D3000 - Advice on Shooting Football Photos

kokomo

Senior Member
I'm going to be shooting photos during my son's games I'm using a 18-55mm lens. I'll be shooting from the bleachers. I don't usually have much success with action shots. They're either too blurry or too grainy. What settings would you suggest? I know I need to get a single pole tripod to reduce camera shake.

Thanks
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Are you shooting at night using stadium lights? Or will you be shooting in daylight? It makes a big difference with the f/3.5 lens you have. Aside from that, shooting from the bleachers with 18-55mm is not going to give you very good close up action shots of your son. It will be more like shots of a bunch of small kids running around out on a football field. At all of these kids football games that I've shot over the years no one has ever told me not to get on the side lines to get some shots. The sidelines is where you will capture the best of the action. Even then a 18-55mm is not going to get you in very close. You will have to have patience and wait for the action to come to you before shooting. Best place to be is down field in the direction to offense is running to. Then the action is moving toward you.

Shots that are too grainy is probable due to the ISO being to high or trying to enlarge small pictures too large. I would not use an ISO or more than 400. Less would be better. Some cameras can handle a higher ISO without a lot of grain but I don't think the D3000 can. For day light shots an ISO of 200 would be better.

A blurry shot is either out of focus or as you indicate camera shake. To eliminate focus blur press the shutter half way down and let the camera focus before pressing all the way down. If your camera has it, use the dynamic focusing setting. Put the focusing point on the moving subject and press the shutter button half way down. Let the camera focus and then shot. In dynamic focusing the camera should hold the focus long enough for you to get the shot. The other aspect of blurry shots is camera shake. That is solely due to slow shutter speed for the focal length of the lens. For these action shots keep the shutter speed at least 1/125. Even then you may still get some action blurring. A speed of 1/250 is better and 1/500 is even better.

For daylight shooting I would start with shutter priority and the speed set at 1/250 and let the camera determine the best f/stop. With that I would set the ISO at 200. It's a starting point. Before the game take some shots of the players warming up and see how the settings work out.

I have used monopods at football games before. I found they were more trouble than they were worth. The only thing a monopod does is eliminate camera shake. If you keep the shutter speed at or above 1/125 camera shake should not be a problem.
 

kokomo

Senior Member
I am shooting daytime, so I'll try shutter priority speed @1/250; Iso @200. I don't have a monopod at this time, so that's not an option. I think my camera does have dynamic focusings. I'll give that a try. We'll see how close I get to the sideline. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the prompt & detailed response.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
You shouldn't have a problem with getting to the sidelines. I have shot Bantam, Junior, Middle School, and High School all from the sidelines. It was only when I shot collage and professional that I had to get a photographers sideline pass. These recommended settings are only a starting point. Different times of the day, sunny, overcast, etc. will require different settings.
 

kokomo

Senior Member
Here is a photo I took. Sorry for the delayed post. I was able to get an action shot without the usual blurring that I get. This photo was taken as the player in blue made the tackle. Not a picture of my son, but I'm just trying to learn to get decent action shots. I was not on the sidelines. I know it's still not very sharp. When I get a chance to look at all my photos, I might be able to find a better example. Not professional quality, but good enough, I think, for my son's & his friends to enjoy on Facebook. My computer has been down since the original post & I'm borrowing someone elses so I don't have access to all my files. I will be shooting again today. I'm trying to learn photography, the camera, & the game all at once. Good advice. I will continue to try to get closer & get better pictures. Thanks.
 

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Joseph Bautsch

New member
What is your focusing mode? It looks like the camera focused on the numbers 34 on the back of the player standing up. That left the players that should have been in focus out of focus. The focusing mode should be: AF-C Continuous-servo AF. In that mode the auto focus will follow the players down the field and will hold them in focus. You should also have the Area focus set on: menu a1: AF-area Mode, set to Dynamic area. In this mode with the focus spot on the action that's what will be in focus and not the 34 player as happened above.

Oops! Sorry I gave you instructions for the D90 which may not be the same on the D3000. Check your menus you should have a continuous focus mode and a area spot focus setting. These will do the same thing as the ones I described for the D90.
 
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Joseph Bautsch

New member
OK, I just downloaded the D3000 users manual from Nikon. You have the AF-C Continuous-servo AF and the AF-area Mode, Dynamic area available. Use those settings for your next football shoot.
 

kokomo

Senior Member
These were my settings:


F stop F/10
Exposure Time 1/250 sec
ISO speed ISO 200
Exposure Bias 0 step
Focal Length 55 mm
Max Aperature 5
metering mode pattern
No Flash
35mm Focal Length 82
White Balance Auto
Exposure Shutter Priority

You were right, the focus was on #34. I still have problems choosing the focus mode. I tried to get it set before the game. When selecting the focusing mode, should I be in "Guide?" You're comments are very helpful. I'm happy to take tough criticism with suggestions on what I can do to improve.

Thanks
 

goz63

Senior Member
I agree with the above and will add my $0.2, Making sure your shutter speed is at least f125 will help keep the players in focus. I was having trouble initially when panning horses that were running and found this shutter speed to be fine. Those kids will not be running faster than the horses. I would also try 3D matrix metering if the D3k has that. I too shoot a D90 and that is used for action shots.
If you start to shoot under stadium lights you will have some trouble with the lens/camera combo. The D3K does not have the best high ISO rating and the lens only goes to 3.5 on the wide end. Without dropping a ton of cash, you can get a telezoom that will allow you get closer eliminating the need to "blow up" the picture which will increase the noise or graininess of the picture.
I have a monopod and I like it for shooting sports as it not only helps keep the camera steady but it keeps it level. It makes the composition easier for me. JMHO
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
I don't have the D3000 manual on my computer anymore so I don't know what "Guide" means. With any digital camera there is always a learning curve. It just takes practice to learn how to make changes in settings to accommodate different shooting conditions. The subject you chose to learn on, sports action, is not an easy shooting technique to begin with. Add to that you are learning to use the Nikon auto focus system and it's even more difficult. For the shot posted above you have all the right exposure settings. Once you learn to use the Nikon AF system it will be your best photo friend rather than your enemy. In sports action shooting the camera must focus right on the action you want to capture. Unfortunately and especially in football there is a lot of action going on around what you want to focus on. The point of focus in action shooting changes faster than you change it by pressing the shutter release button half way down to focus and then have to do it again to refocus. That's why you have to use the Auto Focus Continuous Mode (AF-C). In that mode with the shutter release pressed half way down the camera will continuously refocus as the action moves. Now the problem is to have the camera focus exactly on the action you are trying to capture. That's where you use the Dynamic area, AF-area Mode. The camera will then focus in a small area enclosed by the brackets in the view finder. But in the Dynamic area Mode the camera will hold the focus point even if the action is moving in and out of the focus zone. There is also a setting in the menus for Normal and Wide focusing zones. I would use the normal focus zone. Hope this helps.
 

kokomo

Senior Member
I was shooting at F200. The D3000 does have matrix metering. I'll investigate that. You're also right about shooting under stadium lights. They're either too dark or grainy or both. I'll check into getting a telelphoto lens. I appreciate the comments that help me to fully use the capabilities of the camera I have without adding more expenxe. I do realize that there comes a point when more or better equipment is going to be the only answer.
 
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