Comments on: Taking Basketball photos: A basic guide

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 10 May 2008 10:29:49 +0000

Bob, it’s getting some hits, but I wouldn’t say that it is very popular; however, it’s only been posted for about 3 weeks, so it will take time to find it. My top content, year to date, has been about the book. My SoFoBoMo book post: The book has arrived, has eclipsed all other topics and it was only posted about 2 weeks ago. Interesting.

By: Bob Wong

Bob Wong — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:03:22 +0000

Paul, Has there been significant interest in your basketball guide. My hockey one is still going nuts.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:21:57 +0000

Paul I’ve been looking back at your recent posts. I really miss being able to read them every day but it is always fun to catch up. It’s a weekly treat for me!

You are so informative and have so much great advice to offer and of course your talent for photography and writing is always evident. You would be an amazing teacher I’d bet!

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:09:53 +0000

Mark, that’s a very good question. I think that the answer is an unequivocal yes! Emotions run high during basketball games, on both sides of the ball. If I’m photographing my son’s game, then, if they are doing well, I have lots of shots of them doing well. If they are doing poorly, then I might have lots of bench shots because that’s where those emotions show up. There are lots of emotions on the coaches faces.

The crowd is also a great place to take images. I’ve photographed a game that I didn’t care about either way and it’s a different experience. You don’t get those huge energy shifts. Sometimes, if my son’s team is doing really poorly, it’s hard to keep shooting, honestly.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:49:40 +0000

I have often wondered about how the energy of the teams channels into the types of images a photographer would make at games. Say if your son’s team were doing bad or just in a funk that day – would it impact the types of images you make vs. if they were really on fire that day?

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:37:05 +0000

@Bob: Bob, I’ve shot hockey, basketball, and soccer, as these are the sports that my kids play or played. However, the difference between then and now is my choice of equipment.

When I used to take pictures of my son’s hockey games, I had a choice between a film camera and my Minolta Dimage A1. Well, you know about film cameras and different lighting conditions. As for the A1, it is not a sports camera. It’s frame rate was too slow and forget about the auto focus. Also, since it used an electronic viewfinder, which is totally useless for sports, there were nothing but disadvantages all around. It was worthless for that type of photography. You’ve got to have the right tool for the job.

As for soccer, again, the requirements are the same, as well as the approach, for the most part. Soccer can utilize auto focus better because the distances are greater and you never know where the ball is going to come into the goal or where the action will be. It’s pretty spread out so the act of standing in one place, pre-focusing, and waiting for the action just doesn’t work. But, at least you can stay at one end of the field, near a goal, and take some pictures. The referees, it seems, are a bit more sticky about where you can stand, which seems odd.

By: Bob Wong

Bob Wong — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:15:00 +0000

Paul, I love it, finally some decent info on shooting basketball, and well written to boot. I definitely learned a few things I hadn’t considered before. Now that I’ve learned you have shot hockey. I’d like to hear your take on that too.

Anita, go for it. Maybe we can get something going with a record of experiences from many different action based photo shoots. The net could sure use it.

Regards, Bob

By: earl

earl — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:54:24 +0000

Paul, Nice guide!

I agree with Anita that your suggestions would/could apply to most quick action shooting situations.

Thanks for sharing…

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:20:48 +0000

@Anita: Thanks! Perhaps you should write one about photographing horses. I’d love to read it. I’ve seen very few equestrian events, but I think that I’d like to photograph one. I love to see horses jump.

By: Anita Jesse

Anita Jesse — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:09:21 +0000

Paul, I haven’t shot basketball, but shooting action shots of horses poses these same challenges, so I empathize. Based on my experience, I think your post is an excellent one and covers the information most effectively. I wish I had learned all this before I started shooting. I would have avoided a lot of disappointment. Bravo! Just great!