in-Door Sports Photography Advice

fixXxer

Hi all,

Doing a favour for a buddy of mine. There's a trampoline tournament his club is running and he's asked me to take some shots during it for use on the clubs website (forms and consent etc are being handled by the club, I just have to show up and take the pictures). I warned him with free you get what you pay for but I'll give it a shot for the experience

It's in a sports hall, and the lighting should be pretty good. Having never shot sports photos before I've been doing some reading up and I'll be working with something similar to the following:
X-T20 & XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4
ISO Auto up to 1600
Shutter priority ~1000/sec depending on light (freezing motion ideally)

Anyone have any tips or experience to chip in with?

Edit: I have an 8mm fish eye lens I might bring along for fun if I'm getting good conventional shots. Otherwise there's a XF 27mm f/2.8 and a XC 50-230mm but I don't want to complicate things too much.

pullandbang

fixXxer wrote: »

X-T20 & XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4
ISO Auto up to 1600
Shutter priority ~1000/sec depending on light (freezing motion ideally)

That lens might be a bit slow and I suspect you'll need to push the ISO up another notch or two.

fixXxer wrote: »

Anyone have any tips or experience to chip in with?

Edit: I have an 8mm fish eye lens I might bring along for fun if I'm getting good conventional shots. Otherwise there's a XF 27mm f/2.8 and a XC 50-230mm but I don't want to complicate things too much.

The longer zoom would be great for isolating people but again I suspect it may be too slow. The fisheye could be great craic if you can get close to the action.

Adrian.Sadlier

If you are going to be in and around the trampolines (fisheye?) then I would ask if the club will cover you for insurance purposes under their policy.

twowheelsonly

Just had a look at the camera specs there and the reviews on ISO are very good.

To keep the speed up (these halls can be very poorly lit despite looking 'ok' to the naked eye) push the ISO out a lot further, up to 10,000 or so if needs be. Don't be afraid of it. Website photos won't show a lot of noise anyway and even moderate size prints will show very little. Better to get them sharp with a bit of noise than blurry or dark with no noise.

if you're getting away with 4 or 5,000 ISO then start playing with the longer lens as well and push the ISO further. 18-55 is going to be pretty useless for close ups and you don't have a lot of scope for cropping. I'd imagine that you won't be allowed too close to the trampolines if it's an official event.

Where's it on by the way? Someone here might have shot in the venue before and may be able to give more detailed advice.

fixXxer

Well it was interesting! I could get right up to the trampolines, but to the side as judges needed a clear view. Lighting was tricky as it was bright but all from the roof down, so shadows on faces were occasionally an issue. ISO averaged between 1600 and 3200 for most of it, and managed to get some very nice frozen motion shots of the athletes in the air. I tell ya, some of the spins and twists are breath taking in person.

twowheelsonly wrote: »

Where's it on by the way? Someone here might have shot in the venue before and may be able to give more detailed advice.

Supersonic Trampoline Club in Loughlinstown Leisure Center. They do adult classes too I found out and I'm now very tempted :pac:

pullandbang

fixXxer wrote: »

ISO averaged between 1600 and 3200 for most of it

Told ya! What shutter speed did you end up using?

fixXxer

1/1000 for 99% of the shots. Around 16:00 the light started to get too difficult and I had plenty of shots by then.