Lens Extender

Thrill of Victory Photography

Remember to capture the celebration.  Just because the action is complete doesn't mean there are no special moments to to record through your photography.  This celebration occurred just after a goal was scored

 

Separate Autofocus from the Shutter Release Button for Sports

 
In my last post, I described the autofocus settings I use for soccer when using my Nikon D700.  One of those settings that I use every time I shoot sports is the "AF-ON Only" setting found in the focus custom setting menu (a5).  This setting removes the autofocus function from the shutter release button.  It requires the use of the AF-ON button highlighted above to activate autofocus.  This allows the sports photographer to make the camera autofocus on fast moving subjects well before the shutter release button is ever depressed.  It eliminates one step of a three step camera process when only using the shutter release button (autofocus, exposure and shutter firing).  I get more in-focus sports photos that are properly exposed when using my thumb on the AF-ON button to autofocus, and my index finger to take the picture. 

Try this technique.  After some practice, you'll get more in-focus shots (with proper exposure) than using the shutter release button alone.

  

Shooting Soccer with The Nikon D700 - Autofocus Settings

   

I finally got a chance to shoot some outdoor soccer with my relatively new D700 this weekend.  All of these photos were shot with the D700 and a 300mm f/2.8 lens attached.  Being a full-frame camera (FX is Nikon's nomenclature for this), I don't get the reach multiplier factor that I'm accustomed to with my D300 camera. For soccer, that lower reach might be the only drawback of this camera.  Autofocus speed and the ability to capture more in-focus shots seems to be much better than the D300. Yep, the D700 is expensive.  But it's also a very good camera for the sports photographer. 

My autofocus settings for these shots were:

• a1 - AF-C priority selection = Release + focus
• a3 - Dynamic AF area = 51 points
• a4 - Focus tracking with lock-on = Short
• a5 - AF activation = AF-ON only

If you have a D700 or a D3 (or even a D300), try these autofocus settings the next time you shoot soccer.

Confusion about Capturing Soccer Under Stadium Lights

There's always confusion about what camera settings and lens requirements are necessary to capture "under-the-lights," nighttime sports action.  Over on Photo.net there's a good discussion about this.  Really the only way to get decent nighttime sports action is to crank up the ISO and use a fast lens (preferably f/2.8 or faster...... ie. f/2.0).

A Question on High ISO Grain (Noise) in Sports Photos

Here's an actual email I received concerning the level of grain in volleyball pictures shot at 6400 ISO.

Email question:

I am fairly pleased with my photos from [the] volleyball tournament.  I am getting good stop action, but why are they so grainy?

I used my big lens (F4.0) and an ISO of 6400.

Any suggestions before we go to the next one?

Email answer:

The reason you have grain (or noise) is because you're shooting at 6400 ISO.  Of course the higher the ISO, the better you're able to stop the action with good shutter speeds (due to better light gathering capability at high ISO).  The downside is that high ISO increases the noise in your photos.  Some cameras have better high ISO noise performance than others.  All cameras introduce noise, however, as the ISO increases.  For me, it's much better to capture a grainy photos than no photo at all.  Here's one of my blog posts about this problem here:

http://www.lensextender.com/2009/11/camera-settings-for-night-sports-photography.html

To help solve this problem for me, I recently purchased a new Nikon body, the D700.  It's got really good high ISO performance (supposedly the Canon 7D is really good as well).  [This] attached volleyball shot was taken at ISO 6400 with my D700 and an f/2.8 lens.

You can also buy noise reduction software that works really well.  Sometimes I use Noise Ninja for this.

 

Sports Photography Tips from a Pro

Here's a good interview of John Todd, a professional sports photographer.  The "one handed grab" technique is especially intriguing to me

Capture a Few "Behind the Net" Shots

This shot was taken from behind the net at a terribly lit indoor soccer facility.  I was able to stand very close to the net (which is something normally not allowed).  Standing close to the net allowed me to almost completely blur the net in this image.  Capturing this direct perspective was very appealing to me as a soccer photographer.  The lack of light in this facility, however, was very problematic.

This shot was taken at ISO 6400 with a Nikon D700 and 70-200 f/2.8 lens.  The shutter speed and aperture were manually set at 1/400s and f/2.8 respectively