Settings for taking pictures at a rugby match

EJBrookes

New member
Hey guys,

Ok, so I'm going to watch my husband play rugby today - as I've just started a photography course, I want to practice in manual shooting mode - What settings should I use to get the best action shots?

I could just put it in sports mode but that's cheating!

Many thanks
 

Deleted

Senior Member
Hi

You don't mention your camera model or which lenses you have. For sports, I would use shutter priority & a long lens - I'm not sure I would have time to mess with manual? Set as fast a shutter speed as you can manage.
 

Lawrence

Senior Member
I would still shoot manual but once you find a suitable shutter speed play with the aperture. A nice frozen action shot that sticks out from the background is always pleasing to the eye. To make things a little less stressful in terms of settings try using Auto ISO. You may get some noise but hey you're on a learning curve right?
 

J-see

Senior Member
Simply put it in S. Sports = shutter speed. You can still manually adjust the ISO and up or lower the shutter according the aperture you require or desire. Controlling two sides of a triangle equals controlling all three so it makes little difference.
 
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
There are no "best settings" because there's no such thing as the "best shots" for a rugby match. You have to decide what you want and then use the available tools to get it. Razor sharp, perfectly frozen action shots are fine but gawd they get boring fast. Less "craft" more "art"! Try putting a little motion blur in some of your shots, or do some really tight shots with a shallow DoF (with or without motion blur). Do some really slow shutter speed shots and pan the action.

....
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
I shoot manual (carryover from my ancient days) and when I photograph my grandsons outdoor games, I set up at 1/1250, ISO 100 and aperture wide open (or stopped down slightly). Good luck and have fun.
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
When shooting football, soccer, and rugby I start with 1/500th on shutter priority. Auto iso (tweaked with exposure compensation) and I let my aperture go where it will. 1/500th will freeze the action except for the fastest of movement which gives that sense of motion. Reason for auto iso the changing of your zoom will allow more or less light less light in and you don't want to manually be tweaking it as you are on the fly.

Looking forward to seeing your results.
 

Smoke

Senior Member
There are no "best settings" because there's no such thing as the "best shots" for a rugby match. You have to decide what you want and then use the available tools to get it. Razor sharp, perfectly frozen action shots are fine but gawd they get boring fast. Less "craft" more "art"! Try putting a little motion blur in some of your shots, or do some really tight shots with a shallow DoF (with or without motion blur). Do some really slow shutter speed shots and pan the action.

....
Since I am just learning, I always thought motion blur was a No No....I have tons of volleyball pics of my daughter's team that I think are crap because their faces are in focus but their arms/legs are blurry. Am I wrong? Notice in this pic, ball and arm are blurry.
DSC_1354.jpg
 

J-see

Senior Member
Since I am just learning, I always thought motion blur was a No No....I have tons of volleyball pics of my daughter's team that I think are crap because their faces are in focus but their arms/legs are blurry. Am I wrong? Notice in this pic, ball and arm are blurry.
View attachment 120325

That's because the face moves less or slower compared to the arms, legs and ball. The shot is at 1/125s which is a bit at the low side to freeze the movement of everything.

The faster any specific movement is compared to your shutter, the more it'll blur. To freeze all, you need a shutter fast enough for the fastest moving part in a shot.
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
I go for the freeze, the motion blur can work in different scenarios, but it's not something I shoot for.

shutter speed should be at least 2x focal length, I shoot wide open at 2.8 for the most part and an appropriate ISO to achieve the mentioned shutter speed.

with sports you want to frame the shot where the ball is in every shot, helps tell the viewer what's going on. My exception is when shooting the linemen in American football, which is what my son plays so I have to get some action shots of the linemen.

it will be trial and error and the main thing is watch your backgrounds, in focus backgrounds take away from the story.

For my night time high ISO shots I will bring the shutter down to a minimum of 400. During the day it's 1k plus depending on the sunlight. I really prefer to shoot at 2.8 for light gathering and background compression, which is referred to blowing out the background.

so without knowing what is in your equipment bag, it's hard to provide exactly what you should do.

i also shoot full manual with RAW format, it gives me more to tweak the shots if I need to. So I shoot auto white balance and adjust it in Lightroom.

i can go on and on, so ask away or post up some examples and we can tell you more about what to do.


if you want to see some of my examples then feel free to take a peek at my website in my signature. All of the football pictures are open to the public, but the baseball is locked down for privacy reasons.
 

carguy

Senior Member
Indoor or outdoor?

Great input so far. I'd research soccer photography online, might find quite a few more resources and the settings should be similar.
 

JackStalk

Senior Member
In general, when I shoot sports games outside during the day I'm between ISO 100-400, 1/500th-1/2000th, and F 2.8-F4. The settings vary based on clouds and the position of the sun, but I never go slower than 1/500th and smaller than f4 personally. Your results may vary if you have a smaller or varied aperture lens.

JSK-6316.jpg
 
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