21 Nov 2009, Posted by Kay in t Veen in Techniques, Tips & Tricks, 0 Comments

Volleyball photography tips

In this tutorial we will try to explain in detail some tips and tricks about volleyball photography. Submitted by our guest writer Sean Hagins who submitted hundreds of great volleyball photographs to our flickr group.

First, it is important to make sure that your colour balance (or white balance) is accurate. If not, the shots will look too yellow, or otherwise off-colour like picture 1. An aid in this is either using a grey card and setting the camera’s white balance to custom, or if your camera has it, shooting in Kelvin temp.

After that, lighting is important. I’ve seen (and taken), many a good action shot that was spoiled by it being too dark. Like picture 2. Dark shots have much digital noise, and the lack of detail makes it impossible to call a shot a good one.

A good way to be properly lit is to use a “fast” lens. Most gyms prohibit flash use, and so having the aperture open wide (say f/3.2 or higher) is a necessity. Also in this vain is ISO. While a higher ISO causes more noise, that is far preferable to shooting at a slow speed where the action is too blurred. This picture 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3979435102/ in my opinion borderlines too slow. I’d say 1/320sec is the absolute slowest to shoot.

As for catching the right moment, and focusing, those come with practice. The action is so fast that both objectives are difficult. Both are needed though. Here is a shot perfectly timed, but poorly focused: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3441421536/ . Here the focus is better (somewhat), but the timing is off: www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3362899917/ (if I waited a sec, the ball would be in frame)

But once these things are mastered, your shots will fall into place! Just find the desired angle and dynamic quality that defines your style. Here are some that I find especially acceptable:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3914990276/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/2943133555/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3294454151/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3930683103/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/3308496211/

Post by: Sean Hagins