Help Photographing Volleyball

[nickbrown_500]

Hi All,

Just wondering whether people can give me some pointers for shooting volleyball which will be indoor.

I know sports hall lighting is not always the best, how is best to counteract this as I will probably need to use a fast shutter speed to catch the action.

Just wondering whether anyone has any good tips, or basic set up of the camera like approx shutter speed etc.

 

[RichardTaylor]

I havn't shot it howver there is a guy on flickr who shoots a lot orf it.
Here is one of his many sets. (exif data is shown)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sjhfoto/sets/72157651667786245/

If I were to shoot it I would use a fast lens (at least f2.8) that also focus fast.
Basic camera setings would be;
#1 Shoot Raw (will give you more control over white balance when post processing)
#2 Centre focus point only active
#3 Focus tracking will be on
#4 Camera in burst mode.
#5 Fairly high ISO, say 3200
#6 Aperture priority and shoot fairly wide open. If the lighting is consistant you may be able to shoot in full manual mode.
#7 Take watever shutter speed you can get. Hopefully it will 1/400 or faster. If it is slower open your lens up even more and/or increasing the ISO
If you have more light than what you need consider reducing the aperture or ISO.
Know how to read a histogram as it may help in getting the correct exposure.

 

[nickbrown_500]

Thanks for the information, some helpful points there.

Will also take alook through his flickr album should give some idea what he shoots at.

I mainly shoot in RAW now so should help in post processing, its one of the problems I've had before getting the white balance/colour correctness. The light can make everything yellowy.

 

[Digisatman]

Sports is normal in Jpg anything else is Raw & setup BBF, I have two slots so can shoot both

Each to his own but I normally shoot in shutter priority @1/1000 (rugby) you need to keep
Your speed as high as you can to freeze the action

 

[GooGaBu]

My two pence worth of advice - haven't covered volleyball here in the UK.
But done plenty of European competitions (Champions League, CEV League, EuroVolley.. and so on).

For sports, guess most advice would be to shoot JPEG. But if you are not in a hurry to get your images online, have plenty of memory cards.. feel free to shoot RAW (there isn't a law forbidding it ;-) ).

Indoor sport, if you are comfortable (and lighting is even) - go for Manual mode of shooting.
Shutter speed I personally like to keep at 1/1000 or faster.
Aperture from f2.8 - f4.5
ISO - what is needed to achieve the above mentioned settings.

Depending on venue/event - then it comes to the choosing the locations where you want/can shoot from.
There are few 'standard' places (like with any sport).

- Close to the net, on the sidelines (opposite side from the umpires chair).
From here you get nice pictures of the pass to the wing for the spike.
Also nice pictures of receiver lifting the ball while diving (timing!!)

- Behind the baseline (and advertising boards) on ground level.
From here you get nice shots under the net of the receiving team, and also the attacking motions and spikes.
Have your focus point set manually for this one, and have it at the upper edge. As you want your focus to be on the player who rises above the net to hit the ball.

- From the stands.
Now, not knowing the venue and if this is possible. But you should keep moving to various locations around the arena, every location gives you something different to capture - be it serve, receive, pass, set, spike.

Also concentrate on the coach/bench - you can get some really great emotions as they celebrate (although, not knowing the teams/players.. can't say whether they are the celebrating/enthusiastic type).

Just like with any sport - knowing the sport will give you a huge advantage when shooting it.
No matter how good of a photographer you are - by knowing what you take pictures of, you are three steps ahead of someone who does the sport the first time ;-)

Enjoy the games - volleyball is a great sport to photograph!!

 

[nickbrown_500]

Thanks for the information should be a great help, will put this to use come the new season.