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Basketball Photography Essentials
Published last year, mid-February under Photography, School
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Courtside access to one of the most celebrated (and despised) teams in NCAA basketball is hard to come by for most amateur photographers. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have four years of access through Duke’s student newspaper, The Chronicle.
Shooting Duke basketball is pretty special. The roar of the Crazies, sitting inches away from the court, shooting next to pros from Sports Illustrated and ESPN—it’s a one-of-a-kind experience. Even more remarkable—I was granted access to all this my freshman year, with no sports photography experience whatsoever.
Needless to say, I’ve had to learn quite a bit. What follows is a collection of all the basketball photography tips I’ve picked up over my four years.
The Cameras
Bring two
Two cameras are an absolute must for a basketball game if you intend to cover both offense and defense. You’ll need to quickly switch between covering action on the far side of the court with a telephoto lens and catching the breakaway dunk with a wide-angle. Some photographers bring three cameras, mounting the third for control via RF remote, but it can be difficult to remain focused while juggling three cameras—keep it simple.
Canon vs. Nikon
I’ve shot with both a Nikon D2H and a Canon 1D Mark II. I favor the Canon slightly, but this is largely a matter of personal preference. I find the 1D’s auto white balance superior and I’m in love with Canon’s L Series lenses. Yet Nikon holds a sweet spot in my heart for their 28-70 f/2.8 lens, which is ideal for shooting close action.
Which body?
Sports photography requires a body with a fast shooting speed, so pro-sumer bodies like the Nikon D80 and Canon 5D won’t cut it. On the Canon side you’ll need the 1D Mk II or III, for Nikon you’ll want the D3H.
The Lenses
Cross-court
In selecting a lens to shoot the far side of the court, you’ll need to make a choice between flexibility with a 70-200mm f/2.8 and a tight shot with a 300mm f/2.8 prime. The 70-200 allows you to easily cover any mid-court action including last minute prayers, but you won’t be getting any tight shots when the action moves to the basket—you’ll have to depend on cropping. The 300mm is a tougher lens to use effectively, but can produce fantastic shots of action on the opposite basket.
Close-court
My weapon of choice here is the 28-70mm f/2.8 lens. Once the action crosses mid-court 70mm is enough to get a fairly tight shot, and you’ve got the flexibility to capture rebounds and dunks with a wide angle. You can also try shooting with a 50mm, or in a pinch, a 70-200mm if you’re seated in the far-most corner.
Camera Settings
Mode
I recommend shooting exclusively in manual, although un-even lighting may sometimes drive you to shoot in aperture-priority mode. Lighting is rarely ideal—it’s often dim and can be inconsistent across the court. In general, you’ll want to keep the aperture low—2.8 for cross-court telephoto shots, and between 2.8 and 4.0 for close-court shots. You also need to keep a fast shutter speed to freeze the action—at least 1/200, preferably 1/300 or faster.
ISO
Because of the need to keep shutter speed high, you’ll usually have to compensate with a high ISO. This really depends on the specific lighting conditions of the court, but for Cameron I often find myself shooting with ISO 1250. It’s much better to have slightly grainy photos due to high ISO than blurry photos due to low shutter speed.
White balance
White balance can be very tricky. The light temperature of different arenas varies greatly—Cameron Indoor Stadium has very warm yellow light, while the Dean Dome’s lighting is cooler. First, take a test shot using auto white balance. If it looks acceptable on your preview screen, keep it on auto. Otherwise, take a photo of a white surface or a light and use the custom white balance mode, usually found buried in the camera’s menu. You can select an image the camera will use to determine what’s white, and automatically adjust for even the worst lighting temperature.
Auto-focus
As with all sports, you’ll depend heavily on auto-focus to quickly re-focus your shots. I prefer keeping AF tied to the shutter button rather than assigning a separate button for autofocus. Also, make sure you set AF to continuous servo. This will automatically re-focus the image while you’re shooting a sequence, so your subject doesn’t move out of focus.
Strategy
Follow the ball
Pretty obvious advice, but it’s easy to lose sight of the ball when you’re shooting cross-court. Don’t try to ‘lead’ the ball too much by predicting where it’ll be passed next—if you guess wrong you’ll lose the ball.
Watch outside the viewfinder
Especially when shooting the far court with a big telephoto, you can get a better perspective of what’s going on by occasionally looking with your own eyes rather than through the lens. This is especially important for catching fast breaks—you need to see the bigger picture or else you won’t be able to switch cameras fast enough.
Seating
Seating is almost always assigned. However, sometimes you can get away with moving out of your assigned spot, especially during smaller games. In general, the closer to the basket the better—you can get more dynamic angles and are less likely to find players with their backs to you.
Media passes
Don’t forget the media pass. And be extremely careful with yours—they can be very valuable and are prime targets for theft.
So there you have it. Got any of your own basketball photography tips to share?
