10 Oct 2009, Posted by Kay in t Veen in Equipment, Techniques, Tips & Tricks, 12 Comments

Basketball photography tips

Since I am shooting a basketball match tonight I think its appropriate to create a post dedicated to Basketball. However its not easy to get court side access but we will focus on this but i will try to give some tips for some other positions as well. Basketball is a great sport with full-time action and photography moments, which makes it easier to get great captures. Although its a indoor sports which makes it hard to shoot.

Basketball Camera bodies.

I advice to shoot with something like a Canon 40D, Canon 50D, Nikon D300 or Nikon D700. But even better of course the Canon 1D mark II, IIn, or III. And for nikon that is the D2x or D3s. The reason i choose these camera because they are pretty good with ISO, and all have a pretty good Burst rate. (which is great for all sports). For indoor sports i focus really on the ISO performance. My personal preference goes out to my Canon 1D Mark III, a great solid body with 10fps and great ISO performance! The best is to carry 2 bodies, but also this applies to almost all sports. I would choose 1 for telephoto and the other for wide angle. This way you can just switch instantly when the action comes up close.

Basketball Camera Settings

Mode
Since you are shooting indoors with consistent lightning i would choose to shoot manual mode. If your venue does not have nice even lightning on the full court choose AV (Aperture Priority).

Shutter
Try to keep you eye on the shutter speed if your not shooting manual. you really need 1/250th and above. But to freeze real action you more need something like around 1/400th.

ISO
To reach these kind of shutter speeds you often will need ISO’s around 1250 or higher. it really depends on the venue and the lightning, for lower classes you will get cheaper venues and no TV lightning which will force you to go for ISO’s like 1600 – 3200.

Aperture
Since the light wont be great everywhere i’m afraid your fixed with 2.8. personally if you can get it take f/4. most of the times your shots are sharper, and when there is a defense action as well this will turn out sharp also.

White balance
This is one of the hardest things i think. Often you get orange kind of shots or maybe even blue. this is all thanks to your AWB (Auto white balance) which can not always get the color temperature right. The one and only way to solve this is working with a Custom White balance and a gray card. Since i’m to lazy to do this i shoot almost always AWB and in RAW mode so i can modify my White balance later in Post Production.

Auto focus
This is a bit of personal preference, i like to assign my AF-ON button for focusing, this makes it easy to track the athletes. For cameras like the 1d mark III i like to keep settings default (AF-speed concerning).

Basketball photography lenses

Telephoto
For shooting photos across the court i like to shoot with a 70-200 f/2.8 IS, lenses like a 300mm could be nice as well, but i think this is a bit to limited. the 70-200 gives your enough flexibility with the greatness of 2.8 and IS. You can get great mid-court action with this.

Close-court
My lens of choice will be something like the 50mm range (1.8, 1.4 or 1.2) this is such a bizarre sharp nice lens. i love it. or if you want more flexibility go for a 24-70 f/2.8 this will get you somewhere from mid-court to basket! even for overviews it will hold great.

Basketball photography technique

Follow the ball
The action is where the ball is. follow the ball and you will get the shots. Also referring to my other post “Analyze before you shoot” checkout what players stand out, or just look great to concentrate on those a bit.

Spectators and coaches
Sport is more then just the athletes, try to watch around and check for aggressive coaches, happy or enthusiastic spectators an great overviews. Also things like cheerleaders and such are great photo material

field location
I think my spots are pretty much the same as field hockey. next to the baskets to see action coming towards me is one of the best spots. second is the sidelines. Be creative and focus on faces. a face-less picture is almost always nothing good.

Seat location
If you are not able to get court side access, try to seat as close as possible. be aware that a 70-200 is minimum here. you really need the 200 to get the shots. but still its good possible.

Look around
Do not focus to hard on you viewfinder, also look around, keep both eyes open while shooting to be able to predict the game a little better. There is more to sports then just action with the ball.