My problem is that they do not want you to use flash as they think it may distract the players. But, when I turn off the flash, the shutter must stay open too long and all the pictures are blurred. What setting can I use for action shots without a flash in a decently well lit area that will catch the action without blurring??? Thanks:06:

 

[alcina]

It would help to know your camera/lens, too.

Up the ISO - you'll need to experiment to see what level you can go to with acceptable noise. By increasing this, you can increase your shutter speed and hopefully stop the action and the motion blur.

If you are using dslr, buy a faster lens (big $$).

 

[justleesa]

Faster lens and a tripod too...
As alcina says it would be helpful to know what camera you have. Some of the point and shoot cameras offfer a sport mode. Taking the pictures in RAW might give you a bit of room to play.

all depending on the lighting of the arena...you might not get around a flash.

 

[Thijsie]

Well, I don't know about yours, but my camera (Kodak LS743) has a sport setting by default.
Works fine for me, even when I turn the flash off, except for when I'm doing something weird which you usually wouldn't do whilst taking pictures. Pirouttes for example. Not that I do that ofcourse. eyebrow

 

[RonFrank]

My daughter plays competitive volleyball and I want to take some action photos. My problem is that they do not want you to use flash as they think it may distract the players. But, when I turn off the flash, the shutter must stay open too long and all the pictures are blurred. What setting can I use for action shots without a flash in a decently well lit area that will catch the action without blurring??? Thanks:06:

Shooting sports is one of the more difficult types of photography, and generally equipment intensive as well. Every wonder why those guys at the sidelines of pro sports events have lenses that resemble the hubble telescope? It is not because they are trying to impress anyone, or work on their bicepts, it has to do with light (or lack there of) and stopping action.

So what camera, what settings are you using? (examples may help). If you are using a PnS camera in general my suggestion is to look for the guy selling images at your event (if there is such a guy). If you are using a DSLR, then you have some options, mainly as suggested upping the ISO, opening up the aperture, and increasing the shutter.

A tripod will be useless as the problem is stopping action, not preventing camera shake assuming you are not using a 400mm f2.8 which you are not or you would not be posting this question.

 

[fdog]

<snip> What setting can I use for action shots without a flash in a decently well lit area that will catch the action without blurring??? Thanks:06:

The area must not be well lit; if it was, the autopilot wouldn't be turning the flash on.

Your best bet is to up the ISO, as said above. If your camera is a point'n'shoot that doesn't let you adjust ISO, it's time to try a DSLR. Make sure you get a lens no slower than f4.

If you are shooting in the typical gymnasium, expect to be at (at least) ISO 1600 to freeze vollyball.

All the best, James

 

[bladephotog]

Volleyball can be a fast moving sport. And a general rule for shooting sports is that you need a minimum of 1/250th of a second to stop action. In most high school gyms I typically shoot at ISO 1600, or 3200 if needed, and I'm using fast 2.8 lenses. I'll sacrafice noise for shutter speed and use a program like Noise Ninja to remove the noise later.

And a good rule of thumb to prevent camera shake is using the recipricol of the length of your lens. For example, if you're using a 200mm lens your shutter speed should be 1/200th or faster. Now, you can probably shoot slower if you're steady, but use this rule for consistant results.

 

[Misplaced Priority]

Thanks guys. The camera I was using is a simple Sony Cybershot. This weekend, we have a tournament in Atlanta. I plan on taking my Nikon N65 camera. That way I can set the shutter speed. If I set the shutter speed to 1600 or more, what should I set the f stop?

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Thanks guys. The camera I was using is a simple Sony Cybershot. This weekend, we have a tournament in Atlanta. I plan on taking my Nikon N65 camera. That way I can set the shutter speed. If I set the shutter speed to 1600 or more, what should I set the f stop?

You probably won't need a shutter speed of 1600. I think maybe you are confusing shutter speed with ISO (film speed)

Do this, get the fastest film you can find, 1600 or 3200. As was metioned before, set the shutter speed for the reciprocal of the lens length. So, if you are using a 180 mm lens, set the shutter to 1/185. If you set the camera to shutter priority, it will select an appropriate F-stop.

In a perfect world, you would set everything manually and use a hand held meter to set things, but I am assuming you don't have a hand held meter. This should get you relatively clear photos, in focus and if you need to, you can set the shutter even a bit faster than the lens length to make sure.

The key here is getting fast film, which you are probably going to have to go to a good film store to buy.

Jeff

 

[stiebs]

f-stop, shutter speed and film speed/CCD sensitivity (ISO) all go hand in hand. As a general rule, if you change one, you need to change one of the others the other way in order to keep the proper exposure. Adjusting each has its good and bad points.

First off, since you'll be shooting film, get yourself some fast film. ISO 800, or 1600 if you can find it.
You also want a fast shutter to stop the action and avoid blur. 1/250 or faster. Problem is, with a faster shutter speed, you need to let more light into the camera, which means a wider aperture (lowest f-stop number). Problem is, with a wider aperture your depth of field decreases, meaning that your focusing has to be more accurate. Second problem, unless you have an expensive lens, most zooms will only hit f4-5.6 or thereabouts on their long end, meaning you may need to slow down your shutter speed.

Hmm.. there's a good reason I try not to teach this stuff.

My recommendation - get the fastest film you can, set the camera to Av (aperture priority) with the widest aperture (lowest f-number) that your lens will allow, and make sure that the selected shutter speed is between 1/250 and 1/2000