And what do you have to say for yourself?
wow.. cool shots.
damn, if only i have those kind of camera.
Money problem. hehe :D
Did you have to spend your own money on the camera and lenses? Or were they provided by the school Newspaper?!
Definitely some great shots there and you are one lucky guy to be able to sit on the baseline next to all the excitement that is Duke basketball.
I passed this on to a friend of mine who shoots the Daily Illini at the U of I. She had the following to say about her seating experiences.
“Every game i’ve been to at home and on the road has an ‘area’ under the baskets assigned to photogs. You have to cement yourself in a spot and refuse to move. I got in a sass fight with a TV guy last night who tried to take my spot. Don’t mess with Roxy.”
All the equipment is owned by The Chronicle. It’s pretty rare to have such a well-funded paper within a small/mid-size student body like Duke’s. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a chance of getting my hands on equipment like this.
The camera bodies can cost as much as $8k new, which is a bit insane. But you can definitely get a decent used body for under $1k, maybe even under $800 if you’re thrifty. Try shopping around for used D2H’s—you can find them as low as $350 on eBay, and they definitely do the job.
Not to quibble, but I it’s outdated to say a Canon 1D or Nikon D2/3 series camera is required for shooting bursts in continuous/drive shooting modes. My Canon 40D happily chatters off at 6.5fps, as will a Nikon D300 (at $1150 and $1800, respectively). Even better is the AF performance compared to their pro-sumer predecessors.
If I was making a recommendation, it would be to get the best glass (with a fast aperture, as indoor gym light generally fails to impress) you can afford and steer toward the midrange bodies. Unless of course somebody is bankrolling a new 1DmkIII or D3 for you.
Dim? Inconsistent lighting? In a stadium? Ha. Man, you don’t know what dim and inconsistent is until you’ve shot in a dark nightclub. I would kill for conditions as ideal as sports arenas. I mean, they are lit for video!
Beautiful shots! I’ve been shooting for a DIII school for a couple years, and basketball has been a tricky one for me (thought volleyball is still the toughest). My typical setup includes a 30D/70-200 2.8 and 20D/17-55 2.8.
I get to move all around the court, which is nice, but the problem with our arena, even though its brand new, is that its small size causes the main lights to light up the white walls. In your photos above, you have those great black backgrounds that put the focus on the subjects and make the space feel so big and epic. Smaller venues cast light on the walls and fans, and the players get lost in the visual noise. I’d kill to shoot in a huge arena just once.
I’ve been wanting to get some AlienBees in there – if I can get more light on the players, maybe I can darken the backgrounds….
Mark III :)
Actually might not be the best, just cause of all that af controversy.
Have you ever tried the Canon 24-70 L? I love it, I’m not sure how it’d compare to the 28-70 but being wider is always a good thing (at least if you’re a lens).
Hey great advice. Actually though Im soon upgrading to a D200. I use a D80 and a D70. D70 with my 180mm f/2.8 and my D80 with my 18-70 f /3.5 or 28mm 2.8. I shoot high school sports for our school so can’t really go with the higher mid range bodies but they do the job perefectly!
wow!! Excellent your photography and very very much skill your compositon. im not photogrpher. im an artist [painter] & as a web designer. but i feel what is nice. so i commented your site. again wow!! its cool.
If only I could find a Univerisity that would give freelance photographers a chance to shoot a game. I know space in hoops is limited but experience is hard to come by if nobody gives a learning photographer a chance!!!
nice photos and article. love it. you are fortunate to be shooting alongside with big time sports photographers…you’ll be one someday soon.
shooting NCAA basketball games and NBA games in the US is one of my dreams…i started shooting basketball games September this year for the only pro-basketball team in Singapore, the Singapore Slingers. they used to play in the australian NBL, but decided to pull out this year for some valid reasons.
my set-up: EOS 50D w/ 50mm f/1.4 USM lens, and a 40D with 70-200 f/2.8 lens…somehow, i am able to get decent photos, but would really love it if i can get a 1D MkIII camera.
mind if i share my humble flickr gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49102300@N00/
thanks and regards
For white balance, you may consider checking out the expodisc…it’s quick and easy to use and can expedite your post processing…
well im a highschool student, so obviously i have no money.. but im shooting bball with a d40 with a 70-300 vr.. its a pretty slow lens .. and also a canon 20d with a 220speedlite and the 17-85.. i mean their both slow, but good learning experience for sure one day when i get money to buy fast lenses, and nice bodies… anyways thanks for the tips
cool pics
and sup
Awesome shots!!
Excellent advice Rob and really nice and easy to read, straight to the point. I am an ex spanish amateur basketball player and now amateur photographer and can’t wait to try your tips with my Brother’s basketball team. It is a pity how many moments, plays and dunks I’ve lost without being able to catch them in a good photo. Thanks a lot.