Need help with Basketball poses

[neelmcc]

For the last 3 years I have been the official unpaid team photographer for my Grandson's Basketball team and I am running out of ideas for individual poses. These are young boys and girls in the 10-11 year old age bracket so they are not old enough yet to be able to palm a ball. And of course they love their pictures when finished but don't want to take the time to slow down to have them taken.

I would appreciate any suggestions or even examples of what you have tried before, Thanks in advance.

Neel

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

For the last 3 years I have been the official unpaid team photographer for my Grandson's Basketball team and I am running out of ideas for individual poses. These are young boys and girls in the 10-11 year old age bracket so they are not old enough yet to be able to palm a ball. And of course they love their pictures when finished but don't want to take the time to slow down to have them taken.

I would appreciate any suggestions or even examples of what you have tried before, Thanks in advance.

Neel
Hi Neel,

I do not know if you have a DSLR camera or not, but if I were faced with your problem I would set the camera on "burst" mode and take action shots. Stand under the basket and have the young players dribble in and take a layup. It does not matter if they score or not. From where you are standing you could not record that anyway. Then take the best image in the sequence for your final picture. My guess it would be the release point of the ball heading for the hoop.

A few technical points here. First, take the camera off auto anything. You want manual everything! Manually focus from where you think the shot will be taken. Take a light reading and set the camera to that spot. Set the shutter speed to about 1/250 of a second. Make sure that the flash is forced "off."

Two, set the ISO to a high setting. Don't worry about digital noise. Sports action is always "grainy." Three, set the camera to take a sequence of shots. Four, buy a couple of sets of batteries and make sure they are all fully charged. This activity will drain them fast. Five, make sure you flash memory is quite large or you carry extra memory cards.

Let us know how this works for you. Post some pictures.

Good Luck,

Bob

[neelmcc]

Bob,

Like your suggestion and will give it a try next week. Since the Coach is my SIL I spoke with him about your idea and he though it sounded alright. I have several opportunities to try for an optiimum setup before the season ends. Posing for photos is not the coolest thing in a ten year olds mind.

Thanks again for a new approach.

Neel

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Neel,

I hope you don't mind a reply in open forum. There are people worldwide who might benefit from this exchange.

Quote:
Originally Posted by neelmcc
Bob, thanks for your help in giving me some ideas for my Grandson's BB team shots. I used most of your advice and came out with some pictures that the kids and parents seem to like. What's not to like they are free. After looking at the shots I thought I might use it made more sense to use sequential shots of the kids approaching the basket. A single shot didn't seem to tell the story.

I am attaching one shot of Jacob who is one of my Grandson's team members. Thanks for your help and advice.
Neel
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Jacobprint.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v63/inmark/Misc%20submissions/?action=view&current=DSC00158-159-160Jacobprint.jpg)

Hi Neel,

I love the shots. The one in the middle is particularly interesting. By all means, take lots of pictures in burst mode. Learn how to use PSE to make a composite print with four or five pictures on one letter sized piece of paper. Post your results in the general forum.

Cheers,

Bob