What did I do wrong here?

Messages
32
Name
Rebecca
Edit My Images
Yes
I took some tennis photos yesterday on my Nikon D5100, F5, 1/400, ISO 800, 70 - 200 mm lens.
It was a sunny day and the sun was behind me.
Usually I manage to get really clear, sharp shots but yesterday they all looked like this one.
Please can you tell me what I did wrong? I was thinking that maybe the ISO was too high?
Thanks for your help.
Rebecca
 

Attachments

  • CSC_0268.JPG
    CSC_0268.JPG
    176.1 KB · Views: 160
The sun isn't behind you - it's off to the left in this pic, shadow to the right.

If it was that sunny why did you use ISO 800? Though, to be fair, the shutter speed is not that high.

It looks, on closer inspection, that the fence and writing are in focus, coupled with an aperture of f5 it seems your subject is at the limit of being in focus.

Looks like you have to be more in control of your focus point/s.

Composition is good :)
 
For a moving subject playing tennis - if you want tack sharp results - you'll need faster than 1/400th of a second...
 
The sun isn't behind you - it's off to the left in this pic, shadow to the right.

If it was that sunny why did you use ISO 800? Though, to be fair, the shutter speed is not that high.

It looks, on closer inspection, that the fence and writing are in focus, coupled with an aperture of f5 it seems your subject is at the limit of being in focus.

Looks like you have to be more in control of your focus point/s.

Composition is good :)
 
I've shot a few Grand Slams and Davis Cup matches in the past. From what I can see in your gallery you have pretty much got the core concepts of what you are doing.

Most of your shots look like they were taken at 1/4000 which is absolutely fine if you want to freeze the action completely, including the hitting arm during a swing. Often I find myself dropping towards 1/1600 simply to leave a little blur on the arm to emphasise movement but that's down to personal preference.

In terms of action shots you seem to have all the right poses in there. Tennis can be a little tough because the more photogenic moments tend to be before the ball arrives and after it has gone. The preparation pose before a player hits the ball is a good one if you are fortunate enough to get the ball bouncing into shot. Similarly the shot where the racquet ends up behind the head after the swing is also nice but I find those more pleasing when it's a tightly cropped close up to draw attention to the detail in the expression of the player. Almost like a portrait shot. My personal favourite shot tends to be the service return as you can catch a player diving to get his/her racquet on the ball. I think if you time it right those shots make for the best action shots and I've had a few crackers of Djokovic and others in the past.

If I was to be really picky the one thing you can try to add next time is more expressive shots. You'll get those after important points or when a player makes a glaring error. Everything from fist pumps to frustrated outbursts tend to make for great images. Tennis as I'm sure you are aware can be quite repetitive and after capturing a few forehands and backhands from one player you are really just seeing the same thing over and over. Anything different you can add breaks up a gallery with variety.

The exposure issues in your photos are fairly common in tennis. Outdoors, with a bright sun coming from one side can always cause issues with lighting. If you shot RAW you will probably be able to enhance the images somewhat by dropping the highlights slightly?
 
I took some tennis photos yesterday on my Nikon D5100, F5, 1/400, ISO 800, 70 - 200 mm lens.
It was a sunny day and the sun was behind me.
Usually I manage to get really clear, sharp shots but yesterday they all looked like this one.
Please can you tell me what I did wrong? I was thinking that maybe the ISO was too high?
Thanks for your help.
Rebecca

The ISO shouldn't have been an issue - the focussing is what has let the shot down and together with exposure settings. Are you using single point focus? If not, try it out, takes a bit of getting used to - try it on large slow moving objects first, then move to birds/planes etc. to get used to it and then once it's second nature tennis will be a breeze!
 
Last edited:


I see no issue with the ISO but you were trapped by hostile
elements that you did not have the experience to foresee nor
cope with… been there, done that! :cool:


The hostile elements were the brand new shoes and the highly
reflective dress in that harsh light and their combined effect on
the light meter — this is where the D camera, with its histogram,
is a most valuable tool — the resulting solution may be reported
on the F body.

When these high dynamic range conditions are read correctly
through the histogram, they are clearly extending to the higher
limits of the 255/255 and this is where a corrective tweak may
be brought in the equation prior to SR: simply dial in a compen-
sation value (EV = exposure value) sufficient to reposition the
histogram readings away from the right… and use SSTL.
Are you using single point focus?
This is one other important question where Liz is giving you a
good tip. More important, however, are the shooting mode settings.

I would recommend:
  • Manual mode
  • ISO 800 or lower if possible
  • SS 1/1000 —may be adjusted to speed needs
  • ƒ8 —may be adjusted to desired DoF
  • single point continuous HS/AF with BBF activation
  • EV: -0,07 to - 1,7… to properly position recordings to the left
    where there will be no values over 235/255.
These may be applied 1:1 the F body and are useable in any sporting
events photography.

Have a good time, Rebecca!
 
Last edited:
This is one other important question where Liz is giving you a
good tip. More important, however, are the shooting mode settings.

I would recommend:
  • Manual mode
  • ISO 800 or lower if possible
  • SS 1/1000 —may be adjusted to speed needs
  • ƒ8 —may be adjusted to desired DoF
  • single point continuous HS/AF with BBF activation
  • EV: -0,07 to - 1,7… to properly position recordings to the left
    where there will be no values over 235/255.

Why would you use exposure compensation when shooting in manual mode? If you are going to manually set all three of the aperture, shutter speed and ISO then all you are doing by using exposure compensation is moving the marker on the camera exposure meter. You will still have to physically adjust one of the three settings in order to reduce the amount of light entering the camera. Exposure compensation would only make sense if one of the three (aperture, shutter speed or ISO) were automatically being set by the camera as then the camera itself would make the adjustment to that variable to correct the exposure.

For most people it would make a lot more sense to use exposure compensation in Aperture or Shutter Priority modes where the camera will then automatically adjust the shutter speed or aperture to apply the compensation. (Note this could effectively work in manual if you opted to use Auto-ISO where the camera would then adjust the ISO to compensate).
 
Why would you use exposure compensation when shooting in manual mode?
Because this affect only response of the light meter.
If you are going to manually set all three of the aperture, shutter speed and ISO
If she chooses 800 ISO then OK, I would go for AUTO ISO
Exposure compensation would only make sense if one of the three (aperture, shutter speed or ISO) were automatically being set by the camera as then the camera itself would make the adjustment to that variable to correct the exposure.
Correct!
 
Back
Top