# need help ASAP..please



## jarhead2042 (Aug 25, 2010)

i have a interview with my local newspaper for doing some freelance photography for them, there wanting me to cover football games and so forth, any pointers at all on what would be the best way to cover the games and what not would be greatly appreciated since i have no experience at all with photographing football


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## jarhead2042 (Aug 25, 2010)

ok scratch that, ijust got another email saying they want it to be high school volleyball..i think the challenge just went from bad to worse lol


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## AdrianC (Aug 25, 2010)

Well, what equipment do you have?


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## jarhead2042 (Aug 25, 2010)

a nikon d3000, which i know will hate the low lighting with a passion, and since its inside i was thinking about using my sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 wide angle lens...only other lens i have is the lens that came with the d3000 and i hardly ever use it


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## Derrel (Aug 25, 2010)

Volleyball can be shot "ambient" on with balcony-mounted flash units triggered with wireless triggers. Volleyball is a speed sport...I have shot it at high school and NCAA levels...the "easy way out" is to stand behind the back line with a 200mm lens and shoot blocks and spikes as the players are within 2 feet of the net. That gives you a pretty easy focusing situation....try and shoot for a fast shutter speed, which will probably mean ISO 1600 or ISO 3200 at f/2.8 at 1/500 or 1/400.

Unless you are really proficient at high-speed focusing, I would not try to shoot volleyball from the side. However, some people, especially in Europe, seem to shoot volleyball from above, from the stands, which gives the photographer a good angle of view and a lot of possible angles and many different picture types, plus since the distance is relatively long, from the stands to the court, the focusing distances are easy to deal with.

***EDIT: Since I posted, you have posted,and I see you have a slowish Sigma zoom...that might be very challenging to shoot volleyball with.


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## jarhead2042 (Aug 25, 2010)

thanks for the input derrel, your depth of knowledge is greatly appreciated:mrgreen:


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## Mustlovedragons (Aug 25, 2010)

I did shots of my daughter's v-ball team last year (not in it this year) and had great luck with ambient light. I just sat in front row (and discovered the need for a spotter since I wasn't looking outside of the viewfinder and got pegged with an errant ball) and "anticipated" by following the trajectory of the ball or when serving just tried to get the pertinent moment. Way cool shots can be had.


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## jarhead2042 (Aug 25, 2010)

i just got done talking to the editor of the paper about this, from what i been told this will be the first year that they are going to allow flash's during the games. im just going to go with the game plan that they wont allow it and hope for the best. the date they have me scheduled to do this is next tuesday so after i get done with it i ll come back here and post the results...might try and find a game before then to get alittle practice before hand


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## pbelarge (Aug 25, 2010)

Would this not be a good time/excuse to go out and get a faster lens?


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## gsgary (Aug 25, 2010)

jarhead2042 said:


> a nikon d3000, which i know will hate the low lighting with a passion, and since its inside i was thinking about using my sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 wide angle lens...only other lens i have is the lens that came with the d3000 and i hardly ever use it



If thats all you have forget it if it is indoors


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## Fate (Aug 25, 2010)

gsgary said:


> jarhead2042 said:
> 
> 
> > a nikon d3000, which i know will hate the low lighting with a passion, and since its inside i was thinking about using my sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 wide angle lens...only other lens i have is the lens that came with the d3000 and i hardly ever use it
> ...



Should be possible to get okay shots in doors with that set up. Just crank up the ISO a fair bit. Youve got to remember, newspaper reproduction quality is usually pretty shoddy, so the grain wont be too much of a problem. 

But yes..totally an excuse to get a faster lens me thinks  80-200 2.8 maybe!

Good luck!


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## gsgary (Aug 25, 2010)

Fate said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > jarhead2042 said:
> ...




I wouldn't want to show at F6.3 at 200mm in some of the gyms in the UK, i'll shoot at F4 but then i'm using studio flash bounced off the ceiling


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## Fate (Aug 25, 2010)

> I wouldn't want to show at F6.3 at 200mm in some of the gyms in the UK, i'll shoot at F4 but then i'm using studio flash bounced off the ceiling



Yeah for sure its not ideal at all. Fingers crossed its a modern, airy gym!


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## jarhead2042 (Sep 3, 2010)

figured i would update you guys since you helped me out, pics turned out somewhat noisy as expected but the paper seemed to like them...liked them enough to give me a job for most high school sports with a possibility of full time reporter/photographer...i was going to upload a couple of the pictures but with the contract i signed with them im not sure if im aloud, from the way it sounds is they buy the rights off of me but my name stays with the pictures


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## ghache (Sep 3, 2010)

time to get a fast 70-200 !


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## jarhead2042 (Sep 3, 2010)

already started shopping for something faster


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## Hooligan Dan (Sep 3, 2010)

Assuming I'm looking at the correct newspaper(Tri-valley vs Maysville?) She shots are pretty good for what you had to work with. My advice would be to get out of the stands text time and get a few more angles. The editors will like having the variety to work with.
*
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## jarhead2042 (Sep 4, 2010)

yes thats the right paper...kinda creepy how u found it lol...with never doing this before i talked to the coach and explained why i was there and asked what i could and couldnt do...and he strongly advised i stay in the stands or atleast a few rows back just so i would be out of there way

here is the link if anyone else is interested in looking at the pictures

Tri-Valley vs. Maysville | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | Zanesville H.S. Sports | Zanesville Times Recorder


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## Hooligan Dan (Sep 4, 2010)

jarhead2042 said:


> yes thats the right paper...kinda creepy how u found it lol...with never doing this before i talked to the coach and explained why i was there and asked what i could and couldnt do...and he strongly advised i stay in the stands or atleast a few rows back just so i would be out of there way



I'm a photojournalist and reporter. I dig things up. It's what I do. 
It was also pretty easy to find haha

Anyway, if the gym is large enough(like a basketball court) there should be plenty of room behind the smaller volleyball court for you to stand back and no be in the way. 

I put some shots up on my blog earlier this if you want to see what I mean. Ambient Focus: Volleyball-The Real Test of a Camera's Might


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## jarhead2042 (Sep 4, 2010)

lol cool man..your pics gave me a few ideas for the next game i attend, i did a high school football game tonight, was alot more exciting than volleyball lol...i ll throw the link up as soon as they have them up..im slowly realizing i need a much faster lens with a tad more reach


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## jarhead2042 (Sep 4, 2010)

here are the ones from last nights game. not sure what they do before they upload them but i dont remember them being as noisy when i uploaded them lol

Philo 7, Crooksville 6 | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | Zanesville H.S. Sports | Zanesville Times Recorder


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