Indoor Sports

[Jeff_J]

I need some professional help. I know what I am doing is surely not new to those that have been doing this for years, but I am new and lost.

I have 100’s of the pictures below. They are dim and not real good. I am shooting my sons games and the gyms are all different. So I try to accommodate them. I try to not shoot with my onboard flash (kind of a pet peeve of mine). I am using my 18mm-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens that came with the camera.

The question that I have, is there something that I can do to keep them from being dark? Is it just the best that this lens can do? Should I consider using the onboard flash? Are there more settings on the camera that I need to try? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Mfrankfort]

If your shooting action, like movement with that lens, your going to need to crank the ISO up pretty high. Your going to want to stick with probably around 1/200 and the widest aperture that it'll allow. What iso are you using in that picture? Prob going to need 600ish.

 

[Mike D90]

You need a faster lens to let in more light, or you will need to adjust ISO to as high as your camera will shoot. If you don't you will not be able to keep a fast shutter speed to eliminate blur and your aperture will always be wide open. Wide open is not always the best way to shoot a lens.

So try setting to Auto ISO and allow it to go to its max, set it to keep shutter speed at 1/200 or 1/250 sec as a minimum, try aperture/f stop of f/6.7 or f/8.

 

[nickt]

What are your settings? ISO, shutter speed, aperture? What shooting mode? I used to get decent no flash school gym shots with my old d70, you should be able to do better with the d5100. For shots like this I like auto iso along with shutter priority and shutter speed set at a safe speed for hand holding the lens used.

The basic thing here is that you of course need a reasonable shutter speed to prevent shake. It looks like you were successful there. For the distances involved depth of field should be fine with the lens wide open. So if you are shooting 1/60 second and the lens is at f5.6, the iso needs to come up to whatever is necessary to get a good exposure. With this shot, your meter most likely DID NOT indicate a good exposure and was probably flashing at you. Once you get the exposure right, you will most likely need a faster shutter speed to stop the action. I think auto iso is the way to go here. Still shots you can get away with 1/60, but with action, you will need higher.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

We need the EXIF data. If you will resize this shot to 1000px on the long side we should be able to read it here.

 

[Mike D90]

Since he allows image editing I took the liberty of doing some Light Room edits and got this.

I could not get any EXIF data from the photo.


Edited with LightRoom

 

[wev]

He could just install FastStone, if cost is an issue. I just hit auto color and got pretty much the same results in about 2 seconds. A little additional fiddling would further rescue what he has taken. That said, he does need to get a handle on his camera settings, which we will all help with, for the future.

 

[Jeff_J]

I can get the info later. I am formatting my laptop. I thought that it would come through.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

EXIF is stripped by the forum if you upload anything over 1000px. The forum automatically downsizes all photos to 1024 anyway so you are better off controlling the size rather than letting the forum do it.

Just remember 1000px on the long side.

 

[Jeff_J]

OK, here is the data.
Focal Length-55mm
F5.6
Shutter- 1/320
ISO-1000
Exposure Compensation -4stops (this is not something that I normally do, but was trying)
Manual Mode

As for software, I have been using Picasa and the Nikon software. I was wanting to move to LR & PS, but have settled on PSE. That seems to do a decent job and I do not have to upgrade my computer right now.

I will try yo get the picture re-sized and upload, so that you can see the data.

Thanks for all the advice, I will definitely try the Auto ISO and go with Shutter Priority. I am of the thought, that I should be trying to get it right in camera and not have to use the software that much. Thanks again for the help. Keep the ideas coming.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

OK, here is the data.
Focal Length-55mm
F5.6
Shutter- 1/320
ISO-1000
Exposure Compensation -4stops (this is not something that I normally do, but was trying)
Manual Mode

As for software, I have been using Picasa and the Nikon software. I was wanting to move to LR & PS, but have settled on PSE. That seems to do a decent job and I do not have to upgrade my computer right now.

I will try yo get the picture re-sized and upload, so that you can see the data.

Thanks for all the advice, I will definitely try the Auto ISO and go with Shutter Priority. I am of the thought, that I should be trying to get it right in camera and not have to use the software that much. Thanks again for the help. Keep the ideas coming.

It is always good to get it as close as you can in the camera and then just tweak it in post processing.

The Exposure Compensation -4stops is the problem. You under exposed it. No exposure compensation would have been much better.

 

[Jeff_J]

Ohh, so I went the wrong way with it? I was trying to lighten it.

 

[nickt]

-4 exposure compensation- NO!
Why shoot manual? Unless it was just an experiment? Your camera has a great meter system, no particular need for manual here. Its just something else to worry about when trying to get the shots. I'll stick with my recommendation of auto iso and shutter priority. I would stay away from manual mode until you are 100% comfortable with exposure basics AND the situation presents a good reason to shoot manual.
For the most part, use matrix metering. It works well. If you find the players are coming out a little dark relative to bright properly exposed walls/floors, try center weighted or spot metering OR +1 exposure compensation.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Ohh, so I went the wrong way with it? I was trying to lighten it.

Don't think darken / lighten. Think about giving it more light or less light.

If it is dark then give it more light. +

If it is lite then give it less light -

I saw that you were shooting in Manual. For these type situations shoot Aperture priority and set the ISO on auto. That camera is designed to give you great results in the automatic modes.

 

[Jeff_J]

Thanks a lot guys. I guess I was trying to shoot manual to avoid the "beginner auto syndrome". Looks like I over thought it. Got a tournament this weekend to try these with. This site is great. I love the advice.

 

[nickt]

I don't want to confuse you. I recommended shutter priority and I see Don recommended aperture priority. Either will work as long as you understand how it behaves. I mostly shoot aperture priority myself, but I like to shoot shutter priority for shots like this. Light is low and you are most likely shooting with your lens wide open anyway. You pick a safe shutter speed and you don't have to worry, iso will go as high as it needs to. If you shoot aperture priority be sure to program in a safe minimum shutter speed in your auto iso settings.

 

[nickt]

Thanks a lot guys. I guess I was trying to shoot manual to avoid the "beginner auto syndrome". Looks like I over thought it. Got a tournament this weekend to try these with. This site is great. I love the advice.

I never liked that advice for beginners to shoot manual. If you have a book in hand and you are learning, fine. Its good to experiment and learn the basics. Here's a nice video with some exposure basics:
Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, & Light Explained-Understanding Exposure & Camera Settings - YouTube

 

[fotojack]

I always recommend shooting in Shutter priority for anything that moves. Use a shutter speed that is equal to or greater than the focal length of the lens you're using.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

I don't want to confuse you. I recommended shutter priority and I see Don recommended aperture priority. Either will work as long as you understand how it behaves. I mostly shoot aperture priority myself, but I like to shoot shutter priority for shots like this. Light is low and you are most likely shooting with your lens wide open anyway. You pick a safe shutter speed and you don't have to worry, iso will go as high as it needs to. If you shoot aperture priority be sure to program in a safe minimum shutter speed in your auto iso settings.

Actually I meant shutter priority. Stop action...

 

[Jeff_J]

Is there a post that explains how to post photos? I have it re-sized. The last time I used Photobucket, but want to make sure that I do this right.